mones. When a child is neglected, there is less brain activity, slowed development of language, memory, and reasoning, sig- nificant academic problems, and substance abuse. When a child is abused or expe- riences chronic violence, the child may have a smaller brain and, therefore, lower IQ. The brain chemistry is altered and be- comes hardwired for danger. The child is more likely to exhibit poor academic per- formance, aggression, delinquency, and social problems with peers. Children that have experienced trauma
are often misdiagnosed with ADD/ADHD, Conduct Disorder(ODD), or Anxiety Disor- der. Rather than assess how the child is be- having, we should ask what has happened to this child.7 In order to heal the child, we need a “trauma-informed system of care.” A trau- ma-informed system of care acknowledg- es and responds to the role of trauma in the development of emotional, behavior- al, educational, and physical difficulties in the lives of children and adults. It recogniz- es and avoids inflicting secondary trauma. Trauma-informed courts develop multi- disciplinary task forces, provide training to judges, attorneys, social workers, and
treatment providers to implement stan- dard procedures, assess and build com- munity capacity, and develop a process for collecting and providing information to children, their caregivers, and other appro- priate adults. There are currently several projects in
Vermont to improve our practice with re- spect to trauma. DCF and UVM were re- cently awarded a two-year Trauma In- formed Child Welfare System grant to im- prove how we work with children and par- ents impacted by trauma The Youth Justice Summit, April 18, 2014, will bring together social workers, attorneys, GALs, and judg- es for a multi-disciplinary day of exploring how to develop a trauma-informed youth justice system. Bennington Deputy State’s Attorney Tina Rainville is involved in a na- tional initiative to educate lawyers and judges about the effects of trauma in child- hood and how childhood trauma impacts what we do in the courtroom. She is help- ing to develop training materials for judg- es and attorneys about children and the ef- fects of trauma with regard to court pro- ceedings. The ABA has developed a check- list for attorneys to use to identify symp- toms of trauma.8
Most children entering the foster care
system have experienced trauma. To effec- tively advocate for the children, their advo- cates, judges, the attorneys, guardians ad litem, and social workers must be familiar with trauma and its impact on children. ____________________ Christina Pingert, Esq., is an attorney who has been practicing juvenile law in Franklin, Grand Isle, and Chittenden coun- ties for the past ten years.
____________________ 1
See generally James J. Clark & Hon. Eliza-
beth T. Trosch, Emerging Tools for Trauma In- formed Courts; Promoting Child Safety, Perma- nence and Well Being, PowerPoint presentation,
July 2013 (on file with the author). 2
3 4
45 C.R.R. Pt. 1357, §1355.33b(a)(III)). Clark & Trosch, supra note 1.
Frank E. Vandervort, Jim Henry & Mark A.
Slane, Building Resilience in Foster Children: The Role of the Child’s Advocate, 32 CHILDREN’S LEGAL
RTS. J. 1 (2012). 5
6 7 8
Id. Id. Id.
http://www.safestartcenter.org/sites/default/ files/documents/publications/PDF_Identifying- Polyvictimization.pdf.
www.vtbar.org
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The Children’s Corner
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