Abstract
CONTEXT: Evidence from the COVID-19 crisis suggests that children and youth are more likely to be subjected to maltreatment and exposure to family violence, while experiencing limited access to the usual services that support vulnerable families and provide targeted services to meet their needs. The current global pandemic itself can also be experienced as a traumatic event. Trauma-informed care draws attention to the potential impacts, from the individual to the global, that myriad traumatic experiences can illicit and proposes using these understandings as foundational to the development and implementation of policy and practice. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this opinion paper is to offer insights to guide practices and policies during this unprecedented global crisis through a discussion of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2014)’s six trauma-informed care principles: trustworthiness and transparency; safety; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment and choice; and cultural, historical and gender issues. FINDINGS: Specific recommendations based on these six principles and applied to the current situation are presented and discussed. These principles can serve both in the immediate crisis and as preventative measures against unforeseen future traumatic contexts. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 renews the imperative to maintain and strengthen trauma-informed practices and policies. We argue that never before has trauma-informed care been so important to promote the health and well-being of all and to protect our marginalized populations at greatest risk.
Highlights
COVID-19 renews the imperative to maintain and strengthen trauma-informed practices and policies
We argue that never before has trauma-informed care been so important to promote the health and well-being of all and to protect our marginalized populations at greatest risk
Social services, child protection, mental health and psychiatric services, the medical system, community organizations, and advocacy bodies all have the potential to become vectors of resilience and healing for children and youth affected by child trauma
Summary
COVID-19 renews the imperative to maintain and strengthen trauma-informed practices and policies. The growing empirical evidence base demonstrating both the high prevalence and detrimental impact of child trauma highlights imperatives to rethink child, youth, and family services to prevent these experiences from happening in the first place and to support victims and their families through recovery. TIC approaches to practice and policy have gradually emerged to promote a culture of safety, empowerment, and healing around victims of child abuse. Recent global interest in TIC practice and policy has led to a significant increase in research endeavors that aim to produce empirically-based information and responses to child trauma. It’s like living with a fire alarm that goes off at random intervals 24 hours a day It is extremely difficult for the rational brain to be convinced ‘that it won’t happen,’ because it already knows that it has happened, and it was horrific.” (Peterson, 2018)
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