About:  The Online Learning Event will focus on describing child traumatic stress as a result of children’s exposure to one or more traumatic events including traumatic loss (grief) and as a result have developed reactions that impact their daily lives. Children or adolescents may react in a variety of ways, such as intense emotional distress and difficulty in self-regulation, behavior changes, problems developing and maintaining relationships, attention and academic difficulties, difficulty sleeping and eating. Older children may use drugs or alcohol and engage in other risky behaviors. These reactions are understood as traumatic stress.  Children and youth who have traumatic stress reactions are at increased risk of involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Professionals working in child serving systems like juvenile justice can have a positive impact for children, adolescents and their families by developing universal strategies and trauma-informed practices.  

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize behaviors in children and youth that may be the result of exposure to traumatic events or grief/loss;
2. Begin to utilize and apply universal strategies to support children and youth in their professional settings;
3. Acquire the foundational knowledge to plan and begin to create trauma-informed practices in their agencies/programs.