Trauma screening and assessment outcomes in child welfare: a systematic review

This systematic review analyzes findings from all identified studies measuring traumatic stress in child welfare specific samples in order to explore how the existing literature informs trauma screening and assessment practices in child welfare systems. Most prior research involving measures of traumatic stress in children has been conducted with clinical samples that are not child welfare specific or entirely limited to this population. The aims of this review are to describe the child welfare samples screened for traumatic stress, their reported traumatic stress outcomes, other important variables investigated that could assist with the identification of high risk subgroups, and to review trauma related implications for child serving systems. Searches of all relevant databases identified 14 studies for the analysis. Implications are provided regarding the mental health and trauma recovery needs of maltreated children, high risk sub-groups within this population, systemic challenges and considerations regarding how the child welfare system might collect and utilize trauma information to enhance decision making.