Trauma-Informed Practice at Horizons
Understanding the Link Between Homelessness and Trauma
The experience of being homeless can be deeply traumatizing for both parents and children. Homelessness rarely stems from a single cause—it’s often the result of generational poverty driven by a complex combination of personal and systemic factors. These may include a lack of affordable housing, unemployment, sudden life events such as job loss or illness, and family crises like domestic violence or relationship breakdowns.
Having limited social support systems can intensify the stress families face, contributing to trauma. At Horizons, we see firsthand how these experiences impact both parents and children. Trauma may show up in many ways—from emotional dysregulation and anxiety to difficulty trusting others or maintaining stability in relationships.
Trauma-Informed Practice with Parents
At Horizons, we take a trauma-informed approach across every level of our organization. This means we recognize the widespread impact of trauma and actively integrate trauma-sensitive principles into our services, culture, and systems.
Our framework is deeply rooted in Brazelton Touchpoints principles, in which all Horizons employees are trained. This foundation equips our team to respond to families with empathy, understanding, and respect.
Examples of Trauma-Informed Practice at Horizons
- – Strengths-Based Approach: We focus on each parent’s inherent strengths, capacities, and resources rather than their challenges. By recognizing resilience and capability, we help families see themselves as agents of change in their own lives.
- – Cultural Respect and Inclusion: We honor each family’s culture, language, and structure, understanding that cultural identity is central to healing and belonging.
- – Empowerment and Collaboration: Guided by trauma-informed principles—trustworthiness, transparency, collaboration, and mutuality—we prioritize family voice, choice, and empowerment in all interactions.
“Our Family Coaching Specialists are experts in walking alongside families, careful not to be too prescriptive, but rather collaborative in their approach to support. The parents are in the driver’s seat, the coaches are asking the right questions like ‘where do you see yourself in the future?’ and ‘how do you want to get there?’- not defining the answers. At the same time, Horizons’ leadership team is committed to this process too by providing families clear expectations and communication conveyed with respect and fairness.”
Trauma-Informed Teaching in Early Childhood Classrooms
Children experiencing homelessness often face instability—constant changes in environment, caregivers, and routines. These disruptions can deeply affect their emotional development and sense of safety.
Common Trauma Symptoms Observed in Children
- – Difficulty regulating emotions
- – Trouble trusting others
- – Aggression or defiance as survival behaviors
All Horizons educators receive specialized training to recognize, respond to, and help counteract trauma’s effects. This training is based upon three core curriculums:
Through the Brazelton Touchpoints curriculum, teachers learn how to interpret children’s behaviors as communication, engage families as partners in learning, and strengthen parents’ confidence as the experts on their children.
The Pyramid Model provides a complementary framework that helps early educators build skills for supporting nurturing and responsive caregiving, create learning environments, provide targeted social-emotional skills, and support children with challenging behavior.
The Circle of Security is a program that includes interventions and engagement that reinforce secure attachment relationships with caregivers. These relationships are a protective factor for infants and preschoolers, setting the foundation for social competence and promoting effective functioning of the emotion regulation and stress response systems.
To promote healing, our educators focus on building social-emotional and resiliency skills—helping children manage their emotions, form positive relationships, and make safe, responsible choices.
“Our educators practice techniques that recognize some child behaviors as trauma-responses and respond accordingly. An example might be if a child is having a hard time complying with a safety expectation, the teacher may recognize the behavior and redirect the child by offering two viable alternatives for play. This approach allows the teacher to practice a ‘power-with’ strategy empowering the child with equally acceptable choices for how to proceed while avoiding the shame or negativity that can accompany traditional punishment."
Breaking the Cycle Through a Trauma-Informed Approach
At Horizons, we believe that trauma-informed practice is key to breaking the cycle of homelessness. By embedding trauma-aware principles into every part of our organization—from physical spaces and staff training to shelter-based services—we create safe, responsive environments that nurture healing and growth.
Every parent and child we serve is met with compassion, respect, and empowerment. Together, we’re building brighter, more stable futures for families who have faced extraordinary challenges.
As we continue this essential work, we invite our community to:
👉 Explore our new trauma-informed classrooms and gross motor spaces designed to promote emotional safety and learning.
👉 Learn how you can get involved in supporting families experiencing homelessness through donations, volunteer opportunities, and advocacy.
