Extension program provides trauma education, intervention

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Two educational parenting programs designed to help protect Mississippi’s children through support and intervention are making a difference.

Lori Elmore-Staton, a human development and family science specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the programs have reached thousands of children and families since 2021.

Both programs are aimed at helping parents and professionals who work with children create safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments to help children and families avoid trauma as well as heal from trauma. They are delivered through MSU Extension’s Trauma-Informed Parenting and Professional Strategies, or TIPPS Program.

“Childhood trauma can result from multiple experiences, including child maltreatment, domestic violence and unhealthy family relationships,” said Elmore-Staton, who is also a professor in the MSU School of Human Sciences. “Adversity in childhood, such as having an incarcerated parent, can leave an imprint on the brain and body, especially when the experiences include relational traumas, including maltreatment, abuse, neglect, violence and family dysfunction.”

The TIPPS Protect and Connect, or P&C, Program is aimed at child abuse prevention and is open to all parents living in Mississippi. Parents and professionals who work with children learn strategies to better connect with children and improve care practices.

Through 2025, the TIPPS P&C program reached over 3,100 families across 77 counties. Participants are provided toolkits and are assigned a caseworker who answers parenting-related questions and can make referrals to community resources.

“Creating safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children to grow and thrive does not always come naturally,” Elmore-Staton said. “We learn most of our parenting behaviors from our parents and the experiences we had as children.

“Not everyone grows up in a household with healthy role models, and all parents struggle at some point with figuring out what is best for their children,” she said. “This program can help families build healthy relationships.”

Five toolkits are mailed to each participant, including various materials for infants, toddlers, school-age children or teens that help families learn positive discipline strategies, family resource management, healthy family communication and emotion regulation and parental self-care.

“I absolutely love all the items received in this toolkit. The routine charts and the chore chart will come in handy with school starting back. The timer gives us a better idea with time and getting things done within that period,” said one participant who praised the family resource management toolkit.

“The binder and goals booklet serves as a reminder of things I may have forgotten and reiterated some things I have been doing. I love the kits because they all fit in with our day-to-day,” the enrollee continued.

The TIPPS Intervention Services Program is aimed at helping children who have experienced trauma. Extension TIPPS team members deliver the 6-hour course based on the principles in the Trust-Based Relational Intervention, or TBRI, model to parents and caregivers, particularly focusing on court-involved families.

The training principles can be used for children of all ages and risk levels in birth homes, foster homes, kinship homes, adoptive homes, schools, orphanages, residential treatment centers and other environments, such as schools.

“The principles in this program are specifically designed for parents and caregivers of children who come from ‘hard places,’ including maltreatment, abuse, neglect, multiple home placements and violence,” Elmore-Staton said. “Caregivers who complete the training gain an understanding of what should have happened in a child’s early development and how they can help guide a child back to their natural developmental trajectory.”

Of the 128 parents who completed the TBRI training last year, 97% said they would recommend the training to others. Participants were asked to share the most important thing they learned during the training.

“Children from hard places feel like they have no control,” one participant said. “We can create opportunities for them to have some control.”

Based on feedback from participants, the TIPPS P&C program is making a meaningful impact for families who participate. Between 80% and 95% report they have increased knowledge, skills and abilities in all aspects of parenting after completing the program. Almost 97% of participants who completed the TBRI training reported increased knowledge and skills related to children’s behavior, physiological needs and parenting methods.

“While all childhood traumas cannot be prevented, child maltreatment can, and this program aims to equip caregivers with strategies and tools to help them better understand their children and the behaviors they exhibit, their developmental needs and how to deal with various challenges of parenting,” Elmore-Staton said.

Healthy families are not just healthier in terms of relationships, but it also leads to a positive financial effect for children, families and the state. Research has shown that someone who experienced childhood trauma has a lifetime economic burden of $2.5 million influenced by various factors, including health and work outcomes.

In 2024, the programs had an estimated combined annual savings of $15.5 million in economic burden to children affected by trauma. When these family savings are spent at a rate appropriate to various household income levels, they are expected to annually support a combined estimated 91 jobs earning $4 million in labor income, $8 million in value added and $15 million in total sales.

Both programs are delivered by MSU Extension in partnership with the MSU School of Human Sciences and the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

For more information about the TIPPS P&C Program, visit the MSU Extension website.

Learn more about the TBRI model by visiting Texas Christian University’s Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development website.