Community Member or Organization

American Academy of Pediatrics Calls for Trauma-Informed Care to be Incorporated Into Children’s Health Care

The American Academy of Pediatrics calls for governmental, institutional and academic leaders to incorporate effective ways to identify and address the effects of trauma on children, families and their healthcare providers in a policy statement, “Trauma-Informed Care in Child Health Systems,” published in the August 2021 Pediatrics.

The policy statement and accompanying clinical report, which will be published online Monday, July 26, observes that when children lack safe, stable, and nurturing relationships, their response to stress over time can result in lifelong impairments in physical, mental, and relational health. The clinical report provides practical tools for pediatricians to embrace this approach when working with children, families and communities.

American Academy of Pediatrics Calls for Focusing on Safe, Stable Relationships to Prevent Toxic Stress and Buffer its Effects on Children

The American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes the latest research showing the significance of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships as a protective buffer against the biological harms of toxic stress on children – as well as a key toward building resilience – in an updated policy statement. When children feel connected and supported in the early years, they are more likely to become healthy, competent and educated citizens later in life.

The policy statement, “Preventing Childhood Toxic Stress: Partnering With Families and Communities to Promote Relational Health,” will be published in the August 2021 Pediatrics (published online July 26). The statement focuses on just how important relationships and positive childhood experiences are in preventing and healing toxic stress. This policy moves away from a problem-based model that focuses on a child’s past adverse experiences and instead presents a positive, strengths-based approach that fosters solutions at the family, community and societal levels.

Preventing Childhood Toxic Stress: Partnering With Families and Communities to Promote Relational Health

This revised policy statement on childhood toxic stress builds on the 2012 policy statement¹². The term “toxic stress” refers to a wide array of biological changes that occur at the molecular, cellular, and behavioral levels when there is prolonged or significant adversity in the absence of mitigating social-emotional buffers.²

Child Abuse and Neglect User Manual Series

Child Abuse and Neglect User Manual Series Guidance on child protection for professionals in child welfare and related fields as produced by the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect within the Children’s Bureau.Various series available to support your work with children and families affected by child abuse and other child welfare issues.

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Immigration and Child Welfare

Immigrant families involved with child welfare may face a number of particular issues, such as legal barriers to accessing services, child trauma resulting from difficult immigration or refugee experiences, a parent’s detention/deportation by immigration authorities, and acculturation and language issues.

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