Addressing the Unique and Trauma-Related Needs of Young Children
(2010) Patricia Zindler, Anne Hogan, and Mimi Graham
This policy brief, written to build the capacity of the System of Care for early childhood in Florida to assist young children and their families who have experienced trauma. The paper addresses the impact of trauma on infants and toddlers, supportive interventions, and the importance of agency-wide trauma-informed services.
Published by Florida State University, Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy.
(Free Download)

Children and Trauma: A Guide for Parents and Professionals
(1993) Cynthia Monahon
Children and Trauma teaches parents and professionals about the effects of trauma on children and offers a blueprint for restoring a child’s sense of safety and balance. The author offers hope and reassurance for parents, straightforward ways to help kids through tough times, and describes the warning signs that indicate a child needs professional help. Monahon helps adults understand psychological trauma from a child’s point of view and explores the ways both parents and professionals can help children heal.
Published by Josey-Bass.

Children Who See Too Much: Lessons from the Child Witness to Violence Project
(2002) Betsy McAlister Groves
In this book, the author demonstrates how children understand, respond to, and are affected by violence, and that trauma created by family members can cause the most psychological harm to very young children.
Published by Beacon Press.

Complex Trauma in Children and Adolescents
(2003) Alexander Cook, Margaret Blaustein, Joseph Spinnazola, and Bessel van der Kolk
This White Paper explores the immediate and long-term consequences of a child’s exposure to multiple traumatic experiences (as opposed to a single event), losses, and lack of consistent nurturance and responsive caregiving in early childhood. It posits the notion that repeated exposure to violence, chaos, and neglect in one’s caregiving environment may impact a child’s development across many domains of functioning, including emotional regulation, self-esteem, and cognition, and provides a framework for intervention.
Published by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
(Free Download)

Early Childhood Trauma
(2010) National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Zero To Six Collaborative Group
This article summarizes the impact of early childhood trauma, how it is unique, the scope of the problem, symptoms and behaviors in children birth to six, screening and assessment instruments, treatment, and other resources for professionals, families, and caregivers.
(Free Download)

Head Start Bulletin Issue No. 73: Child Mental Health
(2002) Office of Head Start
This edition of Bulletin dedicated to child mental health includes features, articles, and resources focused on promotion, prevention, and intervention that supports the social and emotional health of young children, their families, and Head Start and Early Head Start staff.
Published by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Head Start Bulletin Issue No. 80: Mental Health
(2010) Office of Head Start
This edition of Bulletin dedicated to child mental health builds on the 2002 Bulletin on Child Mental Health and includes features, articles, and resources focused on addressing mental health concerns. It includes the Head Start and Early Head Start dedication to mental health services and supports, the role of consultants, specific challenges that Head Start and Early Head Start families face, such as trauma, and strategies to support staff and build community supports.
Published by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Hope and Healing: A Caregiver’s Guide to Helping Young Children Affected by Trauma(2005) Kathleen Fitzgerald Rice and Betsy McAlister Groves
This guide for early childhood professionals who care for children in a variety of early care and education settings will help professionals understand children ad trauma and develop skills to help children and support families. . The authors define trauma and help readers recognize its effects on young children. They also offer tips, resources, and proven intervention strategies for working with traumatized children and their families and for managing stress.
Published by ZERO TO THREE Press.
Cost: $18.95

Hurt, Healing and Hope: Caring for Infants and Toddlers in Violent Environments
(1994) Joy D. Osofsky and Emily Fenichel (Eds.)
This special issue of the Zero to Three journal presents practical guidelines for parents, child care providers, community police, and mental health professionals caring for very young children who witness or are victimized by community violence, family violence, and abuse. It was written with a three-fold purpose: (1) to look at what it means to be a parent in a violent environment; (2) to address the expanded concerns of caregivers, teachers, and other community helpers; and (3) to discuss possible interventions and treatment strategies.
Published by ZERO TO THREE Press.
Cost: $15.00

