Creating Trauma-Informed Systems

Susan Ko, PhDDirector, Service Systems

National Center for Child Traumatic Stress

NCTSN Service Systems Program

• Increase awareness about the impact of child traumatic stress and the intersection of culture and trauma.

• Build strategic partnerships.• Provide education / training.• Develop products to address gaps in

knowledge and skills across a wide range of child-serving service systems (e.g., schools, child welfare, health care) and the general public (e.g., parents/families).

Major Accomplishments

• Developed a conceptual framework for how to create trauma-informed systems: submitted Creating Trauma-Informed Child-Serving Systems paper in Professional Psychology Research and Practice (in press).

• Strategic and systematic dissemination of existing products.– Cops, Kids Domestic Violence: Protecting Our

Future.– Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress Toolkit for

Health Care Providers.• Developed and launched Service Systems Briefs

Series.

Ongoing Activities

• School Committee: Trauma Educational Toolkit.• Child Welfare Committee: Policy guide for child

welfare administrators; Training toolkit for child welfare agencies; Resource parent training materials; Guide to trauma mental health for child advocacy centers; Trauma profile and referral tool.

• Released an RFP for a mini-grant in under-funded priority areas (i.e., creating trauma-informed systems, cultural competence, youth and family engagement): 12 proposals were funded $5000 each. Projects will be complete by August 2008.

Upcoming Activities

• Develop distance learning Speaker Series with a focus on child-serving systems beyond mental health (e.g., schools, child welfare, juvenile justice).

• Launch a Learning Collaborative focused on systems (e.g., child welfare).

Key Program Staff

• Susan Ko, PhDDirector, Service Systems310.235.2633 x234sko@mednet.ucla.edu

• Cally Sprague, MA Program Coordinator

csprague@mednet.ucla.edu