Services for Families of Infants and Toddlers Experiencing Trauma: A Research-to-Practice Brief

Infants, toddlers, and children living in high-poverty communities experience a high rate of exposure to trauma, placing these youth on a compromised developmental path. This issue brief summarizes research about the impact of trauma on young children, and possible intervention strategies that could protect them from the many adverse effects of trauma. These interventions support parents in providing the stable and nurturing caregiving that is necessary for young children’s developmental growth and promoting children’s sense of safety and security. The implementation of such interventions can potentially reduce or provide a buffer against traumatic experiences for these infants and toddlers. Additionally, the brief describes how child care, Early Head Start, home visitation, and child welfare could become trauma-informed infant and toddler service delivery systems.