Observed every September, National Recovery Month, serves as a critical reminder of the ongoing battle against substance abuse disorders and mental health challenges that affect individuals and families across the United States. Among those deeply impacted are children in foster care, who often come from backgrounds of neglect, abuse and trauma.
Understanding the Scope of the Issue
According to the Arizona Department of Child Safety Monthly Operations Report, as of August 2023, there are just under 11,000 children in foster care (ages 0 to 21 years) in Arizona. Many of these children have experienced trauma before entering the foster care system.
Research conducted by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) shows that children in foster care are exposed to traumatic events at a higher rate than their peers. These events can include physical or sexual abuse, neglect, parental substance abuse and witnessing violence.
The Importance of Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-informed care is an approach that recognizes the widespread impact of trauma and seeks to provide support and healing while avoiding re-traumatization. For children in foster care who have already experienced significant adversity, this approach is crucial for several reasons.
Providing trauma-informed care can help reduce the risk of substance use disorders. Children who have experienced trauma are at a higher risk of developing substance use disorders later in life. In fact, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicates that addressing childhood trauma through trauma-informed care can help mitigate the risk.
It can also promote improved mental health outcomes for children in foster care. Researchers found that trauma-informed interventions can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in this population. PTSD symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance, feeling on edge, trouble sleeping, etc.
Lastly, addressing trauma through trauma-informed care can help break the cycle of trauma and adversity that often perpetuates across generations. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study has shown that early trauma (between birth and 17 years) can have a profound and lasting impact on physical and mental health in adulthood.
How Caregivers Can Support Trauma-Informed Care
Training and Education:
Training and education on trauma-informed care principles is key to supporting children in foster care. Check with your foster care licensing agency for your DCS/Tribal caseworker for information on their trauma-informed care training.
Safe and Supportive Environment
As a foster caregiver, a key to supporting the children in your care is to prioritize creating safe and supportive environments that promote healing. Make sure you maintain stability, provide emotional support and avoid triggers that can activate a trauma response. Be open and responsive to the child’s needs while setting clear boundaries and expectations. Providing opportunities for children to express themselves and have a voice in their own care can go a long way in developing resiliency skills. Having one caring person in the life of a traumatized child is incredibly important and can change the trajectory of the child’s life.
Mental Health Services
Access to mental health services that are trauma-informed and evidence based are helping children in foster care work through their traumas. The child’s DCS or Tribal caseworker can connect your child to local treatment options.
How AFFCF Can Help
Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation (AFFCF) is here to support children and youth in foster care through all stages of their lives. Our mission is to create opportunities to build self-esteem and empower children and youth in foster care by funding services to enrich their life experiences and ensure their successful transition to adulthood.
Childhood Activities
Through our childhood activities program, children in foster care have the opportunity to participate in the same activities that their non-foster care peers do. AFFCF pays for a variety of activities including athletic registration, school field trips and apartment set-ups. These activities give kids the opportunity to step outside of the traumatic events they’ve endured and just be like every other kid they know.
Keys to Success
No one journey through foster care is the same. What is the same is the need for support as young people age out of foster care and transition to adulthood. Without supportive services, they run a higher risk of experiencing homelessness, incarceration, employment challenges and a lack of education.
Established in 2014, AFFCF’s Keys to Success addresses an unmet need in the community to provide youth transitioning from foster care with intensive, individualized career, education and employment development services. The program meets youth aging out of care where they are and tailors services based on the individual youth’s present needs and future plans.
Keys to Success eliminates the transportation barriers that youth face by bringing all our services to the youth and delivered in the community, based on the youth’s availability.
Post-Secondary Programs
AFFCF’s Post-Secondary programs do more than just provide financial aid. They acknowledge that the direct cost of attendance is not often what deters students from completing their certification or degree programs, but rather the things we don’t typically think about. Like vehicles breaking down or where to live once school ends.
In addition to providing financial aid, our Post-Secondary programs host community-building events and conduct monthly check-ins to ensure students have the support they need to address the challenges of life before it’s too late. Students also have access to emergency funding so that when life happens, they can focus forward.
By working together, we all can help children and youth in foster care heal, build up their resilience and reduce their risk of substance use disorders later in life and pave the way for brighter and healthier futures.