Current and Affiliated NCTSN Organizational Members

The DePelchin Children's Center Child Traumatic Stress Program delivers screening, assessment, case management, and mental health services to traumatized children residing in four southeast counties in Texas. Services are provided through DePelchin's foster care, adoption/postadoption, residential treatment, outpatient mental health counseling, and home-based therapy programs. DePelchin focuses on children who are the victims of complex trauma or who suffer from trauma related to traumatic loss, abuse (physical, psychological, or sexual), maltreatment, or neglect. As a result of its participation in the NCTSN, DePelchin has integrated an emphasis on trauma-informed practices throughout the agency. DePelchin works with the community to provide information and training on best practices in child trauma treatment, and to increase the availability of and improve access to mental health services in the Greater Houston metropolitan area. DePelchin has also been actively involved in supporting evacuees in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Refunded in 2008, DePelchin will implement the Child Trauma Program (DCTP) to mobilize Houston/Gulf Coast communities to help children and families address and overcome the unwanted effects of trauma. The DCTP will target 1) children affected by trauma and in need of trauma-informed and trauma-focused treatment including referral to culturally adapted services (240 children), 2) children and families impacted by the effects of natural disasters including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (360 children), and 3) children and families of military personnel deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan (100 families). The primary service area is Greater Harris County, Texas, including Houston, parts of the Gulf Coast, and surrounding counties. The DCTP will bring together community leaders serving the target populations to expand access to and expertise in child trauma. Major goals are to: 1) establish a coordinated framework of community services, training, and leadership; 2) expand access to the delivery system of trauma-focused mental health care in the Houston/Gulf Coast area to children and families suffering the long-term effects of natural disaster and deployment trauma; and 3) provide leadership for the dissemination of information on the impact of trauma on children and families and the utilization of trauma-focused interventions.

The Transforming Trauma Project (TTP) will develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of a Community Treatment and Services (TSA) Center designed to provide trauma treatment to children, youth, and families who experience traumatic events; and to increase access to trauma-focused and trauma-informed treatment and services in Union County and nearby military bases. Goals include building infrastructure by: 1) bringing together representatives of consumers, providers, and government under the aegis of a Project Advisory Board; and 2) creating a permanent community collaborative, designated as Collaboration for a Trauma-Informed Community (CTIC). TTP will increase the capacity of Union County’s mental health, child welfare, law enforcement, and other child-serving systems to provide trauma-focused screening, assessment, referral (via staff in-service and workshop training) by: 1) training a cohort of staff psychotherapists of provider agencies in evidence-based, trauma-informed practices (including, but not limited to TF-CBT); and 2) using the Train-the Trainer program in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) to sustain project services after the conclusion of federal funding. Additionally, TTP will provide trauma-informed screening, assessment, and referral to youth and family members; and TF-CBT treatment to children, adolescents, and family members who have experienced or witnessed traumatic events.

The CARES (Children Advancing through Recovery and Empowerment Services) Project will be sponsored by the Montgomery Area Family Violence Project in partnership with the Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority to provide trauma-focused care to children and adolescents under the age of 18 who have been traumatized by family and/or sexual violence, and/or child abuse, and/or neglect. The project will utilize Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) with clients residing in the River Region of Alabama (including Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, and Montgomery counties). CARES will provide training both to the community at-large and to various community agencies to develop a trauma-informed system of care.