Current and Affiliated NCTSN Organizational Members

The Program on Adolescent Traumatic Stress (PATS) will further adapt, develop, evaluate, and disseminate evidence-based, culturally relevant, trauma-informed interventions and resources for traumatized adolescents; and will increase access to and build capacity nationally for the delivery of these interventions and services for this population. To achieve these goals the program will: 1) develop Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents (TF-CBT-A); 2) adapt and develop NCTSN products that support delivery of effective, trauma-informed services for adolescents involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems; and 3) evaluate, disseminate, and implement Risk Reduction through Family Therapy (RRFT)—an intervention designed to reduce substance use risk and trauma-related mental health problems among abused adolescents. The target population area is the Southeastern United States (which has high rates of youth victimization and a disproportionate number of youth involved in the child welfare system) to increase the capacity of and access to evidence-based, trauma-focused interventions. PATS will train 960 practitioners across six states through 12 additional Learning Collaboratives and Community-Based Learning Collaboratives.

The Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver - Trauma Treatment Project (GRID-TTP) in Denver, Colorado, will target youth aged 11-17, primarily African American and Latino/Latina, who are gang involved or at risk of gang involvement, and who reside in three Northeast Denver neighborhoods with high rates of community, domestic, and gang-related violence. GRID-TTP will be part of a citywide effort to reduce gang violence and to address the impact of this violence on city residents, especially Denver's youth. The project, implemented by a consortium of Denver government, community, and faith-based agencies, led by the Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD), is based on the Comprehensive Gang Model developed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. GRID-TTP will deliver two primary interventionsCognitive Behavioral Interventions in Schools (CBITS) and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS)in three middle school, one high school, and five recreation/community centers in the targeted Denver neighborhoods. During the two-year project period, 140 unduplicated youth will be served, some of whom, along with their families, will be referred to other MHCD services.

Prior funding to the Mental Health Center of Denver supported the Family Trauma Treatment Program, which providd access for low-income children and families to community mental health services through a network of more than thirty locations throughout the Denver area. The program improved services and treatment for children who experienced trauma by implementing and evaluating evidence-based interventions in a variety of community settings including schools, shelters, juvenile detention centers, day care centers, and neighborhood clinics.

The UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and the Duke University School of Medicine jointly host the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS), leading the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) in transforming treatment and services to meet the needs of traumatized children and their families across the United States. Through extensive expertise, resources, organizational experience, and vision, the NCCTS guides and supports the NCTSN. The NCCTS also provides strong technical assistance to support Network data collection, cross-site collaborative activities, product development and dissemination, training, adoption and adaptation of interventions, communications, policy analysis and initiatives, and program evaluation.

The National Children's Advocacy Center proposes to operate the Treatment/Services Development Center for Child Maltreatment as part of the National Child Trauma Stress Initiative. The T/S Development Center will be the centralized resource for knowledge, research, training and consultation for professionals who work with abused and neglected children. The Child Maltreatment T/S Development Center will collect information on existing and promising approaches to treatment and services for victims of child maltreatment and their families or caregivers. This will be accomplished through surveys of NCTSI Network members, through a Think Tank to be held in March 2002, and through annual Promising Approaches Forums. This process will also be used to identify needs or "gaps" in services and to find solutions to these needs. These "best practices" and their potential impact on lessening the impact of trauma to children will be shared with other professionals through multiple means. The Child Maltreatment TIS Development Center will work with other members of the NCTSI network to develop a national plan for identifying, researching and sharing information. This coordinated response will lead to an integrated national body of knowledge about child trauma and its effects