HAHarvey Walden
4 days agoArapahoe County's Trauma Support Program Keeps Families Safe Before Crisis Hits
Most families want the same thing: to keep their kids safe and their homes stable. Arapahoe County’s Trauma Support Program helps families involved with child welfare do exactly that—before challenges turn into crises. The result is fewer emergencies, safer children and stronger neighborhoods across the County.
For more than 30 years, families who are working to address safety concerns have been recommended to the Trauma Support Program by their caseworker. Then the family meets with a support worker who provides in-home therapeutic services 1–2 times per week. Families focus on anything from learning how to de-escalate conflict to parenting without physical discipline to how to safely co-parent across two households. Meetings usually continue for 90 days, but can change, based on the family’s progress and needs.
“At the heart of this work is helping families build the tools, support and stability they need to safely move forward, said Jen Marine, Child and Adult Protection Services supervisor. We work with families from a strengths-based and trauma-informed lens. That means we look beyond the behavior or the crisis and try to understand what is underneath it, while also having honest conversations about safety, parenting and what families need to stay together whenever safely possible.”
Because families receive support before concerns escalate, children are safer and their parents build lasting skills to meet the needs of their children. Ultimately, fewer families need deeper intervention from the child welfare system.
Since tracking began in 2017, 1,276 families in the program have focused on communication, structure, routines, protective parenting, co-parenting, received trauma education, and accessed support networks:
In 2024, the Trauma Support Program received referrals for 26 families in our prevention program. After one year, 24— or 92%—of those families were able to exit the child welfare system without entering the child welfare system
In 2025, 41 families from our prevention program were referred, of which 36—nearly 88%— did not enter the system.
Funded through Colorado Child Welfare Core Services Program (CORE), the Trauma Support Program has three full-time support workers. Each has previous child welfare casework experience, as well as a clinical lens, and understands court timelines, case plans and the pressures families may face while navigating the child welfare system.
The Trauma Support Program is only available to families with a child protection caseworker or who are in our prevention program. Interested families should talk to their caseworker to learn more about the program. Residents not involved in the child welfare system can find separate support opportunities at www.211colorado.org.
