Trauma Informed Texas

 

                                                     

Building a Trauma-Informed Texas

Welcome to TraumaInformedTexas.com. This webpage includes resources created in whole or in part by members of the Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care (SCTIC) as well as resources from other state and national organizations. The SCTIC and the Supreme Court of Texas Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families (Children’s Commission) do not endorse any particular training resource, modality, or curriculum. Materials and links found on this page are not an endorsement of any organization or approaches. The materials should not be construed as an advisory or ruling by or from the Supreme Court of Texas on specific cases or legal issues. These materials are solely intended to address the improvement of the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice and are only included for informational purposes.

A trauma-informed Texas child welfare system serves every child and family with dignity and respect. Through this webpage, the SCTIC aims to provide information and resources so Texas can accelerate the many efforts across our state to bring a trauma-informed and equity lens to each child and family that interacts with the child welfare system.

 

Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care

In July 2017, the Children’s Commission launched the Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care (SCTIC) to elevate trauma-informed policy and practices in the Texas child welfare system by creating a statewide strategy to support system reform, organizational leadership, cross-systems collaboration, and community-led efforts with data-informed initiatives.

The SCTIC is a dedicated network of professionals and stakeholders invested in transforming the Texas child welfare system into a system that routinely views children and families as individuals who have experienced traumatic events. Under the leadership of the Children’s Commission, the SCTIC embarked on the first phase of its efforts in 2017 by developing objectives and strategies for moving the entire Texas child welfare system forward in a trauma-informed manner. Based on the SCTIC’s work, the Children’s Commission published Building a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System: A Blueprint.

The Blueprint creates a roadmap for the Texas child welfare system to become trauma-informed and trauma-responsive and invites innovation and improvement in the approach to trauma-informed care in both the public and private sectors. The SCTIC Implementation Task Force provides a vehicle for implementing the Blueprint by organizing and collaborating on statewide and local efforts.

Based on the work of the SCTIC, the Children’s Commission published Building a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System: A Blueprint in February 2019. The Trauma Blueprint provides a roadmap for the child welfare system and invites innovation and improvement in both the public and private sectors to become trauma-informed and trauma-responsive.

Chaired by the Honorable Judge Carlos Villalon, Judge of the Child Protection Court of the Rio Grande Valley West, the Implementation Task Force was created to oversee the implementation of the strategies set forth in the Blueprint. The Implementation Task Force set global priorities for the SCTIC, established workgroups to carry out these priorities, and monitored progress to help ensure successful implementation.

The workgroups Policy & Practice, Training, and Information Sharing, Data, & Funding each completed large projects during the initial phase of implementation.

 

Trauma Informed Court Pilot Project

 

The SCTIC work continued under the guidance of an Implementation Task Force. Through a grant partnership with the Texas Center for Child and Family Studies, the SCTIC work focused on supporting four pilot court sites to create and implement trauma-informed projects. Each court site had a lead judge who convened a court team made of key collaborative partners to implement projects with the goal of addressing child and family safety through a trauma-informed lens.

The pilot included court teams led by the following judges:

  • Hon. Linda Dunson, Judge of the 309th Family District Court, Houston;
  • Hon. Angela Graves-Harrington, Judge of the 246th Family District Court, Houston;
  • Hon. Andrea James, Associate Judge of the Second Region Child Protection Court Number 2, Bryan; and
  • Hon. Cheryl Vaughan, Associate Judge of the Child Protection Court Eighth Region North, Gainesville.

Using strategies from the Trauma Blueprint, the court teams developed a plan for their communities to prioritize felt safety for families and children, focus on effective courtroom culture, and build lasting community ties. Projects designed by these court teams include a monthly brown bag training series; phased service plans to support families in successfully completing services; a video for families explaining what to expect in the courtroom; and parent notebooks.

 

Building a Network of Trauma Informed Courts in Texas

In collaboration with the Children’s Commission, the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS) published Building a Network of Trauma Informed Courts in Texas in March 2024 to highlight the work and the resources created by the Trauma-Informed Courts Pilot Project.

 

Consortium on Trauma Informed Court Practices

The Children’s Commission began the next phase of the work related to trauma informed care in August 2024, by launching a new initiative called the Consortium on Trauma Informed Court Practices. The Consortium provides a statewide network for judges to have a forum for discussion, education, and training.

