Our Work

Trauma-Informed Initiatives

BUILDING A TRAUMA-INFORMED SYSTEM OF CARE

Exposure to trauma is a significant public health concern. Research indicates that most children are exposed to potentially traumatic events (e.g. violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, accidents, and other life-threatening events and other forms of serious adversity (e.g. family mental illness, neglect, racism or discrimination) . While many children are resilient and recover with the support of caregivers and other supports, some children suffer from significant ongoing health, behavioral health, school, and social problems.

CHDI has made great strides in helping Connecticut build services and supports to address this serious and significant concern. Since 2007, CHDI has collaborated with State and federal agencies, provider organizations, and families to advance comprehensive and effective trauma-informed systems of care.

Together we are helping transform child-serving systems to be more trauma-informed, improve early identification of children suffering from traumatic stress, and significantly increase the number of children receiving trauma-focused evidence-based treatment. 

Our strategies include:

  • workforce development
  • trauma screening
  • practice improvement and access to evidence-based treatment
  • cross-system collaboration

These changes are working. More of the child-serving workforce are being trained to understand, recognize, prevent, and respond to childhood trauma. More children suffering from traumatic stress are being screened and identified earlier, and more trauma-focused treatment options are available for those who need them.

Click here for our Infographic: Children Benefit from Evidence-Based Behavioral Health Treatments

Click here for CHDI's report "Advancing Trauma-Informed Systems for Children".

Learn more about our current trauma-related initiatives, which include:

Past trauma-related initiatives CHDI helped to support, include:


Jason Lang - Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives
jalang@uchc.edu
860-679-1550