Early Childhood: Setting Children Up for Success

Early childhood is a critical period for physical, psychological, and cognitive growth. Up to 50% of children between the ages of 2 and 5 years having experienced one or more types of serious childhood trauma. These traumas include domestic violence, serious illness or hospitalization, death of someone close, separation from a caregiver, divorce and witnessing community violence. Early exposure to traumatic stress puts these young children at increased risk for behavioral health disorders like depression, anxiety and aggression and can interfere with school functioning leading to poor academic outcomes.

Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR) at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has extensive experience partnering with school districts, child-serving agencies, and national experts to promote mental wellness and embed trauma-informed strategies and practices in schools and child-serving agencies. Promoting culturally-attuned trauma-informed care in early childhood classrooms and settings provides a unique opportunity to maximize the likelihood that children will have the best possible psycho-social and academic outcomes.

CCR approach to establish trauma-informed early childhood classrooms and settings

CCR has partnered with subject matter experts and practitioners to identify and develop innovative, strategic, and sustainable approaches to meet current and emerging mental health needs of students, especially children and youth impacted by violence and trauma. CCR offers strategic consultation, “Ready to Learn Through Relationships” manual, training and implementation support to build culturally attuned trauma-informed early childhood classrooms and settings. Our partners include: Carole Robertson Center for Learning, Office of Head Start, and Chicago Public Schools Office of Early Childhood Education.

Strategic Consultation

1.      Collaborative asset and needs assessment, goal setting and action planning

2.      Facilitated process to establish strategies and guidelines to embed trauma-informed practices and interventions in

early childhood spaces

Training and Implementation Support

1.      Universal trauma training in four key areas: trauma-informed space, healthy relationships, self-regulation skills, and

provider self-care within a culturally attuned context

2.      “Ready to Learn Through Relationships” manual is comprised of a trauma-informed framework and culturally attuned

“plug and play” toolkit for pre-school and early childhood teachers and practitioners

3.      Reflective consultation for early childhood practitioners to support their implementation of trauma-informed practices

and interventions

4.      Coaching and supported implementation for clinicians in evidence-based early childhood group interventions that aim

to identify at-risk students through school embedded referral and screening processes

Since 2004, Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR) at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has worked to build the resilience of children with a focus on under-served and under-represented populations. Through innovative, sustainable and evidence-based strategies, CCR engages schools, school districts and other youth-serving organizations to address the impact of trauma and promote mental health and wellness.