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Linking child welfare and mental health using trauma-informed screening and assessment practices
Lisa Conradi1, Jeffrey Wherry, Cassandra Kisiel
1Chadwick Center for Children and Families, Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, USA.
Insights
Children in the child welfare system (CWS) often experience trauma. This paper defines trauma screening, discusses assessment tools, and recommends integrating these practices into CWS for better mental health services.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Trauma Studies
- Social Work
Background:
- Children in the child welfare system (CWS) frequently experience traumatic events.
- These children often exhibit symptoms of traumatic stress.
- Effective intervention requires collaboration between child welfare and mental health systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To define trauma-focused screening and differentiate it from trauma-focused assessment and psychological evaluation.
- To review existing trauma screening and assessment tools used in CWS.
- To identify challenges in implementing trauma screening within CWS and offer integration recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of trauma screening and assessment tools.
- Analysis of challenges in integrating trauma-informed care into child welfare systems.
- Development of recommendations for practice integration.
Main Results:
- Trauma screening is a distinct process from comprehensive assessment and evaluation.
- Various tools exist for trauma screening and assessment in CWS.
- Significant challenges hinder the integration of trauma screening into CWS daily practices.
Conclusions:
- Trauma screening is crucial for children in the child welfare system.
- Effective integration requires addressing identified challenges.
- Recommendations are provided to enhance trauma-informed practices within CWS.
Abstract:
An abundance of research suggests that children in the child welfare system (CWS) have experienced numerous traumatic events and are exhibiting traumatic stress symptoms. Therefore, it is critical that the CWS work closely with the mental health system to ensure that these children receive the appropriate trauma screening, trauma-focused assessment, and referral to the appropriate trauma-focused mental health services. This paper will begin by providing a concrete definition of trauma-focused screening and highlighting how that differs from a more comprehensive trauma-focused assessment process and a psychological evaluation. From there, the authors will highlight existing trauma-focused screening and assessment tools that are used widely within CWSs and the challenges related to integrating trauma-focused screening practices into CWSs. The authors will provide recommendations for ways in which child welfare jurisdictions can integrate trauma-focused screening practices into their daily practice.
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