Developing a Digital Single-Session Intervention to Promote Trauma-Informed Caregiving: Insights from Foster Caregivers and Child Welfare Providers

Background. Youth in foster care exhibit behavioral and emotional challenges, often linked to complex trauma exposure. There is a paucity of accessible evidence-based interventions to support foster caregivers in addressing youths’ needs. Self-guided, digital single-session interventions (SSIs) represent a promising solution. Methods. As the first phase of an intervention mapping project, we conducted a systematic, qualitative needs assessment with foster caregivers (n=13) and child welfare providers (n=6) to inform the design of a trauma-informed SSI for foster caregivers. A team-based, multistage analytic coding strategy guided by grounded theory principles and consisting of inductive and deductive approaches was used. Thematic content analysis and axial coding identified resulting themes. Results and Conclusions. Three areas of challenges and desired support were identified, including validating foster caregivers and addressing systemic challenges, supporting caregivers in navigating foster care transitions, and addressing trauma and developmental challenges in foster youth. Implications for the design of a community-informed SSI are discussed.