Treatment and Follow-up : Trauma Informed Care
Trauma Informed Guidelines
Trauma Informed Guidelines Checklist
- Initial Response & Care Environment
- Create safe, calm, child-friendly spaces in emergency/forensic settings.
- Use gentle, developmentally appropriate language with children.
- Coordinate interviews so children don’t have to retell their story multiple times.
- Minimize waiting by having a dedicated support person (e.g., advocate or nurse).
- Staff Communication & Presence
- Train all staff in trauma-informed communication (recognize distress, shame, dissociation).
- Assign a single, compassionate point of contact for each child/family.
- Prioritize empathy and emotional safety over task-focused “checklists.”
- Procedural Clarity & Information Sharing
- Provide clear, step-by-step explanations of exams, interviews, and next steps.
- Offer both verbal and written information tailored to children and caregivers.
- Coordinate between police, medical, and psychosocial teams to avoid confusion.
- Discharge & Aftercare
- Always include a “warm handover” to follow-up psychosocial services.
- Give families a clear, written follow-up plan with dates and contact names.
- Refer to culturally appropriate counseling, legal, and community supports.
- Longer-Term Systemic Interventions
- Develop co-located, multidisciplinary centers (CACs/MDTs) for one-stop support.
- Provide ongoing trauma-informed care training and supervision for all staff.
- Involve survivors and caregivers in designing and evaluating services.
- Patient-Appropriate Care
- Ensure services are culturally safe (interpreters, First Nations-led supports).
- Identify and dismantle systemic barriers to care and justice.
The above information is adapted from: Whitehouse, McKenzie, & Hobbs. The First 72 Hours After Child Sexual Assault: Reporting Children, Young People, and Mothers’ Experiences of Police, Hospital, and Psychosocial Care in Victoria. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605251324962
