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)

This July 2016 webinar, hosted by the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, focused on methods of compassion fatigue management, encouraged self-care, and aimed to renew participants’ passion for their work. The webinar also provided valuable tools that caregivers can use to identify the warning signs of compassion fatigue as well as to help in developing techniques for self-care. One of the tools is a compassion fatigue symptoms checklist which covers physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and professional symptoms that caregivers might encounter.

Drawn from site visits to two Appalachian communities, this report reviews how the opioid crisis affects children in families where there is substance misuse and how parents or caregivers could be better supported by service providers and systems. The report also looks at service providers’ limitations, either as a result of policy failures or regional economic challenges, and how people experiencing substance use disorders face constraints in access to treatment. There is also discussion of how although schools and early childhood care programs are potential resources for these families, they are underfunded and operate beyond capacity.

Helping families meet their basic needs has a direct impact on lowering their stress, especially during a crisis like COVID-19. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University produced a short paper that focuses on how parents and caregivers can build up and strengthen resilience as they face challenges due to the pandemic. The paper suggests ways program staff can help families and staff reduce sources of stress, including connecting parents and caregivers with programs and services that can help meet their basic needs; encouraging parents, staff, and co-workers to practice self-care; and giving parents a break from child care responsibilities. The paper notes that moving past the pandemic, strengthening core life skills and building and practicing executive function and self-regulation skills will go a long way towards managing daily life so parents are better able to provide care for themselves and family members. Practical tips are provided, such as signing up for text reminders of important appointments, using tools like daily schedules and grocery list apps, and creating checklists for completing important applications.

This KIDS COUNT report utilizes survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to measure how low-income households and children have been affected by COVID-19. The report first illustrates the rates of child well-being before and during the pandemic. The report also presents findings on health insurance coverage and mental health services access, and measures economic instability during the pandemic as well as data on changes in children’s learning environments since the pandemic’s start in spring 2020. The report then provides strategies that can be implemented at the federal and state levels to address future needs of families and children.

This brief summarizes potential federal funding sources and programs that can be used to address barriers facing young parents and families, such as unemployment, disruption to education, financial instability, and lack of child care access, parenting experience, or family supports. Programs listed include, but are not limited to, TANF, SNAP, SSBG, Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program, Child Care Development Block Grant, WIOA, and the Family First Prevention Services Act Prevention Funds.

This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) publication includes the agency’s “National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit” as well as papers covering crisis services. The toolkit highlights clinical and health services research, an assessment of program practices nationally, and best practice approaches. The accompanying papers cover a range of issues pertaining to crisis services, including overall service delivery, behavioral health crisis care for homeless populations, the use of technology addressing substance use, legal issues impacting crisis services, financing crisis services, diverse populations, improving child and adolescent crisis systems, crisis services in rural communities, and the role of law enforcement.

While behavioral health providers and staff are particularly at risk for compassion fatigue, they are also in a unique position to enhance resilience among themselves and within their school communities by using trauma-informed care approaches. The National Council for Mental Wellbeing hosted a webinar on December 15, 2020 entitled “Tips and Tools for Leveraging Trauma Informed Care Techniques to Reduce Stress for Students, Teachers, and Providers” which explored trauma-informed care techniques that behavioral health providers, school staff, and caregivers can use to improve behavioral healthcare provided to students, and addressed traumatic stress occurring during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The webinar recording and accompanying slides are available for download.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on tribal communities across the country. Working in partnership with tribal communities, the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health supports public health interventions in approximately 140 tribal communities across 20 states. The Center has produced COVID-19 materials to educate tribal leaders, providers, caregivers, children, and the public, and has developed COVID-19 related radio public service announcements and social media templates for tribal use.

The purpose of this Indian Health Service grant is to address the opioid crisis in American Indian/Alaska Native communities by developing and expanding community education and awareness of prevention, treatment, and recovery activities addressing opioid misuse and use disorder. The grant intends to increase knowledge and use of culturally appropriate interventions and support an increased use of medication-assisted treatment. The program will assist tribal and urban Indian communities in providing prevention, treatment, and recovery services to address the opioid crisis’ impact within their communities. Applications are due on December 15, 2020.