Developing A Trauma-Responsive School-Based Counseling And Life Skills Employment Program For At-Risk Adolescents In Nigeria: A Prevention And Intervention Framework Inspired By The Milwaukee Model.

Chronic exposure to adversity within low-resource educational settings leads adolescents to develop intricate trauma profiles featuring emotional dysregulation along with executive functioning impairments and delayed occupational identity formation. This paper develops a clinically grounded prevention and intervention framework for at-risk Nigerian youth by utilizing the Milwaukee Public Schools' Trauma-Informed Care Model from Wisconsin and focuses implementation in Abia State. This framework combines school-based trauma-responsive counseling with life skills instruction and pre-vocational employment training to support adolescents who face biopsychosocial challenges due to intergenerational poverty and educational neglect along with psychosocial stressors. Based on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and SAMHSA's trauma framework, this model transforms schools into therapeutic environments that develop resilience and functional coping while boosting employability. The research uses a mixed-methods approach that integrates qualitative narrative inquiry together with quantitative pre/post outcome assessments to evaluate reductions in trauma symptoms along with improvements in school engagement and workforce readiness. The model also tackles obstacles faced during implementation which include stigma and workforce capacity problems along with maintaining adherence to trauma-informed principles.