“. . .We’re Not Doing Enough:”: Trauma-Informed Care in an Early Childhood Special Education Center

Abstract

Young children with disabilities experience trauma at high rates. To mitigate and address the negative effects of trauma on young children’s development, systematic implementation of trauma-informed care is needed. In schools, it is important that all staff members at every level are trained to implement trauma-informed care. In this qualitative study, we explored the experiences of ECSE professionals in one center, including administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, and related service providers, as they planned and implemented trauma-informed care. We used Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory to guide the design of the study. Our findings suggest that ECSE professionals are impacted by factors at the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystem level of the environment, which influenced the extent to which they were able to successfully implement trauma-informed care.