Toxic stress is the intense and prolonged stress response to overwhelming adversity that a child faces
in the absence of protective factors.
TOXIC STRESS
When a child experiences a traumatic event, their body instantly shifts into survival mode, leaving healing on the back burner. If peace and stability aren’t restored soon after, and the child cannot retreat to the comfort and connections they need to recover, that danger signal remains active and begins to influence how they move forward in the world, steering their growth in harmful directions.
When a child is removed from their safe parent after experiencing domestic violence, they are deprived of the support they need to heal and subjected to the negative, long-term impacts of lasting trauma.
PROTECTIVE FACTORS
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The support and safety of a loving caregiver is the strongest buffer against toxic stress. Community, school stability, and familiar routines that reinforce predictability, comfort, and belonging also mitigate the risk of long-term damage.
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Children who witness domestic violence recover more quickly when they remain with their non-offending caregiver​
Child welfare systems prioritize a child's short-term safety and often disregard the documented risk that their intervention methods can disrupt healthy development and negatively shape a child's life for years to come.
more likely to develop PTSD and other trauma-related conditions
Children separated from their primary caregiver are
2.9X
more likely to develop long-term physical health problems
2-3X
Children exposed to chronic stress without caregiver buffering are
Children separated from their parent for 6+months are
4.5X
more likely to develop anxiety and depressive symptoms later in life.
The likelihood of developing a mental health disorder increases
15-20%
each year a child spends in foster care
Hormonal and immune system disruption, increased inflammation, higher cortisol levels, reduced ability to fight illness.
Poor academic performance, decreased learning retention, trouble concentrating, and reduced executive functioning.
Strained relationships and social functioning, difficulties with trust, connection, and communication.
Behavior and emotional challenges, anxiety, irritability, and problems managing impulses.
Higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, substance use disorders, depression, and other chronic health problems.
Altered brain development: changes in areas linked to learning, memory, emotional regulation, and decision-making.
IMPACT
TOXIC STRESS: PARENTS
Child welfare systems prioritize the immediate best interests of the child, often to the detrimental expense of their parent's wellbeing. Decades of research show that when a caregiver is overwhelmed, highly distressed, or in crisis, a child’s ability to thrive declines with them.
A child’s health is deeply tied to the mental and emotional stability
of the parent who loves them.
Healthy co-regulation between a parent and child reduces stress hormone levels within
MINUTES
4X
Children with parents in high psychological distress are
more likely to face social & emotional development difficulties
2-3X
Children of mothers experiencing chronic maternal depression are
more likely to develop behavioral and emotional disorders.
more likely to show symptoms of trauma themselves
4X
When a parent has untreated trauma, their child is
A survivor’s connection to their child is often the only source of emotional stability and strength that allows them to endure and escape violence. When CPS severs that bond, it does not eliminate danger, but destroys the primary source of strength, stability, and hope for both the child and the parent.
When CPS takes away the children of a parent who reports violence in the hopes of restoring peace to the home for a better childhood, they take away the parent's sense of purpose.
1 in 3 mothers involved with child welfare agencies experience PTSD symptoms.
2X
Mothers who lose custody of a child are nearly
as likely to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder.
4.5X
Mothers who's children were removed were
more likely to die by suicide than their biological sisters.
6 in 10 mothers who had a child removed reported persistent, daily grief symptoms 1 year later.
Sustained disruption of the parent–child dyad in the aftermath of trauma causes irreparable damage.
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The child can never be reunited with that same parent they longed for,
the parent can never get back the child they were fighting to protect.