Trauma, Attachment, Resilence into Action. 

The TARA Project is a professional education and research partnership between Dublin South Central (DSC), Tusla, Child and Family Agency and University College Cork. 

Project Aim

The overarching aim of this partnership is to integrate trauma-informed practices across the service area of DSC, one Area of TUSLA to support practice in responding to the complex needs of children and their families.

Methodology

The project commenced October 2022.  The project will span for 3 years involving two phases.  

Phase 1:  The project will involve exploring the effects of Trauma-informed care professional education on practitioner outcomes, (2022-2023).

Phase 2: The project will examine a number of implementation strategies identified by Phase 1, (2024-2025).

Ethical approval was received from SREC, University College Cork and the Tusla Independent Ethics Committee for Phase One (2022-2023).

Research Presentations

Lotty, M. & O’Donoghue, M. (2023, November 7). ‘Putting Resilience back in the headline towards an integrated holistic practice lens for Child and Families Services beyond a trauma centred lens’ Oral paper accepted for the 7^th Unity Through Relationship International Annual Conference 2023, Dublin.

Lotty, M. & Hayes, M., (2023, October 27). ‘Examining Professional Education in Trauma-informed Practice for Child Welfare and Protection Services: The Trauma, Attachment, Resilience into Action (TARA) Project’ Oral Paper accepted for the 9^th National Child Protection and Welfare Social Work Conference, University College Cork.

Lotty, M. (2023, September 24). ‘Moving from knowing to doing: Supporting Trauma-informed practice in the Irish front-line through TARA (Trauma, Attachment and Resilience into Action).’ Oral paper accepted for the ISPCAN International Congress, Edinburgh.

Funder

This Project is funded by Dublin South Central (DSC), Tusla, Child and Family Agency.

Project Team

Dr Maria Lotty (PI), Centre for Adult and Continuing Education and ISS21, UCC

Dr Noreen Kearns, Post-Doctoral Researcher