This U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime webpage discusses vicarious trauma and contains suggestions for coworkers and supervisors who may be experiencing vicarious trauma, as well as family members of victim service providers and first responders, who are also often affected by work-related trauma exposure. The webpage also highlights the Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT), which introduces a new model for examining and conceptualizing the impact of vicarious trauma and the reactions and experiences of victim service providers and first responders. Included on the webpage is a sample of the 500 tools and resources from the VTT Compendium of Resources, which covers Education and Awareness, Prevalence and Risk Factors, and Impact. These resources are intended to support those working in victim services, emergency medical services, fire services, law enforcement, and other allied professions.

(See also Resources on "domestic violence" in the Resource Library)

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) disproportionally affect low-income, racial, and ethnic minority families. In an effort to improve health outcomes for poor families, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Office of Minority Health have released a grant opportunity that focuses on ACEs and whether earned income tax credit (EITC) education and outreach activities can result in increased EITC receipt and changes in risk for ACEs. Eligible organizations include state, county, and city governments; Native American tribal organizations; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; public housing authorities; nonprofit organizations; and nonprofit institutions of higher education. Up to 6 grants are expected to be awarded. The application due date is August 17, 2020.

This blogpost from the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families profiles the Handle with Care (HWC) program, which is an intervention focused on trauma-informed responses among law enforcement, schools, and mental health providers to address exposure to adverse childhood experiences. The HWC program initially began in 2013 in Charleston, West Virginia and aims to ensure that children exposed to crime, violence, or abuse can receive interventions to support their ability to succeed in school. The HWC model relies upon law enforcement to share a “handle with care” notice with an affected child’s school if law enforcement has been at the affected child’s household the night before to address an incidence of violence or crime at home.

This guide offers a framework and process for establishing a multi-system trauma-informed collaborative that addresses the impact of trauma on children and families. The guide identifies the collaborative as including the health care system as well as child welfare, education, early child development, first responder, and related systems; these components must support each other in policies and practices to best serve children exposed to violence and other adverse childhood trauma. The guide is designed for public agency administrators, local and state policy makers, trauma professionals, and other service stakeholders.

In this TEDx video presentation, the topic of intergenerational or transgenerational trauma is presented as a condition that is passed down from one generation to the next. In families where parents and grandparents have experienced abuse and neglect, witnessed violence, and suffered numerous losses or early life adversity, these painful recollections were often unspoken or repressed. In some families, the next generation was affected by this trauma, and the children displayed symptoms of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, low self-esteem or other self-destructive behaviors. The video’s moderator is a medical professional who shares her family’s story of intergenerational trauma. She describes the effects of parents who are emotionally detached from their children and the importance of reestablishing family relationships. She also provides examples of trauma-informed supports and draws on her work with survivors of trauma whom she treats in her medical practice for mental illness and addictive disorders.

In this Aspen Ideas to Go podcast, a panel of child and adolescent experts define anxiety and stress and offer coping strategies to parents to help support them in their interactions with their children at various stages of their development. In the wake of COVID-19, children and teenagers have experienced disruptions in their normal activities and routines, including attending school and play time with friends and family. Many adolescents and teens are experiencing emotional distress, worry, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Taking a whole family approach, the panel addresses these behaviors and stressors and provides guidance to parents on being honest and clear with their communications, speaking in age appropriate language, filtering out misinformation, and monitoring the news. In addition, the experts also offer parents guidance on managing their own self-care and mental health during this time of uncertainty.

This issue brief from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) highlights key points addressing intimate partner violence and child abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic, where staying at home may not be safe for those who have previously experienced mistreatment or where current economic conditions might spark mistreatment that would not have otherwise existed. The brief also provides links to resources from the Addiction Technology Transfer Center, the National Hispanic and Latino Addiction Technology Transfer Center, and SAMHSA’s partner, the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health.

Much knowledge of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) relies on data predominantly collected from white, middle- / upper-middle-class participants and focuses on experiences within the home. During the initial convening’s of the Philadelphia ACE Project, members wondered if living in an urban area might bring particular stresses not covered in the original ACE study. In 2012 and 2013, members came together to develop the Philadelphia Expanded ACE Study to understand the impact of community-level adversities. In conjunction with the Public Health Management Corporation’s Household Health Survey, researchers surveyed 1,784 adult participants in Philadelphia about the original ACEs and five additional community-level stressors. Using a more socioeconomically and racially diverse urban population, Conventional (household) and Expanded (community-level) ACEs were measured to help understand whether Conventional ACEs alone can sufficiently measure adversity, particularly among various subgroups.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set of resources identifies three case studies of how states have utilized research on adverse childhood experiences to inform child abuse and neglect prevention. The case studies reflect research to practice implications for service delivery in Alaska, Oklahoma, Washington State, and Wisconsin.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet offers a summary of research findings that examine adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the extent of ACEs among adults in a survey of 25 states, the consequences of ACEs, and ACEs prevention strategies.