www.vtbar.org
treatment providers to implement standard procedures, assess and build community capacity, and develop a process
for collecting and providing information to
children, their caregivers, and other appropriate adults.
There are currently several projects in
Vermont to improve our practice with respect to trauma. DCF and UVM were recently awarded a two-year Trauma Informed Child Welfare System grant to improve how we work with children and parents impacted by trauma The Youth Justice
Summit, April 18, 2014, will bring together
social workers, attorneys, GALs, and judges 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 national initiative to educate lawyers and
judges about the effects of trauma in childhood and how childhood trauma impacts
what we do in the courtroom. She is helping to develop training materials for judges and attorneys about children and the effects of trauma with regard to court proceedings. The ABA has developed a checklist for attorneys to use to identify symptoms of trauma.8
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2014
Most children entering the foster care
system have experienced trauma. To effectively advocate for the children, their advocates, 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 counties for the past ten years.
____________________
The Children’s Corner
mones. When a child is neglected, there
is less brain activity, slowed development
of language, memory, and reasoning, significant academic problems, and substance
abuse. When a child is abused or experiences chronic violence, the child may
have a smaller brain and, therefore, lower
IQ. The brain chemistry is altered and becomes hardwired for danger. The child is
more likely to exhibit poor academic performance, aggression, delinquency, and
social problems with peers.
Children that have experienced trauma
are often misdiagnosed with ADD/ADHD,
Conduct Disorder(ODD), or Anxiety Disorder. Rather than assess how the child is behaving, 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 trauma-informed system of care acknowledges and responds to the role of trauma in
the development of emotional, behavioral, educational, and physical difficulties in
the lives of children and adults. It recognizes and avoids inflicting secondary trauma.
Trau