Trauma, Loss and Attachment

Chantal's Miracle

This video tells the story of Chantal, a young woman who survived the genocide in Rwanda, and overcame losing her family to become a successful shop owner with the help and support of Dr Lori Leyden and Project Light. Find out more. Read more

'No-one told us it was going to be like this'

Compassion fatigue and foster carers. Compassion fatigue is a physical and emotional response to the stresses of working with traumatised people. This study explores compassion fatigue in foster carers and the impacts this can have, with the aim of improving awareness and highlighting the support strategies which carers find helpful to reducing compassion fatigue. Read more

Treating Childhood Trauma

Oprah Winfrey reports on how trauma plays a role in childhood development and what new methods are being used to help children and young people who have experienced it in a recent report for American news channel CBS. Find out more. Read more

SevenSlideSeries: The Human Brain

This short video, from the SevenSlideSeries at the ChildTrauma Academy, gives a brief introduction to core concepts about brain structure and function that provide the basis for developmentally sensitive and trauma-informed caregiving, education and therapy. Read more

The Cost Of Caring

This booklet by Dr Bruce Perry, Founder and Senior Fellow at the ChildTrauma Academy, presents an overview of secondary trauma, with the aim of giving readers a better understanding of how working with traumatised children and young people can affect us personally and professionally. Find out more about this booklet 'The Cost of Caring'. Read more

The Neurobiology of Relationships and Community

In this fascinating presentation, Dr Dan Siegel (Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA) looks at the links between neuroscience, adolescence, relationships and community. Read more

Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency

The Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC) framework us a flexible intervention which was developed for children and young people who have experienced complex trauma. Find out more and read Kinniburgh, Blaustein, Spinazzola and van der Kolk's paper: Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency. Read more

InBrief: The Science of Neglect

This six-minute video provides an overview of The Science of Neglect: The Persistent Absence of Responsive Care Disrupts the Developing Brain, a Working Paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. Read more

Thro' the een o' caer leevers

(Through the eyes of care leavers) The experience of young people leaving care and suffering from depression in Scotland. Marina Amaral's thesis examines the Throughcare experience and outcomes achieved by young people who are simultaneously leaving care and experiencing depression. Find out more and download Marina's thesis. Read more

Latest

Join our team - new roles at Staf

We’re currently recruiting for 3 new roles, each offering a chance to be part of our important work with young people.
Explore the Friendship Anthology

A new collection of poetry, stories, reflections and visual art created by care experienced people across Scotland.
Join us for our new series of online summits

We're running 3 new events on justice, transitions and aftercare.
Series of 3 Summits - Justice, Transitions to Adult Services and Aftercare

Tuesday 30 June, 25 August and 24 November 2026 | 9.30am - 12.30pm | Online [MS Teams]

Young Funder's Grant

Applications for the Young Funder's Grant are now closed. Alternative sources of funding are included here.
The Promise explained: what the Care Review means for the workforce

Scotland’s Independent Care Review has published its final conclusions. Five reports have been published and the main report ‘The Promise’ runs to 124 pages. To keep our members informed, we will set out the conclusions in a series of brief summaries.
Get Involved

Here at Staf we have many ways for people with care experience to get involved.
Grants of up to £750 available to care experienced young people

We are delighted to announce our Young Funder's Grant is now open for applications.
Support for Care Leavers
Relationship Based Practice: What does it really look like?

Mary Glasgow facilitated one of our workshops at our Annual Conference 2017, setting out the principles of a restorative, child-centred and family-minded approach that aims to mitigate the effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences. Find out more and download Mary's presentation.
Our history

Find out more about Staf's history, and the exciting work we are undertaking today.
Local Elections 2022: Manifesto Round-Up

A look at the five main parties and their manifestos heading into the local elections 2022
GIRFEC: A Guide to Getting it Right for Every Child

GIRFEC (or Getting it Right for Every Child) is the national approach in Scotland to improving outcomes and supporting the wellbeing of our children and young people by offering the right help at the right time for the right people. Find out more about the GIRFEC approach.
Shannon's Box

Created by Shannon when in role as our Youth Facilitator, Shannon's Box is designed to make entering care a little easier for children and young people. Find out more about this project.