The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children’s Health Act to raise the standard of care and increase access to services for children and families who experience or witness traumatic events. This unique network of frontline providers, family members, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children’s lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the US. The NCTSN is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and coordinated by the UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS).
Collaborative work with Policy Makers has been an essential part of the mission and activities of the NCTSN since the beginning. This website provides a range of resources for policy makers and other stakeholders who are seeking to better understand the prevalence and consequences of child traumatic stress, as well as solutions and policy implications. In addition to the NCTSN resources highlighted below, Policy Makers can learn more about the NCTSN in the About Us section of this website and particularly the Policy Issues page.
Highlights the key elements of the 2017 NCTSN System Framework for Trauma-Informed Schools, while also underscoring the public health implications of trauma exposure and the benefits of having trauma-informed schools.
Explores policy challenges and solutions relevant to working with refugee youth.
Provides policymakers and other stakeholders an overview of trauma-informed integrated care and its importance for children who have experienced trauma.
Provides policymakers and other stakeholders with an overview of child sex trafficking and its relationship to child trauma, as well as policy-relevant and child trauma-focused recommendations to assist them in their response to child sex trafficking.
Provides policymakers and other stakeholders with an overview of intimate partner violence (IPV) and its relationship to child trauma, as well as policy-relevant and child trauma-focused recommendations to assist them in their response to intimate partner violence.
Details how NCTSN researchers and practitioners and their partners established complex trauma in children as an eligible condition for health home coverage.
Provides the summary results of a 2016 NCTSN member survey about financial sustainability.
Explores policy challenges and lessons learned in promoting and supporting trauma-informed schools.
Provides an overview of several national policy challenges and solutions in the area of trauma and substance use.
Highlights two examples of state-based child trauma policy innovations. This webinar discuses the many states playing a leadership role in enacting and implementing policies to support trauma-informed services for children and families.
Features leading child and adolescent experts speaking about their recommendations for effectively addressing policy challenges in implementing integrated care.
Discusses a study comparing a clinical CSEC cohort with a clinical group of youth who had no reported involvement in prostitution, but had a history of sexual abuse/assault.