{"id":32200,"date":"2025-03-07T18:05:40","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T18:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caseyfamilyv2.wpengine.com\/traumatic-impacts-2\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T23:11:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T23:11:05","slug":"impactos-traumaticos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/es\/traumatic-impacts\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfC\u00f3mo traumatizan a las familias la investigaci\u00f3n, la expulsi\u00f3n y el internamiento?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Summary<\/h3>\n

This brief explores how investigations, removals and placements can traumatize children and families \u2014 offering child welfare leaders strategies to better understand and mitigate these impacts.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Safety is a child protection agency\u2019s first responsibility. Protecting children from trauma, both physical and psychological, also is a primary consideration. Investigation, removal, and placement are sometimes necessary to protect children from imminent harm. However, these processes also create trauma for all involved. Trauma during childhood can interrupt healthy brain development and result in lifelong physical and mental health consequences,1<\/sup><\/a> whether it stems from child maltreatment or the actions of a child protection agency.<\/p>\n

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Consideration of the likely impact of investigation, removal, and placement on the child and family must be weighed against the child\u2019s risk of future harm at home<\/em><\/strong> when making decisions about the best course of action in each case. All decision-makers within the child welfare system need to understand that protective interventions are not inherently benign. Rather, they have potential to do more harm than good if not handled in ways that are safety-centered, developmentally appropriate, and trauma-informed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This brief provides an overview of the traumatic impacts that investigation, removal, and placement can have on children, parents, and caregivers, and offers considerations for child welfare leaders.2<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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When my daughter was removed, I didn\u2019t have any contact with her for over two weeks. When I called to try to talk to her, I was labeled aggressive and told not to call back. Every day without my child felt like 1,000 years. I can\u2019t even imagine what my daughter felt. She is an adult now and I can see some of that trauma playing out to this day.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

— Roger DeLeon, Parent, California<\/cite><\/figcaption>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n
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What makes investigation, removal, and placement traumatic for children?<\/h2>\n \n \n \n

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Many elements of a child protection intervention may create or reinforce a child\u2019s belief that the world is unpredictable and unsafe. The degree of trauma that a child will experience depends on a number of factors, including the child\u2019s age and level of resilience.3<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

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Separation from primary caregivers can be traumatic at any age. <\/strong>Family separations may be particularly detrimental for younger children. Even if a parent is abusive or neglectful, attachment, love, and bonding still can exist. Attachment disruptions affect children in ways that can impact their brain development<\/a>, resilience to stress, sleep patterns, and ability to fight off illness.4 <\/sup><\/a>If substitute caregivers see their primary role as keeping the child physically safe, without attending to their need for healthy attachment, the child will have more difficulty adapting to new surroundings and may experience more long-term developmental consequences.5 <\/sup><\/a>Ensuring children\u2019s first and only placement<\/a> is with someone they already know, such as a relative (kin) or a trusted friend (fictive kin), can ease separation anxiety and any confusion the child may have about the temporary caregiver\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

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Care should be taken to ensure that the circumstances of a family separation are less traumatic than the situation that threatens the child\u2019s safety at home. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Elements of a child protection intervention that may increase trauma for children:<\/p>\n