Australia receives over 13,000 people from refugee and refugee like background every year. Many of these are children and young people. Most have survived severe trauma and grievous losses, often witnessing atrocities and the torture and death of loved ones in the process. For many, these experiences will have a long lasting impact on their lives, interfering with their ability to realize their potential and succeed in their new environment.
This paper introduces STARTTS integrated approach to assist children and young people overcome the sequelae of trauma and regain control of their lives. The program, best described as a perpetual work in progress, incorporates a variety of interventions, ranging from joint programs with schools and refugee community organizations to sophisticated clinical interventions based on the practical application of the latest advances in the neuroscience of trauma. The paper introduces the different interventions that compose the program and proposes a rationale for their respective utilization in an integrative framework to support resilience and recovery of individuals and groups- The paper also explores the advantages, issues and challenges involved in managing an integrated program at an agency level, and introduces the evaluation methods utilized and the promising results obtained so far.