Neurobiological research reveals how trauma fundamentally alters childhood brain development, disrupting attachment formation and emotional regulation. Antony Bainbridge demonstrates that trauma-informed foster care approaches can achieve remarkable therapeutic outcomes, transforming severely traumatised children’s developmental trajectories through evidence-based interventions rather than traditional disciplinary methods.
Every child deserves a safe, nurturing environment in which to live and grow. The UN Convention on the Rights of a Child guarantees this by declaring ‘protection from harm’ as one of the universal rights of a child.
Yet for many children who enter the foster care system, their early experiences have unfortunately been anything but nurturing or safe. They carry the burden of invisible wounds, damaged by psychological and emotional traumas that impact their development and shape how they interact with the world around them.
Take the case of the seven-year-old girl who arrived at our residential care facility after years of abuse from people who were supposed to care for her. When she arrived, Emily, displayed behaviours that many might find challenging or confronting: including inappropriate boundaries with adults, complete lack of stranger danger awareness, and even basic issues like double incontinence. These weren’t wilful misbehaviours, but were instead manifestations of profound trauma, signs that her developmental trajectory had been severely disrupted.
Unfortunately, traditional foster care systems, without understanding the neurobiological impact of trauma, usually respond to these cases with outdated disciplinary approaches that can actually reinforce a child’s sense of shame and unworthiness. Based on outmoded methodologies, such children will be labelled as either “difficult” or “troubled”. In reality, however, they are simply responding to their environment in the only way they know how.
Sadly, Emily’s case is not an isolated one. Globally, thousands of children experience similar traumatic beginnings in their early years. But what makes her particular story worth telling is what happened next – a transformation that speaks to the power of trauma-informed care and the urgent need to integrate these approaches into foster care systems worldwide.
Understanding childhood trauma
As previously mentioned, severe or prolonged trauma fundamentally alters brain development. Research has consistently demonstrated that abuse and neglect during formative years can disrupt attachment formation, emotional regulation, and even basic bodily functions.
In the case of Emily, the neurological and psychological impacts of trauma manifested in several ways, such as her inability to use the bathroom appropriately, her lack of boundaries with adults, and her inappropriate expressions of attachment, particularly toward adults.
When children with such complex needs enter care systems designed primarily for typically developing children, the results can be problematic and often lead to more difficult, even possible more traumatic experiences. This was evident in Emily’s case – despite family members’ best intentions, they simply lacked the specialised knowledge to meet her complex needs.
The transformative power of trauma-informed care
At The Gardens, our approach with Emily began not with behavioural management but with comprehensive assessment. Psychological evaluations and an AIM under-12 assessment established her baseline functioning and helped develop a targeted care plan. Simultaneously, we invested heavily in training our staff – equipping them with knowledge about therapeutic parenting using models like PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy), attachment theory, trauma impacts, working with children who display potentially harmful behaviours linked to early trauma, and psychosocial interventions.
Despite early predictions that her challenges might be insurmountable, within 15 months of trauma-informed care, Emily achieved remarkable progress. She now attends full-time education, her boundary-related behaviours have diminished significantly, and she has developed secure attachments and self-regulation skills essential for her future wellbeing.
This success story highlights several crucial elements that could strengthen the UAE’s approach to child welfare: specialised assessment, trauma-specific interventions, and carefully managed transitions to foster care.
The UAE context: Building on strong foundations
The UAE has made commendable strides in child protection through initiatives like the Wadeema Law (Federal Law No. 3 of 2016), the UAE National Child Protection Policy, and the establishment of Child Protection Units under various ministries.
In addition, Dubai’s recent initiatives to strengthen child protection mechanisms and the nationwide emphasis on social solidarity for vulnerable children reflect a genuine commitment to child welfare.
However, there remains a critical gap in these policies and in the overcall foster care landscape – the integration of trauma-informed approaches into foster care systems. While the UAE has strong family reunification programmes and increasing adoption awareness, the specific needs of severely traumatised children require specialised approaches that are still evolving in the region.
This gap is particularly notable for children who have experienced abuse, neglect, or displacement, including vulnerable populations like the children of incarcerated parents or those from transient expat families. These children require care that goes beyond meeting basic needs to address the complex neurological and psychological impacts of their experiences.
A blueprint for trauma-informed foster care
How might the UAE adapt international best practices to its unique cultural context? Here are some factors to consider in developing a trauma-informed foster care framework:
- Specialised assessment and treatment pathways: Every child entering the system should receive comprehensive psychological assessment specifically designed to identify trauma symptoms. This could include standardised tools adapted for cultural appropriateness across the UAE’s diverse population. Based on these assessments, individualised treatment plans should be developed, with clear pathways to appropriate placements.
- Multi-tiered foster care training: Foster parents need different levels of training depending on the trauma severity they’ll be addressing. A tiered system could include basic trauma awareness for all foster parents, intermediate training for those taking children with moderate trauma histories as well as advanced certification for specialist foster carers working with severely traumatised children like Emily.
The UAE’s National Academy for Childhood Development, which already received 7,800 applications in its second year, could expand its curriculum to include these specialised trauma modules.
- Multi-agency coordination teams: Complex trauma cases require coordination across health, education, social services, and sometimes legal systems. The UAE could pioneer integrated case management teams specifically for traumatised children in foster care, ensuring cohesive support across all domains of a child’s life.
- Cultural adaptation of evidence-based models: Trauma-informed models from other countries need cultural adaptation to work effectively in the UAE’s multicultural context. Methods like Therapeutic Parenting, PACE (mentioned earlier), and attachment-based interventions can be modified to respect diverse family structures, religious values, and cultural norms present in Emirati society and among expatriate communities.
The way forward for the UAE
The UAE is uniquely positioned to become a regional leader in trauma-informed foster care. With its strong commitment to child welfare, well-established legal frameworks, and resources for professional development, the foundations are already in place.
What’s needed now is targeted investment in trauma-informed training for foster parents, development of specialised assessment protocols, establishment of clinical supervision frameworks, and integration of these approaches into existing child protection systems.
The newly established National Academy for Childhood Development could play a pivotal role in developing these capacities, while organisations like the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children could expand their focus to include specialised training for foster parents of traumatised children.
At a policy level, trauma-informed approaches should be explicitly incorporated into foster care guidelines and standards, with appropriate funding mechanisms to support the additional training and support required.
As the UAE continues to develop its child protection systems, trauma-informed foster care should be a central component, not an optional extra. Every child deserves the chance that Emily received: to move beyond the shadow of their traumatic beginnings and build a future defined not by what was done to them, but by their own potential for growth, connection, and contribution to society.
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About the author
Antony Bainbridge is Head of Clinical Services at Resicare Alliance, a leading provider of therapeutic residential care and specialists in trauma-informed approaches to supporting vulnerable children and young people.
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About Resicare
Resicare Alliance is a UK-based organisation that provides residential services for children and young people with mental health and behavioural challenges.
Resicare is developing a bespoke, region-wide support model that aims to partner with established local organisations. The proposed scope includes:
- Outreach services for young people post-hospital discharge
- Community-based clinical support accessible to all
- Specialised educational provision for children with developmental needs
- Training programmes to upskill professionals working with affected children and families
- Strategic consultation to help local organisations strengthen service delivery and improve impact; and
- Support to develop Centres of Excellence in child welfare and mental health.
Resicare is now in active discussions across the UAE and the GCC region to explore how these services can be introduced and tailored to meet local needs, with a long-term goal of building sustainable, impactful partnerships that address pressing gaps in child and adolescent mental health support.
