Helping agencies implement trauma-informed care and trauma-responsive services for children, parents, and family members affected by substance use and co-occurring disorders

We offer training and technical assistance (TTA) to child welfare agencies, substance use and mental health treatment providers, the judicial and healthcare systems, and other family-serving entities to support in-depth knowledge and understanding about the cumulative and often highly intersectional effects of trauma on children, parents, and family members affected by substance use and co-occurring disorders. We believe the success of trauma-informed care hinges on recognition of the extent, reach, and effect of trauma along with an understanding that attending to it requires a coordinated, culturally responsive, cross-system approach among service providers.

Our TTA is designed to help collaborative teams build off their collective capacities to further develop and implement trauma-responsive enhancements throughout their service delivery systems. The consequences of systems not delivering trauma-informed care are well documented: 1) when systems are not designed to screen families for trauma, there’s an even greater likelihood of families being referred to any combination of inadequate or inappropriate services; 2) in the absence of trauma-responsive services, systems’ policies, procedures, and practices can either intentionally or unintentionally trigger or re-traumatize families; and 3) we also know that trauma fundamentally disrupts trust, and it can take just one negative experience to alter a family’s willingness to engage or remain in services.1 These consequences present significant risks to families affected by substance use and co-occurring disorders including the potential for a return to use or further destabilization. By understanding the effects of trauma and the connection with substance use and co-occurring disorders, collaborative teams can strengthen families by keeping everyone engaged in services to help promote healing and recovery; enhance safety and protective capacities; and improve individual and familial health and well-being.

CFF ACTIVITIES

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CFF has disseminated nearly 7,000 materials related to trauma-informed care since 2016
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CFF has responded to nearly 350 technical assistance requests about trauma-informed care since 2016

SOME DATA POINTS

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64% of adults in the United States have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) before age 182
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Adults who experienced five or more ACEs were 7-10x more likely to have a substance use disorder compared to adults without ACEs3
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21.5 million adults in the United States met criterion for co-occurring disorders—a substance use disorder in combination with a mental health disorder of any type or severity4

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES 

Through federally- and foundation-funded projects, Children and Family Futures and its small business subsidiary, Center for Children and Family Futures, produces publications, reports, Technical Assistance tools and web-based learning for the field. The following are featured resources from our work. For more resources or information related to a specific topic, please visit our resources page or click the “Request Assistance” button below or at the top of the page.

  1. Menschner, C. & Maul, A. (2016). Key ingredients for successful trauma-informed care implementation. Center for Health Care Strategies, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/programs_campaigns/childrens_mental_health/atc-whitepaper-040616.pdf
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). We can prevent childhood adversity. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention. https://vetoviolence.cdc.gov/apps/aces-infographic/
  3. Strategic Prevention Technical Assistance Center. (2023). Adverse childhood experiences and the role of substance misuse prevention. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/sptac-ace-role-of-substance-misuse-prevention.pdf
  4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2023). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2022 national survey on drug use and health (NSDUH). HHS Publication No. PEP23-07- 01-006, NSDUH Series H-58. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2022-nsduh-annual-national-report