Chaired by Hon. Carlos Villalon Jr., Judge of the Child Protection Court of the Rio Grande Valley West, the Consortium is guided by the four mentor judges who participated in the year-long pilot on Trauma-Informed Courts:

  • Hon. Linda Dunson, Judge of the 309th Family District Court, Houston;
  • Hon. Angela Graves-Harrington, Judge of the 246th Family District Court, Houston;
  • Hon. Andrea James, Associate Judge of the Second Region Child Protection Court Number 2, Bryan; and
  • Hon. Cheryl Vaughan, Associate Judge of the Child Protection Court Eighth Region North, Gainesville.

Designed for judges hearing civil child welfare cases, the Consortium on Trauma Informed Court Practices meets bimonthly in a virtual forum. Please read below to access related resources including the Trauma Informed Practice Strategies (TIPS). While these TIPS are geared towards judges who handle child welfare cases, attorneys and other child welfare stakeholders may also find the TIPS to be informative and helpful.

For questions about the Consortium, please email ChildrensCommissionRSVP@txcourts.gov.

February 2026: 2nd Annual CPC of Concho Valley TBRI Training

Below please find photos from the 2nd Annual CPC of Concho Valley TBRI Training. This event was sponsored by the San Angelo Area Foundation’s Trauma Informed Family Recovery Initiative. Attendees included therapists, professionals working with juveniles, caseworkers, parents, community action organizations, placements, probation, faith-based organizations, foster/adopt family support, and local leaders. Remarks were provided by DFPS Commissioner Audrey O’Neill. Trainers were Certified Educators with the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at TCU and a parent with lived experience. The training was in honor of Hon. Carol Clark, retired Judge of the 321st District Court, Smith County (Tyler, Texas), and her legacy, which is showcased in the “All Rise for the Good of the Children” documentary. For more information, including how the event was planned and executed, please contact Hon. Elizabeth Watkins, Associate Judge of the Child Protection Court of the Concho Valley, at Elizabeth.Watkins@txcourts.gov.

October 2025: New from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges: Trauma-Informed Courtroom Practices: A Bench Card for Judges. Per NCJFCJ, this Bench Card is designed to support judges in making informed decisions when working with children and families affected by trauma.

May 15, 2025 Consortium Meeting, Hon. Cheryl Vaughan, Associate Judge of the Child Protection Court Eighth Region North, Gainesville

October 29, 2024 Consortium Meeting, Hon. Linda Dunson, 309th Family Court Judge

Above, Sitting area: place for quiet time, peace, and self-reflection

Above, Art work table: dedicated space for creative expression

Above: Resources Bookshelf

Definitions

The SCTIC adopted the following definitions for “Trauma” and “Trauma-Informed” based on existing definitions from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services adopted these definitions under Texas Administrative Code Section 702.201.

Trauma

Results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning or the individual’s mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.

Trauma-Informed

An individual, program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed fully integrates knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices by:

  • Realizing the widespread impact of trauma, understanding potential paths for recovery, and acknowledging the compounding impact of structural inequities related to culture, history, race, gender, identity, locale, and language;
  • Recognizing the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system;
  • Maximizing physical and psychological safety and responding to the impact of structural inequities on individuals and communities;
  • Building healthy, trusting relationships that create mutuality among children, families, caregivers, and professionals at an individual and organizational level; and striving to avoid re-traumatization.

2021 Judicial Trauma Institute

The Judicial Trauma Institute was presented live on April 22-23, 2021 via webcast. The content was designed by Commission staff in partnership with the Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care (SCTIC) Training Workgroup and hosted by the Texas Center for the Judiciary. The goal of the conference was for judicial teams to gain information and discover practical tools and resources about how to become a trauma-informed and trauma-responsive court in child welfare cases. Judicial teams were composed by judges who invited the following members from their jurisdictions: a court coordinator; a prosecutor; an attorney who takes appointments for parents and for children in CPS cases; a senior-level Caseworker or Supervisor at DFPS; and a CASA Executive Director or Program Director. Due to the virtual format, additional child welfare stakeholders and single registrant judges also attended.

Video replays and conference materials can be accessed on the Judicial Trauma Institute webpage.