Assessment-Based Treatment for Traumatized Children: A Trauma Assessment Pathway (TAP) is a treatment model that incorporates assessment triage and essential components of trauma treatment into clinical pathways.

The goals of TAP include:
1. Providing treatment center staff with the knowledge and skills to incorporate standardized assessments into the intake and ongoing treatment process.
2. Providing a treatment model that is directed by the uniqueness of the child and his or her family.
3. Providing guidelines for clinicians to make decisions regarding trauma treatment strategies based upon the child’s unique presentation.

TAP is divided into two parts:
• Part I of the model describes the assessment process, how to develop a Unique Client Picture, how to triage, and when to make referrals.
• Part II focuses on trauma treatment and includes an explanation of evidence-supported interventions found in the literature that are organized into a “Trauma Wheel” and used to create a “Treatment Pathway.”