Trauma, Safety & Outcomes

There is a continuing federal mandate for child welfare systems to focus on safety, permanency, and well-being. Safety is a core dimension of quality in group homes, and this needs to include youth’s own assessment of the settings safety. This study examines the relationship between perception of safety, history of trauma, level of aggression, and outcomes in a residential care setting.

Youth perception of safety comes from a youth-consumer survey that is conducted as part of the program’s internal certification process. Two measure of trauma were used, one assessing prior exposure to trauma and the other an assessment of trauma symptomatology. Several measures of outcomes were used, including critical incident data, percentage of goals met at departure, and pre-post symptoms.

Presentation focuses on how trauma affects perception of safety, and how together they relate to outcome