This article from the Guardian describes a new venture started by social entrepreneur Helen Costa to "help adopters, foster carers, social workers, teachers and judges understand the impact of attachment-related trauma on a child, 'and the response we need from the grownups.'" Costa co-founded Cornerstone Partnership, a social enterprise focused on improving the lives of children and families touched by the care system. The enterprise started out focusing on supporting adoptive and foster parents early in the process, and providing peer mentors. "But Costa was conscious that while adults were “getting up to speed”, children still weren’t getting the support they needed."
Cornerstone then moved into making virtual reality (VR) films that take viewers through the experience of a vulnerable child. "Today, more than 45 local authorities are using the films to train social workers, and to train and assess prospective adopters and foster parents." The films have also become a kind of assessment tool - “once you’ve seen the footage it’s hard to not give an authentic response to it,” Costa explains. “Then you’re into a discussion about ‘How would it be if this was in your house’?”
The films are also "being trialled by three local authorities with domestic abuse perpetrators and mothers who are unwilling to leave violent partners, to help them understand the impact on an unborn child. Ultimately [Costa] would like to produce films for young people in care, to protect them from being drawn into child sexual exploitation, county lines drug dealing, gangs and violence."