Trauma Responsive Child Welfare Systems

Virginia C. Strand, DSW, is Professor and Founding Director of Children FIRST, a research and training institute within the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service. Her research interests are in child welfare and children’s mental health and she has published most recently in the areas trauma assessment for children and transfer of learning programs for child welfare workforce development. Currently, she is PI representing Fordham on a new federal institutive, the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute.Ginny Sprang, PhD, is a Professor in the College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Sprang is a Principal Investigator and Executive Director of the Center on Trauma and Children at the University of Kentucky. She has served as a member of the National Steering Committee of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) , is the current Co-Chair of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Committee, and is the Chairof the Terrorism and Disaster Special Interest Group of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Her scholarship focuses on the clinical, forensic, and empirical aspects of traumatic stress and the efficacy and effectiveness of treatments to address the biopsychosocial impact of violence against children. Dr. Sprang has published extensively in the leading journals focusing on trauma, maltreatment, and treatment efficacy in adults and children.

• Introduction:  Developing Trauma Sensitive Child Welfare Systems.- Applying Trauma Theory to Agency Practice.- Applying Trauma Theory to Organizational Culture.- The Role of Cultural Competence in Trauma Informed Agencies and Services.- Trauma Informed Family Engagement with Resistant Clients.- System Change Designed to Increase Safety and Stabilization for Traumatized Children and Families: Trauma Systems Therapy.- Use of a Standardized Assessment Tool within Child Welfare: Applications of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths-Trauma Comprehensive (CANS-Trauma).- Partners in Child Protection:  A Trauma-Informed Approach to Assessment in Child Welfare.- Introducing Evidence-based Trauma Treatment in Preventive Services: Child-Parent Psychotherapy.- Working with Resource Parents for Trauma-Informed Foster Care.- Addressing Birth Parent Trauma – Pathway to Reunification.- A Trauma Informed Model for Supporting Pre-Adoptive Placements.- Using Implementation Science Principles toSustain Trauma Informed Innovations in Program Development.- The Tale of Two Counties United by Pursuit of the Best Interest of Children through Trauma Informed Practice.- Trauma Informed Organizational Readiness Assessment.- Organizational Assessment of Secondary Traumatic Stress: Utilizing the Secondary Traumatic Stress Informed Organizational Assessment Tool to      Facilitate Organizational Learning and Change.-  Trauma-Informed Strategies for Staff Recruitment and Selection in Public Child Welfare.- Training the Child Welfare Workforce on Trauma-Informed Principles and Practices.- Indirect Trauma Sensitive Supervision in Child Welfare.- Trauma-Informed Professional Development.- Summary and a Vision for the Future.