Resources

The relationship with a parent or primary caregiver is critical to a child’s sense of self, safety, and trust. However, many children experience the loss of a caregiver—either permanently or for varying amounts of time—due to death or other circumstances. For example, chronic separa­tions may result from military deployment, parental incarceration, immi­gration, parental deportation, or termination of parental rights. When sep­arated from their caregiver, children may develop post-traumatic respons­es. This factsheet gives information on traumatic separation, chal­lenges children may face, post-traumatic responses children may have, and suggestions for helping children who experience traumatic separa­tion from a caregiver.