Maltreated infants and toddlers are more likely to be placed into foster care than any other age group of children. They also remain in foster care longer and are less likely to be reunified with their birth families. Thus, it is important that child welfare and other practitioners use the best strategies available to ensure children's expeditious…

Too many parents who find themselves involved with child welfare agencies have had lives threaded with deeply traumatic events. As adults, their childhood histories manifest themselves in substance abuse, domestic violence, relational problems, risk-taking behaviors, emotional lability, self-harming, anxiety, and depression. To successfully…

Infants, toddlers, and young children have unique needs when separated from their primary caregivers because of child abuse and neglect. Parents of these children often have their own histories of abuse and neglect and can benefit from assessments and interventions that bear in mind the effect caregiving histories have on present parenting. This…

The author was wholly unprepared for what he encountered when he entered Fraiberg's Child Development Project at the University of Michigan in 1973, joining five others in a special 2-year training program in infant mental health. He sputtered in astonishment. He resisted the interpretations. But there was no turning back, once he was exposed (on…

Treatment of very young children in foster care involves the complex dynamics of a child's trauma history, multiple relationships, and caregivers' and providers' feelings about working with the child welfare system. Through the story of a toddler removed from his parents and placed in foster care, the authors illustrate a model of combined group…

This article describes how a Tulane early childhood mental health clinic provided trauma-informed care for a young, severely maltreated child victim of human trafficking. Effective treatment included two evidence-based therapies and psychiatric care over a span of 2 years. Therapists made decisions about intervention in response to fluctuations in…

In this article, the authors tell the story of one family's journey toward healing using the Child First home visiting and Circle of Security Parenting interventions. Parents with complex trauma histories frequently float through services for years looking for guidance to help them address their struggles. Often, these services do not offer…

Clinical research during the pregnancy period is maximally beneficial for participants if it is positive, inclusive, and therapeutic. We describe our ongoing study of ethnically diverse, low-income pregnant women and fathers-to-be that leverages participants' benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) and promotes insight to counteract mental health…

Over the years, various federal and non-federal organizations have disseminated and promoted a number of protective factor frameworks to reduce risk and optimize family functioning and child development. There is a growing interest in and commitment to examining factors that transcend the traditional deficit-based approach to addressing social and…

The leadership team of the national Quality Improvement Center on early Childhood ventured into the frontiers of deep change in social systems by funding four research projects. The purpose of the research projects was to learn about implementing a protective factors approach with the goal of reducing the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. In…

Child maltreatment affects millions of children each year. health care providers are increasingly called upon to address such psychosocial problems facing many families. In this article, the authors describe a practical approach to further enhance pediatric primary care and make it more responsive to the needs of children and families. The Safe…

The national Quality Improvement Center on early Childhood (QIC-eC) funded four research and demonstration projects that tested child maltreatment prevention approaches. The projects were guided by several key perspectives: the importance of increasing protective factors in addition to decreasing risk factors in child maltreatment prevention…

This book is an innovative approach to the primary prevention of child maltreatment. It focuses on the impact that child care providers can make in helping to reduce the risk of abuse and neglect in families with very young children. This research- and practice-based curriculum offers concepts, information, strategies, and practices focused on…