Trauma ScreenTIME

IDENTIFYING AND SUPPORTING CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM TRAUMA

Many children experience trauma exposure and adversity, including physical and sexual abuse, domestic or community violence, racism/discrimination,  and accidents or natural disasters. The support of caregivers and other trusted adults is critical for helping children communicate about their experiences, feel safe, and to promote a healthy recovery from exposure to trauma. Evidence-based trauma-focused treatments for children are increasingly available to those children who need additional support. Unfortunately, the majority of children suffering from traumatic stress are not identified and do not receive the trauma-focused services they need to recover. Often, even parents, caregivers, teachers, doctors, and other caring adults are unaware of a child’s trauma history or traumatic stress. Screening children for trauma is currently limited outside behavioral health settings.

Trauma ScreenTIME (Screen, Triage, Inform, Mitigate, Engage)

Trauma ScreenTIME is a five-year initiative to improve child trauma screening across child-serving systems in Connecticut and nationwide. Trauma ScreenTIME helps child-serving systems implement screening by developing an online training that can be used by all child-serving professionals. Screening children for trauma in everyday settings such as schools, child care, and primary care can play an important role in identifying and supporting children who have experienced trauma. Professionals in child-serving systems are often reluctant to implement screening due to a lack of knowledge about how to do it effectively and  uncertainty about managing disclosures, how to support children and families, and where to refer children to treatment.

The ScreenTIME courses utilize best practices in trauma screening, recommendations from child-serving professionals, and input from family members with lived experience. They will help schools, primary care, child welfare, juvenile justice, and early childhood systems:

• improve the early identification of children suffering from traumatic stress
• provide strategies for talking with and supporting children impacted by trauma and their families
• connect children to evidence-based treatment and other services when needed

ScreenTIME is part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) and is funded through a five-year federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant to CHDI. 

How to Receive ScreenTIME Training

The Trauma ScreenTIME Core Course and Trauma ScreenTIME Schools Course are now available at www.traumascreentime.org. 

• The ScreenTIME Core Course is appropriate for staff working with children and youth across child-serving systems and settings, including pediatric primary care, early childhood, juvenile justice, child welfare, and behavioral health.
• The ScreenTIME Schools Course is appropriate for staff in school settings.

*Courses specific to pediatric primary care, early childhood, child welfare, and juvenile justice will launch at a later date.

ScreenTIME Partners and Experts

Trauma ScreenTIME utilizes a Connecticut-based Advisory Board and a National Expert Faculty with expertise in child trauma and each of five child-serving systems (schools, early childhood, pediatric primary care, child welfare, and juvenile justice) to develop the trainings and make them available in Connecticut and nationally.

Click here to learn more about those involved in the development of the ScreenTIME courses.

Read CHDI's news release announcing the ScreenTIME grant.

To learn more about CHDI's Trauma ScreenTIME, please contact:

Jason Lang (PI - Project Director) - Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives jalang@uchc.edu 860-679-1550

Kellie Randall (Co-Project Director) - Director of Quality Improvement randall@uchc.edu 860-679-8098

Brittany Lange - Senior Associate lange@uchc.edu 860-679-8791