Trauma and New Hampshire's Youth
Traumatic events — abuse, neglect, homelessness, family or community violence, and natural disasters — affect many young people across New Hampshire. Difficult circumstances like these can bring children, families, and caretakers into contact with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
A large share of children involved in these systems have lived through more than one traumatic experience. Being separated from family can add further trauma.
Trauma can weaken a child's ability to cope with and manage emotions — yet most children are able to recover.
Building a Trauma-Informed, Evidence-Based Child Welfare and Justice System
The Division of Children, Youth, and Families recognized the trauma experienced by children in its care and saw a chance to respond.
The Division centered its child welfare and juvenile justice work on trauma screening, assessment, identification, treatment, and evidence-based interventions.
Through the initiatives below, the aim is a more trauma-informed, evidence-based child welfare and juvenile justice system — with the ultimate hope that children recover from trauma and go on to lead healthy lives.
The New Hampshire Bridge Project
The Bridge Project screens young people entering the juvenile justice system for trauma.
Youth found to have a trauma history are connected with providers trained in evidence-based trauma treatment.
The Breakthrough Series Collaborative
Together with Casey Family Programs and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the Breakthrough Series Collaborative is running a pilot with the Claremont District Office of the Division of Children, Youth, and Families and West Central Community Mental Health Center.
Sponsored by Casey Family Programs, the Breakthrough Series Collaborative brings state teams together to develop new approaches to systemic change in a short timeframe and to sustain meaningful impact.
The New Hampshire team included a community mental health provider, foster parents, youth and family representatives, Dartmouth Medical School, and DCYF.
The Partners for Change Project
The Partners for Change project is led by the Dartmouth Trauma Intervention Research Center in partnership with the Division of Children, Youth, and Families.
Funded by a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, the project focuses on assessment, monitoring, and case planning for children and families who have experienced trauma and are seeking help.
Partners for Change is now in its second year of planning and moving towards implementation.
The NH Adoption Preparation and Preservation Project
The Division of Children, Youth, and Families received a second grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, known as the NH Adoption Preparation and Preservation Project.
The project works to ensure that children who have experienced trauma in out-of-home care go on to have successful adoptions.
The grant's overall goal is to develop evidence-informed resource family assessment, child matching processes, screenings related to family functioning, training for adoption-competent staff and providers, and referral to evidence-based family treatments.
Both PFC and NHAPP are funded by the US DHHS, ACF Children's Bureau, Adoption Opportunities program, 2013-2018.
To learn more about NHAPP, contact Eileen Mullen, MSW, or Catherine Meister.
To learn more about DTIRC or PFC, contact Kay Jankowski, PhD.