This chapter focuses on unresolved trauma, mental health and education of youth with extensive trauma histories, specifically youth within the foster care system. This chapter will address the definition of trauma, the common mental health diagnoses and treatment associated with trauma and the negative impact this may have on a child’s education. A review of literature was completed to determine the impact unresolved trauma and untreated mental health has on a student’s education.
What Are Child Protection Services?
As previously stated, this chapter focuses on children who have extensive trauma histories and have been placed with a relative or in foster care. In order to fully understand what these children face, one must first understand the foster care system. Child Protection services was developed in 1875 and originated in New York (Palusci, 2017). In the 18th century, local officials found themselves responsible for finding homes for orphans, protecting children from abuse or neglect, and providing services to the poor (Hamalainen, 2016). In the 19th century, facilities began forming, originating in New York, to improve low-income families’ conditions (Hamalainen, 2016). During this time the employees were not labeled as social workers, but many of the employees carried out various types of social work duties. Child Protection was not recognized as a profession until the 20th century (Hamalainen, 2016).
Child Protection Services (CPS), specifically the foster care system, was designed to provide a sense of protection for children at risk and children who have been abused or neglected by their caregiver (Department for Community Based Services, 2019). Child Protection Services, focuses on all children’s safety and well-being while supporting parents to strengthen and improve the home environment (Department of Community Based Services, 2019). The mission of Child Protection Services is to provide services to an at-risk family to prevent removal of the child(ren) in the home. In cases where removal is necessary, CPS social workers offer services to the biological and foster family to support the parents, foster parents, and the child(ren) that entered foster care.
According to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (2021),
The mission is to deliver quality services to enhance the health, safety, and wellbeing of all people in the Commonwealth. The vision is to become a recognized national leader in state-level health and human services through continuous quality improvement and accountability by:
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Improving delivery of health and family services through quality customer services,
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Promoting individual self-sufficiency and community sustainability for the betterment of the vulnerable population,
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Fostering higher health awareness through education that engages all individuals and communities,
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Enhancing the use of technology to increase service efficiency and effectiveness and,
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Educating, empowering, and developing a highly skilled workforce.
Today, Child Protection Services is the bulk of social work and is assisted by several community partners such as law enforcement, mental health providers, physical health providers, nurses, educations, etc. (Hamalainen, 2016). As of December 2020, there were approximately 500,000 foster children in care nationwide (Cabinet for Health and Family Services, 2021). There are thousands of children in foster care that require additional support and quality services to address their trauma and receive the mental health treatment they need and deserve. The foster care system is just a small part of Child Protection Services and is the foundation to a foster child’s success as they grow.
The foster care system is a complex and challenging system to understand and navigate. The experience a child has in foster care has a significant impact on them and their family. Many of the children who experience the foster care system have experienced extensive amounts of trauma that dates back to very early ages (John et al., 2019). This trauma may include physical abuse, mental/emotional abuse, or some form of neglect; many children will experience both abuse and neglect. According to Larsen et al. (2018), foster children are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health disorders than their peers. Foster children often report feeling depressed, anxious, and other distress symptoms due to their trauma, which significantly affects their mental health (Rayburn et al., 2018). Understanding trauma, mental health diagnoses, and the impact is had on a child can help professionals develop and provide appropriate services that can provide support to foster children, while potentially improving their overall well-being.