Adolescent Trauma and Substance Abuse Committee Meets

The Adolescent Trauma and Substance Abuse (ATSA) Collaborative Group met for the first time
at the All Network Meeting in Chicago in April
2006. Since this meeting the group has had
monthly conference calls and held another face-
to-face meeting in early November.

The ATSA Collaborative Group aims to improve
the standard of care for adolescents with co-occurring traumatic stress and substance use by increasing public awareness about this
underserved population through public education, collaboration, and dissemination efforts at the
local and national levels.

The goals of the ATSA Collaborative Group
include:

• Developing, evaluating, and disseminating psychoeducational material to raise
  awareness among providers and
  consumers about the needs of youth with
  co-occurring trauma and substance abuse.
   
• Contributing to the advancement of
  research and dissemination of knowledge relevant to adolescent trauma and
  substance abuse among professional communities through empirical and
  Theoretical papers and presentations.

The projected products of the ATSA Collaborative
Group include:

• The Adolescent Traumatic Stress and Substance Abuse Toolkit, which
  contains information about assessment, engagement, and treatment for adolescents with trauma and substance abuse. This product, targeting providers and
  consumers, was originally developed at the Boston University Adolescent Traumatic Stress and Substance Abuse Treatment Center (a level II NCTSN Education and Services site) and is currently being
  enhanced by Collaborative Group
  members. This toolkit will be used as a
  training tool for providers working with this population. Evaluation will involve
  consumer feedback through focus groups
  and pre- and post-evaluations conducted during the pilot phase.
  
  
•  NCTSN Web content: Collaborative
  Group members will work to expand the NCTSN web content relevant to the needs
  of youth with trauma and substance abuse,
  including information contained in the
  toolkit as well as links to other Adolescent Substance Abuse resources outside of NCTSN.
  
  
• Collaborative Paper: ATSA Group
  members will write a paper summarizing NCTSN Core Data Set findings for adolescents with substance abuse
  problems.
  

The ATSA Committee meeting held November
6 - 7 in Boston provided a forum for members of
the NCTSN and representatives from the
substance abuse fieldto: 1) Discuss plans for collaborations around the use of the Adolescent Trauma and Substance Abuse Toolkit as a
training guide for providers in both mental health
and substance abuse fields working with this population, and 2) Outline specific ways in which
the work of this committee can help bridge the
gap between the substance abuse and mental
health fields through trainings, papers, and professional presentations.

For more information or to join the ATSA
Committee, contact one of the ATSA Collaborative Group co- chairs: Liza Suarez at (617) 353-9610 or lsuarez@bu.edu; or Lucy Zammarelli at (617) 353-
9610 or lucy@wfts.org. New members are
always welcome!

In collaboration with Mercy Family Center, two
NCTSN Centers have applied for and received
NIMH funding to conduct an independent
evaluation of a portion of Project Fleur-de-Lis,
where more affected children in three schools will
be randomly assigned
to either CBITS or TF-CBT.

Receiving supplemental awards to existing
research grants to conduct this work were Lisa Jaycox, PhD, of Rand-LAUSD (Los Angeles
Unified School District); and Judy Cohen, MD and Tony Mannarino, PhD, both of Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) in Pittsburgh, PA. They intend to develop an algorithm for assigning children to
optimal level of care following exposure to
disasters.

LAUSD and AGH provided training to school and community staff who are providing CBITS and TF-CBT treatment through their NCTSN grants. This project represents a unique collaboration among SAMHSA, NIMH, and private funding sources to conduct clinical research in the aftermath of a disaster.

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Funding for Trauma-Focused Work
In New Orleans

Project Fleur-de-Lis has been funded by the Sisters of Mercy to provide universal screening and stepped care interventions to more than 38,000 children attending parochial and private schools in New Orleans. The Sisters of Mercy is an international community of Roman Catholic women who have vowed to serve people suffering poverty, sickness, and ignorance, and whose special concern is for women and children.

Through this project the least affected children will be provided with classroom-based resiliency training. Moderately affected children will receive Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) [see article in this issue: “Dr. Bradley Stein Given Award for Excellence”]; and the most affected children will receive Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) in community settings such as Mercy Family Center.

In collaboration with Mercy Family Center, two NCTSN Centers have applied for and received NIMH funding to conduct an independent evaluation of a portion of Project Fleur-de-Lis, where more affected children in three schools will be randomly assigned to either CBITS or TF-CBT.

Receiving supplemental awards to existing research grants to conduct this work were Lisa Jaycox, PhD, of Rand-LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District); and Judy Cohen, MD and Tony Mannarino, PhD, both of Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) in Pittsburgh, Pa. They intend to develop an algorithm for assigning children to optimal level of care following exposure to disasters.

LAUSD and AGH provided training to school and community staff who are providing CBITS and TF-CBT treatment through their NCTSN grants. This project represents a unique collaboration among SAMHSA, NIMH, and private funding sources to conduct clinical research in the aftermath of a disaster.