Islands of Safety: Assessing and Treating Young Victims of Violence
(2002) Joy D. Osofsky and Emily Fenichel (Eds.)
Designed for the many people who care for and/or come in contact with young children — parents, child care providers, teachers, police officers, community leaders, health and social service professionals, and mental health practitioners, this publication guides readers through recognizing the full range of symptoms and behaviors that may stem from infants’ and toddlers’ exposure to violence; supporting those giving care to traumatized young children; and designing and carrying out treatment plans to help children and their families cope and recover.
Published by ZERO TO THREE Press. Available at http://www.zerotothree.org
Cost: $15.00

Losing a Parent to Death in the Early Years: Guidelines for the Treatment of Traumatic Bereavement in Infancy and Early Childhood
(2003) Alicia F. Lieberman, N. Compton, Patricia Van Horn, and Chandra Ghosh Ippen
Offers clinicians, counselors, educators, child-care professionals, and others a compassionate yet practical guide to the assessment and treatment of young children who have experienced the death of a parent or primary caregiver. The authors describe how babies, toddlers, and preschool-age children typically respond to overwhelming loss, explain complications in the grieving process that are associated with the sudden or violent death of a parent, and offer vignettes that illustrate therapeutic interventions with traumatically bereaved young children and their families.
Published by ZERO TO THREE Press. Available at http://www.zerotothree.org
Cost: $39.95

Mental Health Consultation in Early Childhood
(2000) Paul J. Donahue, Beth Falk, and Anne Gersony Provet
This book provides a framework for using mental health consultation to enhance the quality of early childhood programs as well as helping staff, children and families. It takes a clinical mental health perspective in the service of promoting healthy emotional development in young children, including those who are already scarred by harsh early experiences such as trauma. The chapter dedicated to interventions for young children affected by trauma reviews early seminal work in this area of expertise and provides an insider’s view to addressing the impact of diverse types of trauma through both child-family as well as programmatic consultation.
Published by Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Silent Realities: Supporting Young Children and Their Families Who Experienced Violence
(2003) Elena Cohen and Barbara Walthall
This guide summarizes the effects of violence on children and families as well as tips, strategies, and resources for designing programs to help young children cope with traumatic events.
Published by The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice.
(Free Download)

Strengthening Policies to Support Children, Youth, and Families Who Experience Trauma
(2007) Janice L. Cooper, Rachel Masi, Sarah Dababnah, Yumiko Aratani, & Jane Knitzer
This working paper (No.2) of Unclaimed Children Revisited documents critical considerations in strengthening policies to support trauma-informed practice. It reviews current policies and practices to support children, youth, and families exposed to trauma. A range of strategies were used to gather the information, including an extensive literature review, a meeting of policy and practice experts, and several case studies.
(Free Download)

Traumatic Stress/Child Welfare
(2007) Janet S. Walker, editor
Focal Point: Research, policy,& practice in children’s mental health.
Published by Portland State University’s Research and Training Center on Family support and Children’s Mental Health.
(Free Download)

Understanding the Impact of Trauma and Urban Poverty on Family Systems: Risks, Resilience, and Interventions
(2010) K. Collins, K. Connors, A. Donohue, S. Gardner, E. Goldblatt, A. Hayward, L. Kiser, F. Strieder, and E. Thompson
This white paper reviews the clinical and research literatures on the impact of trauma—within the context of urban poverty—on the family system, including the individual child or adult; adult intimate partnerships; parent-child, siblings, and intergenerational relationships; and the family as a whole. The publication widens the lens of trauma-informed care in two ways: focusing on familial responses to trauma and laying the foundational knowledge for trauma-specific family-centered interventions that strengthen the family’s ability to adapt, cope, and heal. It includes a comprehensive list of assessment tools for use with children, family members, the family as a whole, parent-child relationships, parenting practices, and various family relationships.
Published by University of Maryland: Family-Informed Trauma Treatment (FITT) Center.

Young Children and Trauma: Intervention and Treatment
(2004) Joy D. Osofsky (Ed.)
This book reviews the impact of trauma on infants and young children, detailing the effects on neurobiology, behavior, relationships, and overall functioning, and brings together assessment and treatment approaches that are applicable in work with older children, too