The goal of this curriculum is to build New Hampshire’s capacity to provide trauma-informed early childhood services, including childcare, home visiting, early education, and health and mental health services. In doing so, we hope that you engage in trauma-informed care in your own setting and spread the message of trauma-informed care to cross-system partners. This curriculum is divided into four units which include an introduction to Trauma-Informed Early Childhood Services, and then cover the impact of trauma on young children in terms of their neurobiology and development, the screening and interventions used with traumatized children, and reflective practices used to work with caregivers and traumatized young children. Each of these units will help to build your capacity to provide trauma-informed early childhood care. As you complete each unit of the tutorial, you will be asked to submit an online assessment. At the end of Unit 4, you will be able to download a certificate of completion.
Unit 1: Introduction to Trauma-Informed Early Childhood Services
By the end of the unit, learners will be able to:
- Define a “traumatic event” for young children
- Explain 4 types of trauma
- Know the prevalence of trauma in young children
- Define trauma-informed care within the context of early childhood services
- Understand and value your role in helping young children impacted by trauma
- Explore your fears and your concerns about addressing trauma
Unit 2: The Impact of Trauma on Young Children: Neurobiology and Development
By the end of the unit, learners will be able to:
- Understand the basic structure and development of the brain as it relates to trauma in young children
- Recognize the behavioral signs of an overused fear or stress response system in young children
- Understand how sensitization and desensitization of the human stress response system may manifest in the behavior of a young child
- Explain the impact of deprivation and neglect on young children and how they may be represented in behavior
- Know the primary criteria for diagnoses frequently given to traumatized children
- Know the functional impairments often observed in traumatized children
- Understand the long-term impact of exposure to trauma on behavior and health outcomes
- Understand the role of implicit and explicit memory in trauma and relationships
- Understand the concept of neuroplasticity and resilience as it pertains to recovery from trauma
Unit 3: Screening and Intervention with Traumatized Young Children
By the end of the unit, learners will be able to:
- Understand the purpose of screening young children for traumatic exposure and symptoms
- Understand the limitations of screening measures
- Identify opportunities for screening
- Identify 2 screening measures for trauma in young children
- Know how to introduce screening measures to families
- Identify when a referral for mental health treatment is merited
- Describe 3 key intervention strategies for traumatized young children
- Understand the parallel arousal cycle and know strategies to manage arousal
- Appreciate and deploy strength-based approaches to avoid an over-focus on problems
- Explain trauma concepts to caregivers
Unit 4: Working with Caregivers and Traumatized Young Children Using Reflective Practice
By the end of the unit, learners will be able to:
- Understand the conditions necessary to engage in a reflective relationship
- Describe the reasons why reflective practice is important when working with traumatized young children and their caregivers
- Intervene in conversation in a way that demonstrates reflective practice skills
- Explain the importance of reflection to a caregiver, colleague, or supervisor
Case Management/Care Coordination EBP Implementation Home Visiting Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Breastfeeding Case Management/Care Coordination Program evaluation Quality Improvement Social Determinants of Health
Case Management/Care Coordination Communication Community and Organizational Partnerships EBP Implementation Strategic Planning
Medical‐legal partnership (MLP) is an approach to health that integrates the work of healthcare, public health, and civil legal aid to more effectively identify, treat, and prevent health‐harming legal needs for patients, clinics, and populations. MLP addresses legal needs in the areas of income supports and insurance; housing and utilities; employment and education; legal status; and personal and family stability. MLP:
- Trains healthcare, public health, and legal teams to work collaboratively and identify needs upstream;
- Treats individual patients’ health‐harming social and legal needs with legal care ranging from triage and consultations to legal representation;
- Transforms clinic practice and institutional policies to better respond to patients’ health‐harming social and legal needs; and
- Prevents health‐harming legal needs broadly by detecting patterns and improving policies and regulations that have an impact on population health.
Case Management/Care Coordination Insurance Coverage Other Risk Assessment
Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. For three decades, Healthy People has established benchmarks for various health domains (such as MCH) and monitored progress to encourage collaboration across communities and sectors, empower individuals to make informed health decisions, and measure the impact of prevention activities.
Alcohol/Drug Services Backbone Organization Breastfeeding Budgeting Case Management/Care Coordination Chronic Disease Common Agenda Communication Community and Organizational Partnerships Community Engagement Community Needs Assessment Continuous Communication Contracting Cultural Competence Data Utilization Depression EBP Implementation Father/Partner Involvement Group Processes/Facilitation Health Equity Health Literacy Healthy Weight Home Visiting Human Resources Immunization Insurance Coverage Intimate Partner Violence Leadership Life Course Model Mutually Reinforcing Activities Nutrition Oral Health Other Parenting Education Participant Recruitment and Retention Partner Involvement Patient-centered Medical Home Policy Prenatal Care and Education Prevention Program evaluation Project Management Project Risk Project Schedule Project Scope Quality Improvement Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Risk Assessment Root Cause Analysis Safe Sleep Shared Measurement Social Determinants of Health Socio-emotional Development for Children STDs including HIV Strategic Planning Tobacco Cessation
Case Management/Care Coordination Community Engagement Participant Recruitment and Retention Program evaluation
Meeting Materials:
- Local Healthy Start Evaluation: Measuring Impact | Slides
- Collective Impact | Recommended Reading
- Sustaining Fatherhood Involvement Panel: Fathers as Assets to their Children, Families, and Communities | Slides
- High Alignment/High Action | Handout
- Action Aligned Commitments | Handout
- The State of Infant Health in Illinois: Identifying Opportunities and Monitoring Change | Slides
- Becoming Trauma Informed: Applying the Research to Our Work | Slides
- Turn the Curve | Diagram and Questions
- Person Role System Framework | Briefing Notes
Backbone Organization Case Management/Care Coordination Common Agenda Father/Partner Involvement Program evaluation
The CDC has recommended that everyone, both female and male, develop a Reproductive Life Plan. In this webinar, we will discuss what that means for participants in Healthy Start programs and, in particular, how it applies to contraception and preconception/interconception care. The benefits of reproductive life planning on maternal and infant health, as well as every woman’s hopes and dreams, will be emphasized.
After this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Describe what is meant by a Reproductive Life Plan
- Discuss the role of Contraception, Preconception Care, and Interconception Care in a Reproductive Life Plan
- Identify benefits of Reproductive Life Planning
Webinar Materials:
Case Management/Care Coordination Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning
This webinar will focus on the role of case management in HealthConnect One’s community-based doula model. Documented impact achieved with this program will be presented. The webinar will also provide examples of how this model can enhance programs.
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Identify two important functions of case management
- Identify two positive outcomes of community-based doula programs
- Describe three ways that community-based doula programs fulfill case management objectives
Webinar Materials:
Case Management/Care Coordination
