First Responder Working Group Off to a Big Start
Under the leadership of Steven Berkowitz, of the Childhood Violent Trauma Center; Becky Gaba, of the Children’s Institute International; and Sarah McGuire, of the Children Who Witness Violence Program, the newly formed First Responder Working Group is making great progress on the Domestic Violence First Responder Accelerated Collaborative Project.

On March 4-5, 2004, the Trauma Intervention Center for Children and Adolescents in Nashville, hosted a face-to-face meeting for the project. Over 10 sites from across the NCTSN were represented at this meeting along with a representative from the Domestic Violence Division of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and members of the National Resource Center and National Center staff. The group spent time reviewing and discussing existing relevant manuals, on-line trainings, and video productions. Additionally, Betsy McAlister-Groves and Miriam Berkman led the group in developing four "Core Concepts," around which content will be developed for a training curriculum to be used first with law enforcement. Additional modules will be added for other first responder groups over time.

For more information about this group, including minutes from the meeting, please view the Collaborative Activities section of the members' area of the NCTSN Website or e-mail Susan Ko, National Center director of the Service Systems Core.

NCTSN Indian County Child Trauma Center Sponsors American Indian Training
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and its Indian County Child Trauma Center (ICCTC) will sponsor a week-long training on the treatment of physically and sexually abused Native American children in May. The ICCTC will incorporate both common and tribal-specific native cultural perspectives and traditions. Participants will be drawn from the ICCTS's Project Making Medicine, a federally funded national Indian Country training network operated by the Center for Child Abuse and Neglect at the Health Sciences Center. Project Making Medicine has trained mental health providers at tribal and Indian Health Services facilities nationwide, and has affiliated sites in 22 of the 25 states with substantial native populations, including Alaska.

Consulting and core faculty for the training include traditional native healers and child clinical and counseling psychologists who have expertise in treatment and prevention of child maltreatment in native communities.

Presentations will emphasize traditional approaches to healing, rediscovery of native culture, ways of perceiving health, value systems and learning styles, and Native American perspectives of human development. Evening activities include participation in a Southern Cheyenne sweat lodge. For more information, contact Dr. Dolores Subia Bigfoot at (405) 271-8858.

Community Resiliency Defined at Summit in Oklahoma City
The National Center's Terrorism and Disaster Branch (TDB), in conjunction with the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), held a Community Resilience Summit March 24-25, 2004, in Oklahoma City. The purpose of this summit was to explore issues associated with community resilience that enable communities to become more resilient in response to the mental health needs of children and families in the face of terrorism and disasters.

At this intensive two-day summit, the CDC, TDB, NCTSN members, academic partners, and community stakeholders from Oklahoma City gained consensus on the definition of resilience and worked to develop recommendations that would promote, enhance, and facilitate community resilience. This group will use the recommendations from the summit to create a community guide that focuses on developing or enhancing the efforts of primary service sectors, such as first responders, schools, public health, primary care, and businesses, to meet the all-hazards mental health needs of children and their families.

An executive summary to the guide will be published this spring and will address the importance of community resilience. It will feature the definition and elements of community resilience as well as highlight core recommendations to each of the primary service sectors. Any questions regarding this project may be e-mailed to Juliann Montgomery, TDB Project Coordinator.

NCAC Symposium Hosts over 1,000 Attendees from All 50 States and Beyond
The 20th National Symposium on Child Abuse, sponsored by the National Children's Advocacy Center (NCAC), was held in Huntsville, Alabama March 16-19, 2004. Over 1,200 child abuse professionals, representing all 50 states and several foreign countries, attended this year's symposium.

Featuring more than 150 workshop sessions, several NCTSN center presenters also served on the faculty, including Bob Franks, director of the National Resource Center, who co-presented with Bob Casey of the Yale Child Study Center. Other NCTSN center presenters included Benjamin Saunders, with the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, and Linda Cordisco Steele with the NCAC.

One of this year's highlights was the National Center providing live streaming video broadcasts of select presentations for NCTSN members. An NCTSN track is planned for next year's symposium, to be held March 8-11, 2005. Any questions regarding this year's symposium may be e-mailed to Jan Payne, training director of the NCAC.

NCTSN's TRY: Trauma Recovery for Youth Kick-Off Event a Success
The Jackson, Mississippi-based TRY: Trauma Recovery for Youth Community Planning Session brought together approximately 100 guests representing various social service agencies, city and state government, faith-based organizations, and other community members.

Information drawn from a focus group of local adolescents with a history of trauma was reported to session attendees. These youth identified the most important factors in helping them make it through the traumatic events. Participants were divided into small working groups to discuss ideas for developing collaborative services and supports based upon what these youth reported as being critical factors for resiliency in the face of trauma. A considerable amount of information was synthesized from these discussions to support the planning and development of a local community network for traumatized children and youth. Nearly 15 agencies have agreed to partner on this project thus far, with many more indicating interest in future collaborations.

In addition, the guest were addressed by speakers including Patty Marshall from the State Attorney General’s Office; Jan Markiewicz from the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress; Linda Raff, executive director of Catholic Charities, Inc.; Jennifer Sigrest, director of Crisis Response and Trauma Services, Catholic Charities, Inc.; and Kelly Wilson, director of Therapeutic Foster Care, Catholic Charities, Inc.

A panel discussion was also convened to discuss the current reality in the Jackson community regarding child trauma. Panelists included Edna Drake, the assistant chief of police of Jackson Police Department; Billy Mangold, director of Family and Children Services of the Mississippi Department of Human Services; Claude McInnis, resource officer of the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center; and Brenda Scafidi, Ed.D., director of the Division of Children and Youth Services, Mississippi Department of Mental Health. The panel discussion was moderated by Tessie Schweitzer, executive director of Mississippi Families as Allies.

For additional information about this event, e-mail Jennifer Sigrest or call 601-948-4493 extension 115.

Two NCTSN Centers Say Good-Bye to Their Directors
The NCTSN is sad to be losing two of its center directors in the next several months. Jeff Wherry is leaving the Greater St. Louis Child Traumatic Stress Program in Missouri this June. Matt Epstein from the Center for Child and Family Health in Durham, North Carolina is leaving in the next few months.

Wherry started the center in St. Louis in 1996. During his tenure, the center has expanded to two locations, provides forensic and mental health services to over 500 children per year, trains over 1,500 professionals each year, and provides research related to child sexual abuse for the region. Wherry has been instrumental is providing Internet safety training to students, parents, teachers, and professionals across the state of Missouri and has also helped establish two other child advocacy centers.

Wherry will be moving to Abilene, Texas, to teach full-time at Abilene Christian University. Dr. Ally Burr-Harris will serve as the liaison to the NCTSN following Jeff's departure. “My involvement with the NCTSN has been the most exciting opportunity of my career,” said Wherry. “At some point in the future, it is my hope to ‘weasel' back into the NCTSN and participate in some fashion.”

Epstein started the Center for Child and Family Health in Durham in 1995. The center integrates medical forensic services from Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with trauma treatment from Duke University and a legal clinic at North Carolina Central University. The center serves over 3,000 North Carolina children and families each year and offers a broad array of services including home visiting for new parents, early intervention services, a wellness clinic, psychopharmacology, parent training, intensive in-home services, school-based services, and family support services. The center is now participating in a comprehensive 10-year plan to cut child abuse and neglect in half in Durham using models that can be blueprinted and replicated.

Epstein will stay with the center until a replacement can be found. “Joining the NCTSN has allowed our center to provide more services, train more people and agencies, and take advantage of the learning and skills available throughout the NCTSN,” said Epstein.

Job openings for these two positions are currently posted on the NCTSN Website.