The CARES Institute at Rowan University is internationally recognized for its leadership with respect to research, education, and services for children and families impacted by abuse and other traumas. Through collaboration with local constituencies and NCTSN members, the Institute helps increase awareness of, identify obstacles to, and improve access to multidisciplinary services for children who have experienced abuse or other violent crimes.  Two evidence-based mental health practices developed and tested at the CARES Institute include Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for youth and families impacted by trauma and Combined Parent-Child Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, an intervention for families at risk for physical abuse.  The CARES Institute also works to enhance public and professional efforts toward the early identification and protection of children at risk for abuse, while also contributing to efforts to improve children's access to developmentally and culturally sensitive, evidence-based treatment services through its ongoing dissemination efforts. In addition, the Institute provides lectures, training, and consultation to multidisciplinary professionals across the state of New Jersey, nationwide, and at international conferences.  

Catholic Charities Hawaii provides clinical treatment for children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events as victims and/or witnesses of domestic violence. Catholic Charities Hawaii will utilize Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) in the treatment of children, adolescents, and their families. In addition, the agency provides community based trainings to educate state agencies, the military, schools, clinicians, and service providers on TF-CBT and working with traumatized children.

Catholic Charities, Inc. and a constellation of Mississippi State government and nonprofit organizations joined the NCTSN to serve a wide range of urban, rural, and geographically isolated child trauma survivors. The first funding period was dedicated to providing evidence-based trauma training to Catholic Charities clinicians in home-based, residential, therapeutic foster care, unaccompanied refugee minor, and outpatient (Solomon) centers, and to providing cutting edge information to the community at large. 

Based on the lessons learned through participation in a trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) learning collaborative in its first funding period, TRY implemented a Gulf Coast TF-CBT learning collaborative to build capacity in agencies to treat children and families affected by trauma after the region’s devastation from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Catholic Charities went on to develop a statewide trauma-informed system of care to meet the needs of children and families throughout Mississippi. Evidence-based practices were disseminated to public mental health clinicians via the Learning Collaborative model, with an emphasis on systems serving those least likely to have access to quality mental health care. Catholic Charities collaborated with NCTSN experts to provide TF-CBT learning collaboratives and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS) learning collaboratives, as well as participating in training on the treatment of physically abused children. Currently, Catholic Charities clinicians serve as trauma experts in Mississippi and continue providing direct services to adults and children affected by trauma.

The Center for Child and Family Health's (CCFH) Project Connect: Promoting Recovery from Childhood Trauma increases access to and improves the quality of trauma-focused treatments and services for children, adolescents, and their families who experience traumatic events to improve child, family, and system outcomes and address behavioral health disparities among minorities. CCFH targets diverse youth (birth to 21; > 65% African American, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or Multiracial; 31% Hispanic origin) and their families exposed to trauma, including children in military families or involved in the child welfare system. Project Connect (1) increases use of trauma treatment for children and families in our outpatient clinic through engagement strategies; (2) provides a comprehensive array of evidence-based trauma-informed treatments for youth and their caregivers (Child Parent Psychotherapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, SPARCS, Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and collaborates with other NCTSN centers to pilot additional interventions (Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competence; Multi-dimensional Grief Therapy); (3) enhances screening of children and their caregivers for co-occurring mental health and substance use concerns; (4) increases our community's capability to provide prevention and intervention services by providing trauma-informed trainings to service systems; (5) enhances sustainability by addressing policy and fiscal opportunities by collaborating with local social services, mental health, and managed care organizations; and (6) improves the quality of and access to trauma-focused services locally and nationally by participating in SAMHSA and NCTSN workgroups and collaborations.