A balancing act: partnering with the media to provide a trauma-informed approach to U.S child welfare

Abstract

ABSTRACT The United States (U.S.) media often scrutinizes and sometimes explicitly vilifies child welfare practices, particularly when the case attracts the public’s attention. In such cases, the public’s perception of child welfare skews negatively, fostering a culture of blame ascribed to the system. In turn, families are disinclined to work with child welfare workers, who make efforts to mitigate the trauma inflicted on children. This framework aims to provide a trauma-informed practice model that explores how child welfare agencies can partner with the media to improve public perception of child welfare practices and ensure the safety of children. This proposed model draws from a United Kingdom (U.K.) reform effort, which addresses the importance of dialogue between child welfare and the media to create a trauma-informed partnership for reporting. The U.S. child welfare agencies and media can benefit from a trauma-informed partnership, promoting mutual understanding and respect, advancing the profession, and increasing public knowledge of child welfare.