Dr. Corwin serves as Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He is board certified in Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. He has worked as a lecturer, consultant, evaluator and/or expert witness addressing child abuse cases throughout the United States and other countries including Canada, Great Britain, Europe, Israel, South Korea, Japan and Thailand. Dr. Corwin is a founder of the California and American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (CAPSAC & APSAC), the Ray E. Helfer Society, and the Academy on Violence and Abuse (AVA). As liaison from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, he chaired the transition of the AMA’s National Advisory Council on Violence and Abuse into the National Health Collaborative on Violence and Abuse between 2009 and 2011. Dr. Corwin has ongoing interests in the evaluation, mitigation and prevention of the adverse health impacts associated with exposure to violence and abuse across the lifespan and currently serves as the President of the Academy on Violence and Abuse which is dedicated to increasing the education of health professionals about and research on the health impacts of violence and abuse. In 2012, he was re-elected to the Board of Directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and serves currently as the Secretary for the Society. Jon Conte, APSAC’s first President referred to Dr. Corwin as the "Father of APSAC" at APSAC's its 25th Anniversary celebration. In early 2012, the AVA released a DVD entitled the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Dr. Corwin served as the DVD’s Executive Producer. Dr. Corwin continues teaching, networking, program development, professional society leadership, clinical and forensic consultation.
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.
Corwin, Dave L., MD
Dartmouth Trauma Interventions Research Center, New Hampshire Bridge Project
As an NCTSN member, the Dartmouth Trauma Interventions Research Center (DTIRC) brought evidence-based treatment (TF CBT) for traumatized children to every community mental health center in New Hampshire. Through SAMHSA funding and grants from the New Hampshire Endowment for Health and the Fidelity Foundation, DTIRC established a videoconference network to allow weekly supervision of clinicians by DTIRC and national experts. DTIRC also implemented Project Prevent, which enhanced access to evidence-based evaluation and trauma treatment (CPP) for children aged 0-5 in four agencies across New Hampshire. Its NCTSN-sponsored New Hampshire Bridge project allowed implementation of mental health screening and treatment referral processes across five New Hampshire juvenile justice courts by partnering with family court judges. The most recent NCTSN project entailed a highly productive collaboration with the New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) in which the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) increased placement stability for children in foster care through trauma-sensitive practices in child welfare. Most recently, DTIRC has partnered with DCYF on two Administration for Children and Families (ACF) grants designed to develop a collaborative trauma-informed child welfare system that effectively addresses the well-being needs of involved youth. The Partners for Change project aims to improve the social and emotional well-being of children in the New Hampshire child welfare system, including juvenile justice youth, through universal screening, assessment, evidence-based treatment, progress monitoring, and psychotropic medication oversight. New Hampshire Adoption Preparation and Preservation will focus on the creation of a child serving system in which adoptive children and families have access to trauma-informed, adoption-competent services and supports so that they have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to meet the child’s needs and ensure a successful adoption.
Dee Norton Lowcountry Children's Center
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.
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.