Haruv Institute - Annual Report 2017

STUDY AND TRAINING PROGRAMS ׀ WELFARE AND MULTI-DISCIPLINARY FIELDS

Training In Trauma-Informed Interventions In Out-Of-Home Placement Frameworks

Children who come to out-of-home placement frameworks, such as halfway houses and foster care, suffer from traumatic events that occurred in the family, such as suspected violence and abuse, illness, the sudden death of a family member, divorce-related conflicts, rejection, loss or desertion of a significant figure. Many of these children suffered ongoing trauma at home, and removal from the biological family is an additional and harsh trauma. Supervisors and caretakers at foster-care centers and halfway houses for children, need to treat children who experienced traumatic events. Talking about trauma is very challenging, especially with young children. Adults tend to minimize the impact of trauma on young children, claiming that at such a young age, the child does not remember nor understand what he witnessed, or is capable of recovering naturally. The aim of the program is to provide the therapists with tools to treat these children, through a “lens” focused on trauma, which will contribute towards therapeutic intervention and the understanding of this population of children. Topics studied in the program: Trauma; the emotional-social development of children during their first years of life; daily challenges of living in a group; loss of a parent who is still alive; behavioral expressions of children in distress, etc. In 2017, two programs were run for trauma-informed interventions: • Trauma-informed interventions in foster-care family frameworks, in collaboration with Neve WIZO, Herzliya, April – June 2017. • Training program on trauma-informed intervention therapy in foster-care family frameworks, in collaboration with “Shachar – Foster-Care Family Services”, July – December, 2017. Target Population: Therapists and supervisors at foster care services, the staff of the halfway home, the director, social worker, psychologist, educational staff, counselors and house– parents of the foster-care home.

Number of Sessions: 5-8 sessions for each group

Participants: 90

Location: North, Central and Southern regions, and Jerusalem

Budget for the Out-of-Home Frameworks programs: NIS 20,000

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