Race, Trauma, and Resilience Training in Child Welfare

For children involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems, the traumas experienced early in life may produce adverse health, behavior, and life potential outcomes. And children of color are more likely to remain in the system and for a longer amount of time. As a result, they are at even higher risk for adverse long-term outcomes, where the damage done at an early age may alter their life trajectory. In this paper, Audrey Smolkin, director of child and family policy at the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Commonwealth Medicine, discusses the need for training on the link between racial discrimination and the traumas it can create or impact, and helping children and families become more resilient.