Building a Trauma Informed System of Care Toolkit

Building a Trauma Informed System of Care Every Community Needs a System of Care

• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) affirm lessons learned by the Adverse Childhood Experiences study are a major concern. Based on national data, child abuse and neglect are more common than previously realized. Reports show that at least 1 in 7 children have experienced child abuse and/or neglect in the past year, and this is likely an underestimate. Research supports that children living in poverty experience more abuse and neglect, a finding that service providers must consider whenever they provide services. Rates of child abuse and neglect are 5 times higher for children in families with low socio-economic status compared to children in families with higher socio-economic status. By raising awareness of trauma informed concepts, communities will be better equipped to provide more equitable opportunities to children for whom these opportunities have been out of reach. The CDC observes that child maltreatment is also very costly. In the United States, the total lifetime economic burden associated with child abuse and neglect was approximately $124 billion in 2008. This economic burden rivals the cost of other high profile public health problems, such as stroke and Type 2 diabetes. If trauma is addressed throughout service providers becoming trauma informed, these costs can likely be curtailed. 1 • Guidance from the CDC includes developing a community education approach. The recommend that trauma informed public engagement and education campaigns need to use communication strategies such as social marketing, and community-based efforts like town hall meetings, neighborhood screenings and discussions to reframe the way people think and talk about child abuse and neglect and also identify who is responsible for preventing it. Effective frames highlight a problem and will point communities towards finding solutions. 2

1 https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/fastfact.html 2 https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/CAN-Prevention-Technical-Package.pdf

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