This Child Trends blog post provides resources to help children cope after a hurricane. Children often suffer more than adults when exposed to natural disasters, and 14% of children in the U.S. have experienced a natural disaster. The authors analyzed nine major themes from resources and research on how to help children recover after exposure to a natural disaster. Those themes include understanding that reactions to trauma differ, creating a safe environment where a child’s basic needs are met, and keeping children busy. The post concludes with links to additional resources for children and caregivers.

The Office of Family Assistance’s (OFA) Systems to Family Stability National Policy Academy (Policy Academy) was an 18-month intensive technical assistance (TA) initiative in 2015–2016 for seven states and one county interested in modernizing and improving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practice. During the initiative, sites received dedicated coaches, onsite strategic planning, access to expert consultants, and tailored written resources. Additionally, they participated in several in-person convenings, peer exchanges, and virtual training. These state profiles detail the journey and lessons learned of the 8 teams that participated in the Policy Academy.

Mental Health America created this Back to School Toolkit to help students and parents learn the self-regulation and coping skills that lead to better mental health as an adult. Children face a variety of stressors at school and home, and if they do not learn how to manage their emotions, they can have behavior issues. This toolkit includes a variety of materials that explain the relationship between emotions and behavior, and also provides resources for finding treatment when students are in crisis. Toolkit materials include handouts, classroom activities, and media and social media materials aimed at both parents and students.

While low-income parents face challenges, many manage to raise children with socio-emotional competence. This policy report from the National Center for Children in Poverty describes what can be learned from these resilient parents, and analyzes programs and policies that promote parents’ and children’s resiliency. The authors find that policies such as increasing access to health and mental health care, providing training in evidence-based parenting skills, and strengthening key safety net programs all contribute to strengthening resiliency in both parents and children.

Nearly 12% of American children will spend at least half of their lives from birth to age 17 living in poverty. This report from the Urban Institute analyzes factors that have helped these persistently poor children achieve economic success. Some of those factors include spending more years in an employed family, spending fewer years in a family headed by someone with a disability, and living in less segregated and disadvantaged neighborhoods. The researchers recommend several strategies to help more persistently poor children achieve economic success, such as subsidized employment for parents and programs to help families move out of disadvantaged neighborhoods.

This guide provides human services leaders at the local, State, Tribal, and Territorial levels with information and resources on recent advances in our understanding of trauma, toxic stress, and executive functioning. It especially highlights what these advances mean for program design and service delivery. The guide helps professionals learn about trauma-informed care and helps those currently engaged in trauma-informed work to improve their practice. These resources provide an overview of key concepts related to trauma and a guide to resources from a range of HHS federal agencies and respected sources outside government. These materials are both a “front door” to the topic of trauma and a “road map” to relevant resources.

In this edition of the Social IMPACT Research Center at Heartland Alliance’s annual poverty report, the research team analyzes the ways in which poverty, violence, and trauma are interrelated in Illinois. The report finds that poverty and violence often have the same root causes, and unaddressed trauma in communities that experience poverty and violence serves to exacerbate both of these social issues.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation hosted this webinar in October 2016; the webinar recording is available online. The webinar is part of a series discussing lessons learned from the Foundation’s Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) initiative, which is working with youth, especially those who have been justice system involved, homeless, or in the child welfare system, to address the challenges that make it difficult for them to achieve degrees or maintain jobs. LEAP sites have aimed to make their services responsive to youth who have experienced trauma, since research shows that suffering extreme stress and adverse experiences in childhood can impair physical development in ways that have long-term consequences. On the webinar, three LEAP sites discussed how they have made their services trauma-responsive.

This post from the Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring is part of a series on toxic stress. In this post, the authors highlight what professional staff need to know about toxic stress to best serve vulnerable youth and families.