Trauma-informed care is an organizational framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of trauma. Join the Office of Head Start (OHS) in a conversation about trauma-informed care and its alignment with the pyramid model. Find out what trauma-informed care means for early childhood programs.

Trauma-informed care includes a shift in thinking from "What is wrong with you?" to asking "What happened to you?" Its development requires change at multiple levels of an organization and systematic alignment with the principles of a trauma-informed approach. How a program understands and responds to the adverse effects of trauma has significant implications for the well-being of children, families, and staff in the program.

Join us for a live webinar to learn more about trauma and trauma-informed care and what it means for building parent and family resilience. Examples will be drawn from American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities. Dr. Sangeeta Parikshak, social science analyst at OHS, will be joined by Marilyn Bruguier-Zimmerman, senior director of policy and programs at the National Native Children's Trauma Center, and Dr. Joshua Sparrow from the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. They will respond to your most pressing questions.

#HeadStartHeals Campaign

Find more trauma resources and strategies through OHS's #HeadStartHeals campaign. Program managers can use these resources to design quality improvements for their programs. Direct service staff can use promoted strategies to assist the children and families they serve. In the coming weeks, we will discuss:

• The intersection of substance use disorder and trauma and how Head Start programs can help
• Understanding trauma-informed care in high needs communities and in classroom settings
• Trauma and adult mental health

Additional Resources

Promoting Empathy, Understanding Trauma
This two-part video series equips teachers with tools to manage their reactions to trauma. It offers approaches program leaders can use to build organizational capacity around serving children and families impacted by traumatic events. These webinars were originally aired as part of OHS's Safe Foundations, Healthy Futures campaign.

Trauma-Informed Care
Use these resources from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network to improve access to services for children, families, and communities who have experienced trauma.