Dr. Brooke Winchell

Dr. Brooke Winchell

Associate Professor, Dept. of SPED, Univ. of Wisconsin Whitewater

[email protected]

Lessons Learned

• Policy needs to change so that children who have been substantiated as abused and/or neglected become automatically eligible for early intervention services. We know the impacts of trauma on young children’s development, yet we ignore research and wait for developmental delays to appear rather than stand behind the “early” in early intervention.
• Families and children need more high-quality targeted interventions related to experiencing trauma. When children and families are identified as needing these additional services, many early intervention programs do not have additional services to offer them. Early interventionists often do not have training in trauma-informed care and rely on the child welfare system to assist in additional programming. Working across disciplines/agencies can add barriers and cause delays in necessary services for children and families in need.
• Grassroots efforts can produce impactful programmatic changes. Critical changes and improved outcomes for children and families can happen even if there is a lack of outside support, grant funding, and policy change. Improved practices are possible with community partnerships, dedicated collaboration, and commitment to the field.

Resources Developed

• Topics Publication
  Adrihan, S., Winchell, B., & Greene, S. (2018). Transforming early intervention screening, evaluation, assessment, and collaboration practices: Increasing eligibility for children impacted by trauma. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 38(3), 174-184.

• Increasing CAPTA Part C Eligibility Through Improved Screening
  Winchell, B., & Adrihan, S. (October, 2018). Increasing CAPTA part c eligibility through improved screening and evaluation practices. Paper presented at International Division for Early Childhood Annual Conference, Orlando, FL.

• Collaborative Approaches for Working with Children Impacted by Trauma
  Adrihan, S., & Winchell, B. (January, 2021). Collaborative approaches for working with children impacted by trauma. Presentation at International DEC 2021 Conference. 

Suggested Resources

• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
• National Traumatic Stress Network
• Zero to Three
• Division for Early Childhood. (2016). Child maltreatment: A position statement of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC). Washington, DC.

Collaborative Areas of Interest

• Assessment practices in early intervention
• Policy changes for eligibility based on trauma
• Interventions for children ages birth to five who have experienced trauma and their families