Trauma-informed approaches to birth family contact for children adopted from out-of-home care

Introduction: For children adopted from out-of-home care, maintaining connection with birth relatives can promote
understanding of their life story and identity development. However, children may experience significant
distress when contact visits do not go well. Moreover, parents of children who are taken into care often have
their own complex trauma that can affect their ability to connect with their children.
Aims: A multi-disciplinary and international working group identified key approaches for applying trauma
awareness to support children’s contact with birth relatives, including the gaps in evidence and potential questions
for research.
Method: This research collaboration draws upon a rapid evidence review conducted by MacDonald on traumainformed
child welfare systems, and qualitative research led by Wright on experiences of children, carers and
birth parents with contact visits for children in permanent care and adoption. From this research and consultations
with practitioners, case studies of children’s experiences in contact were developed, highlighting scenarios
that could be distressing and dysregulating for children.
Findings and discussion: Recommendations from the group identified approaches to changing practice and closing
the research-to-practice gap by incorporating emerging evidence-based practices that address the neuroscience
and treatment of complex childhood trauma and help families and communities to heal.
Implications:Trauma is central to the experiences of children in out-of-home care, including their experiences of
face-to-face birth family contact. Direct contact, as is expected in adoptions from out-of-home care in Australia
and Northern Ireland, needs to be planned and supported to minimize harm to children and promote their
healing from trauma.
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