Effects of child trauma screening on trauma-informed multidisciplinary evaluation and service planning in the child welfare system

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) among children involved with the child welfare system (CWS), trauma screening is not yet a common practice. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of embedding a formal trauma screening process in statewide multidisciplinary evaluations for CWS-involved youth. A retrospective record review was conducted with two random samples of cases reflecting both pre- and postimplementation of formal screening procedures (n = 70 preimplementation, n = 100 postimplementation). Findings from the record review indicate statistically significant improvements in the documentation of general, χ²(1, N = 170) = 18.8, p < .001, and specific, χ²(1, N = 170) = 10.7, p = .001, details of children's reactions associated with PTE exposure, as well as increases in providers’ recommendations, χ²(1, N = 170) = 18.1, p < .001, and referrals, χ²(1, N = 170) = 4.5, p = .034, for trauma-focused services. The early identification of trauma-related symptoms may help connect children more promptly to trauma-informed evidence-based interventions, which may avert or mitigate the long-term sequelae of child maltreatment and CWS involvement.