Developmental Trauma Toolkit
The NextUp Developmental Trauma Toolkit (2024) is designed for faculty, staff, and practitioners working with current and former foster youth in California Community Colleges. It explains the impacts of developmental trauma—such as disrupted attachment, challenges with emotional regulation, and diminished self-worth—and how these experiences intersect with typical developmental tasks faced by college students.
The toolkit provides:
- Strategies for practitioners to create supportive, trauma-informed environments that foster trust, resilience, and healing.
- Case studies and examples illustrating how trauma affects learning, relationships, and self-perception, along with ways staff can respond.
- Practical tools for needs assessment, individualized support planning, and collaboration with mental health providers and community partners.
- Skill-building approaches in areas like time management, financial literacy, and self-advocacy to help foster youth navigate independence.
This resource is especially valuable for NextUp program staff, counselors, faculty, and administrators seeking to better understand and address the unique needs of foster youth, reduce disparities, and promote equity in higher education.
Key Topics: Campus Best Practices. Professional Development & Training. Supporting Student Mental Health
Intended Audience: Faculty, Staff & Administrators
Resource Types: Guides (toolkits, manuals, how-to documents)