The Championing Access to Trauma-informed-treatments to Achieve Lowcountry Youth Services Transformation (CATALYST) project aims to increase the quality of and access to evidence-based, trauma-informed treatments and services for child maltreatment victims in Charleston and Berkeley Counties of South Carolina (the “Lowcountry”), thereby reducing the negative consequences of maltreatment on children. The CATALYST project is headquartered at the Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center (DNLCC), the only Accredited Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) serving child victims in Charleston County. The proposed project will achieve its primary purpose by (1) improving screening and identification of children in need of trauma-specific, evidence supported assessment and treatment; (2) training clinicians and supporting implementation of evidence-based treatments (including TF-CBT, AF-CBT, PCIT, PSB-CBT, and FOCUS for military youth); and (3) improving the quality and applicability of evidence-based treatment to address current service disparities. In addition, the project will support creating a trauma-informed community of providers through training child welfare and military family advocacy case workers on the NCTSN Core Curriculum in Childhood Trauma.
Network Members
This listing of NCTSN members includes current grantees as well as NCTSN Affiliates, former grantees who have maintained their ties to the Network.
Dee Norton Lowcountry Children's Center
Department of State Health Services (Texas), Texas Children Recovering from Trauma
The Texas Children Recovering from Trauma initiative will transform children’s mental health services in Texas into a trauma-informed care system that fosters resilience and recovery. The target populations are children and adolescents aged 3–17 who are from military families and/or who have experienced or witnessed trauma. The initiative will work to transform Texas’s mental health services, beginning with two local Mental Health Authorities (community mental health centers) in central Texas as pilot sites. The project will serve 1,360 unduplicated children and adolescents during the grant period, at least 10 percent of whom (136) will be from military families. To reach this goal, the initiative will train the Texas mental health workforce, enhancing policies and practices, and increasing the number of mental health professionals trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT).
Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center, Military Families Achieving Recovery
Military Families Achieving Recovery (MFAR) will serve military children, youth, and families in the South Bay/Harbor region of Los Angeles County who face challenges such as deployment stressors, combat-related mental health problems, and poor access to services and consistent support. The project will develop and sustain a comprehensive suite of trauma-informed, community-based services that includes: 1) Outreach, Engagement, and Education; 2) Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS); and 3) Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT). During the grant period, MFAR will treat an expected 360 military children, youth, and families for trauma-exposure; and will provide 1,300 military families and community professionals with outreach and engagement to educate them on trauma and its sequelae.
DiDonato, Stephen, MS, LPC
Stephen DiDonato was the former Program Manager of the Center for Pediatric Stress Center co-located at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Nemours Children's Health System. Stephen is now an Assistant Professor in the Community & Trauma Counseling Program. Stephen remains involved in NCTSN activities and is focused on increasing the infusion of child trauma curriculum within higher education health science programs.
Donovan, Thomas, LCPC
Thomas Donovan is a trainer of Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS) and Psychological First Aid (PFA). Thomas formerly served at Chaddock, a former category 3 site, as the Associate Director of Clinical Services. Currently he is the owner of New Life Counseling in Quincy, IL and Assistant Pastor at Columbus Road Baptist Church.
Dorado, Joyce, PhD
Joyce Dorado is the co-founder and director of UCSF HEARTS (Healthy Environments and Response to Trauma in Schools), a multilevel prevention and intervention program that collaborates with the San Francisco Unified School District to promote school success for students who have experienced complex trauma, by creating school environments that are more trauma-sensitive and supportive of the needs of these students. She is an Associate Clinical Professor and the Director of Clinical Research and Evaluation at Child and Adolescent Services (CAS), a trauma-informed mental health clinic at UCSF-San Francisco General Hospital that provides services to children, youth, and families from under-resourced, culturally diverse communities. Dr. Dorado led and coordinated CAS data contributions to the NCTSN Core Data Set for over six years, collaborated with Laurel Kiser and the Family-Informed Trauma Treatment (FITT) Center to implement and help evaluate Strengthening Families Coping Resources (SFCR) multifamily groups at CAS, and currently participates in the Family Systems and the Schools Collaborative Groups.
Emery, Debra W., PhD
Debra Emery was the former Clinical Manager of the Children's Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis. She now works at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital and serves as the psychologist on the hematology/oncology team. Her interests include complex trauma and integrated care.
Erstling, Susan, LICSW, PhD
Susan Erstling was the Senior Vice President for Family Service of RI, Children's Treatment and Recovery Center, As the principal investigator of the NCTSN grant, she established numerous partnerships with police, military, child welfare, pediatric and multiple community organizations to provide trauma services and disseminate trauma informed care throughout RI.
Family and Children's Service, Inc., NJ
Family & Children's Services (FACS) in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is providing trauma treatment and therapeutic services to children, adolescents and their families who experience/witness traumatic events. Utilizing interventions developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), Transforming Trauma will continue to provide leadership on child/adolescent issues to the provider communities throughout New Jersey, build the capacity of statewide service system to implement trauma-informed service practices (including professional training, public information, and outreach/screening, referral), and build a network of trauma-capable providers. Transforming Trauma will focus on making services accessible to military families that live on or near nearby military bases, homeless families, forensically-involved and other underserved youth and their families. We will train clinicians throughout the state of New Jersey to deliver services to children and families impacted by trauma utilizing one of four evidence-based therapeutic models including Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC), Combined Parent-Child Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CPC-CBT); and Families Over Coming Under Stress (FOCUS).
Family and Children's Services Inc., OK, F&CS Child Trauma Center
The Family & Children's Services Child Trauma Center will expand access to evidence-based, trauma-focused treatment to children/youth (aged 0–18) and their families who reside in Tulsa County and the surrounding communities in northeast Oklahoma, and who may find it difficult or impossible to participate in traditional in-office treatment. The center will create a team composed of therapists and a case manager to deliver treatment using a home-based trauma-treatment intervention model. Three interventions will be used: Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).