Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Child Abuse & Neglect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chiabuneg Research article In the trauma-informed care trenches: Teacher compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and intent to leave education within underserved elementary schools Allison S. Christian-Brandt a, *, Diana E. Santacrose b , Miya L. Barnett c a Pacific University Oregon, School of Graduate Psychology, United States b Loyola Marymount University, United States c Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Child trauma Trauma-informed care Teacher compassion satisfaction Teacher burnout Teacher secondary traumatic stress ABSTRACT Background: School-based trauma-informed care (TIC) represents a novel way of supporting children with trauma histories. However, minimal research has focused on how TIC impacts teacher wellbeing, which is concerning given the relationship between occupational stress and turnover from education. Objective: This study investigated teacher characteristics associated with perceived effectiveness of TIC and intent to leave education. Participants and setting: The study included 163 teachers in underserved elementary schools serving a high percentage of low-income, English-language learner Latinx students. Methods: Teachers completed a survey regarding an ongoing TIC program and quality of life for helping professionals. Results: Higher compassion satisfaction and secondary traumatic stress (STS), as well as lower burnout, were associated with perceived effectiveness of TIC. Older teachers, and those with lower compassion satisfaction and higher burnout, were more likely to report intentions to leave education. STS and perceived effectiveness of TIC were not associated with turnover intent. Conclusions: Results suggest that teacher occupational wellbeing, particularly compassion sa- tisfaction, plays a role in buy-in to TIC and retention among teachers. 1. Introduction A history of trauma, including child abuse and neglect, is common among children (Copeland, Keeler, Angold, & Costello, 2007; Felitti et al., 1998). Within the United States, rates of child victimization have remained steady in recent years, impacting roughly 9 in every 1,000 children between 2013 and 2017 U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Administration on Children, Youth & Families, Children’s Bureau, 2019). In 2017, the majority of children who experienced maltreatment were victims of neglect (75 %), followed by physical abuse (18 %), and sexual abuse (9 %; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Administration on Children, Youth & Families, Children’s Bureau, 2019). Of note, child maltreatment disproportionately affects families living in poverty across ethnic/racial groups (Kim & Drake, 2018). In the short-term, children who have experienced trauma are at risk for failing grades, poor attendance (Stempel, Cox-Martin, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104437 Received 7 June 2019; Received in revised form 17 December 2019; Accepted 25 February 2020 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: ABrandt@pacificu.edu (A.S. Christian-Brandt), Diana.santacrose@lmu.edu (D.E. Santacrose), mbarnett@ucsb.edu (M.L. Barnett). Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (xxxx) xxxx 0145-2134/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Allison S. Christian-Brandt, Diana E. Santacrose and Miya L. Barnett, Child Abuse & Neglect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104437