The Beat: Trauma-informed Care
"A Family Intervention to Reduce Sexual Behavior, Substance Use, and Delinquency Among Newly Homeless Youth." Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol. 50, No. 4, April 2012.
What it’s about: Support to Reunite, Involve and Value Each Other, or STRIVE, is a five-session, in-home program that aims to repair homeless youths’ relationships with their families. Researchers wanted to see how well the intervention worked at keeping homeless 12- to 17-year-olds from having risky sex, using drugs and getting in trouble with the law. Each STRIVE session uses cognitive-behavioral theories, which help families learn better problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills.
Why read it: Researchers have found a number of programs, curricula and practices that improve the education, employment, family relationships and health of at-risk youth in general....
Homelessness is a traumatic experience for young children who experience it. Many young mothers experiencing homelessness have also experienced trauma either in their own childhoods or more recently.
Join the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness on Wednesday, May 9, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, for a discussion of ways homeless services programs can use a trauma-informed care model to serve mothers and their children better and help break through the cycle of trauma and homelessness.
Panelists will include USICH Executive Director Barbara Poppe and the director of SAMHSA's National Center for Trauma Informed Care, Joan Gillece.
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Social Control Correlates of Arrest Behavior Among Homeless Youth in Five U.S. Cities (abstract), Violence and Victims, Volume 26, Number 5, 2011.
What it’s about: Researchers interviewed 238 homeless youth from five large U.S. cities about their time spent on the street, employment history, substance use, mental health, criminal history and use of social services. The researchers wanted to know which factors were associated with more criminal activity and higher rates of arrest among homeless youth.
Why read it: To survive on the streets, some homeless youth engage in illegal activities like prostitution, theft and selling drugs. When these youth want to leave the streets, having a criminal record can keep them from getting the services and support they need.
By understanding the factors that make homeless youth more...
"Underdiagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in At Risk Youth" (abstract), Journal of Traumatic Stress, Vol. 23, Issue 5, October 2010.
What it's about: Researchers studied two agencies that treat at-risk youth with mental health problems. The researchers looked at how often youth were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD. Ten years later, the researchers returned to find out if agencies were better able to diagnose PTSD.
Why read it: Because of the many kinds of trauma they experience, runaway and homeless youth may be at high risk for PTSD. This very complex mental health problem can cause someone to relive a terrifying event in nightmares, flashbacks or uncontrollable thoughts. Victims of PTSD may also feel hopeless and numb. The condition can get worse if untreated. It can also lead to other problems, such...
Gender Differences in the Longitudinal Impact of Exposure to Violence on Mental Health in Urban Youth (abstract). Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 40, No. 12, December 2011.
What it’s about: This study examined differences in the mental health symptoms experienced by boys and girls who have been exposed to violence. Researchers surveyed 615 Chicago-area young people about their mental health at age 14 and again at age 16.
Why read it: Most research on young people’s exposure to violence reports broadly on the negative ways witnessing and experiencing violence affect their mental health. This study is more specific, exploring particular symptoms, including post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation. Prior research shows that homeless youth suffer from these...
Domestic violence and other trauma can have significant mental health consequences. The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health, part of the Domestic Violence Resource Network funded by the Family and Youth Services Bureau's Family Violence Prevention and Services Program, works to provide programs with the tools and training they need to support trauma survivors and their children. You may want to
- Watch free webinars presented by experts in the field. Start with "Understanding Trauma & Mental Health in the...
Each year thousands of young women run away from home. To survive, some girls steal. Some sell their bodies for money or a place to stay. Many use drugs and alcohol to cope with life on the streets. Eventually, many girls end up in the juvenile justice system.
NCFY spoke with Lawanda Ravoira, director of the National Girls Institute, about how to keep homeless young women out of trouble, out of jail and engaged with programs that provide support.
NCFY: Which girls are most at risk for becoming involved in the juvenile justice system?
Ravoira: Girls become involved in the system from all over, but one of the first predictors is school failure (uneven grades, suspensions and expulsions). The other big thing is trauma. We know that 92 percent of girls entering juvenile justice have been victims of physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Girls coming into the system have much...
Every ten seconds, child abuse is reported in the United States. Anonymous help for victims and their families can be found by calling Childhelp's National Child Abuse Hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The hotline and its website offer crisis intervention, information, literature, and referrals to thousands of emergency, social service and support resources.
Counselors work with translators who speak over 140 languages. If you are being abused or know or suspect a child is being abused, call the hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD or text "childhelp" to 847411.
Additional...
Cyberbullying, or online bullying, is oft-reported in the news. But what is it, exactly? To clarify the issue for adults, young writers from the online magazine YCTeen recently discussed their experiences and views of abuse and bad behavior online. They address why youth bully and others watch, how youth can respond, and how teachers and parents can help.
If you know a youth who has bullied or been bullied, please encourage the young person to call 1-800-RUNAWAY or visit www.1800RUNAWAY.org to talk about it.
Additional Resources
...When a young person lives on the streets or in an abusive home, their brain develops differently than if they lived in a stable, safe environment. To learn more about the teen brain, trauma and healthy ways to stimulate young people’s frontal lobes, NCFY spoke with Heather Higgins, director of training and development at The Upside Down Organization, which demystifies brain science for people who work with children and youth.
NCFY: My understanding is that when youth experience trauma or neglect, parts of their brain over- or under-develop.
Higgins: Yes, if you’re in a potentially dangerous situation, the amygdala, which is the fear and emotional center of the brain, becomes overactive. If all the blood and brain activity is focused on the amygdala, it slows down the development of the frontal lobe, which...
