The Hidden Trauma Children Face

in the Family Court System

The impact on children caught in the failure of the family court system is devastating — and I’ve seen it firsthand. These are not just “difficult transitions.” These are life-altering traumas that follow them into adulthood. Many of these children leave the system with dissociative disorders, PTSD, reactive attachment disorder, addictions, and extremely high ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores. A score of 4 is considered high risk — but these children often reach a 7 within a single year. A number that’s meant to reflect trauma across an entire lifetime is instead compressed into months. And yet, their trauma is rarely acknowledged.