How to Maintain Emotional Health When Working with Trauma

Vicarious traumatization, compassion fatigue, or secondary traumatization refers to the cumulative effect of working with survivors of traumatic life events as part of everyday work. Although this issue has been acknowledged and addressed among professionals such as police officers and medical professionals, it has been discussed less among juvenile and family court judges who also experience secondary traumatic stress. In fact, in one recent study, a majority of judges reported one or more symptoms of secondary traumatization. This article describes the common signs and symptoms of secondary trauma, job‐related factors that contribute to secondary trauma among judges, and the potential negative impact on organizational performance. The authors conclude with specific recommendations tailored for juvenile and family court judges.     

Improving juvenile dependency courts:Twenty-Three Steps

New federal support for improvement in the handling of child welfare cases has made it possible for juvenile and family court judges to assess how well courts are implementing the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980. This article first describes the purposes of the Act, and then suggest 23 steps to consider in attempts to improve the court process.