The Boston Children's Hospital Refugee Trauma and Resilience Center works to provide national expertise in the area of Refugee Displacement and War Zone Trauma/Refugee Health and Resettlement Agencies (Refugee Trauma). The purpose of this project is to address behavioral health disparities for refugee children, adolescents, and families across the nation by developing, disseminating, and supporting strategies that enhance access, service use, and outcomes for this population. The specific goals that comprise this work include: (1) supporting the development and implementation of effective trauma interventions and approaches for refugee children; (2) developing training protocols and products to support dissemination and replication of effective interventions and approaches in communities across the nation; (3) developing and disseminating evidence-supported products in refugee trauma; (4) developing and delivering trainings across systems and providers; (5) collaborating within the network to promote understanding of the culture and special needs of refugee children and families; and (6) providing national and community leadership on child refugee 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.
Children's Hospital Boston, Advancing Treatment and Services for Refugee Children and Adolescents
Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Center for Transyouth Health and Development
The Trans Community Trauma Treatment Center for Children and Adolescents (TCTTC) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is designed to improve the quality of trauma treatment and supportive services for youth ages 10- 21 who have experienced a unique set of developmentally adverse traumatic events due the incongruence between assigned birth sex and internal gender identity. The TCTTC is housed at the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, which has historically provided trauma training and trauma-focused multi-agency clinical supervision to clinical and other direct service staff working with youth experiencing homelessness. TCTCC will provide the following: (1) Provide services directed to transgender and non-binary (TGNB) children and adolescents ages 10-21; (2) Support capacity building initiatives targeting local and state level child serving agencies (e.g. child protective services, juvenile corrections, probation, department of mental health, local education agency) to increase their competency to serve TGNB children and adolescents. The TCTTC will utilize Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) as the evidence-based treatment (EBT) to be employed in this program. NET was selected for this project for its responsiveness to the needs and resilience of TGNB youth, the desired outcomes for this project, and the centrality of narrative for the coming out process for TGNB youth. This EBT will expand and complement the existing services offered at CHLA's Center for Transyouth Health and Development.
Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Inc.: Child Abuse Program
From 2012 – 2016, the Increasing Virginia's Evidence-Supported Treatments (INVEST) for Children Project—headquartered at the Child Abuse Program—increased access to evidence-based, trauma-informed services for child victims of maltreatment residing in Hampton Roads. The project reduced the negative consequences of this maltreatment by: 1) training community professionals to conduct trauma-informed screening and referral procedures; and 2) training clinicians to deliver three trauma-informed, evidence-based treatments (including two treatments that were not available in the region), with attention to the cultural and linguistic needs of families. INVEST allowed the program to build a trauma-informed network of professionals throughout southeastern Virginia, which has a 20 percent military population and 10 military installations including the largest naval base in the world. As an accredited Child Advocacy Center, the program continues to serve approximately 1,500 children and their caregivers each year. Program services include forensic interviews, forensic medical examinations and consultation, victim support and advocacy, and case management as part of a multidisciplinary team. The program continues to deliver trauma-informed screening and referral services and evidence-based, trauma-informed assessment services and mental health treatment. The program’s team of experts deliver trainings across the Hampton Roads region to build awareness about program services and to expand the trauma-informed network of professionals. As the backbone agency for the Hampton Roads Trauma Informed Community Network, the program collaborates with other agencies and individuals to spread trauma-informed care across the region.
Children's Institute
Founded in 1906, Children's Institute (CII) is the largest agency of its kind working to transform the lives of children exposed to adversity and poverty in Los Angeles. By providing early education, behavioral health and family strengthening services, CII reaches 26,000 children and families annually in communities where support is needed most. CII also leads the way in trauma-informed care and evidence-based clinical treatment by training thousands of professionals and caregivers throughout the year.
Children's Research Triangle, Trauma Treatment Program: Increasing Trauma Services for Youth
Children's Research Triangle's Trauma Treatment Program (TTP) is an assessment-driven, trauma-informed intervention program based in Chicago, Illinois. The TTP increases the availability of trauma-informed therapeutic services for children and adolescents ages 0-18 years by implementing evidence-based interventions in under-resourced communities. The TTP improves community members’ ability to understand and respond to the needs of traumatized youth by providing training on the impact of trauma on youth. The children and families served come from a broad population in the Chicagoland area, encompassing a diverse range of ages, culture, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. A high standard of care is ensured by ongoing training, consultation, and reflective supervision for TTP staff and partner site staff, as well as continuous input from our consumer groups in the development and implementation of services. The TTP works in multiple under-resourced community settings, requiring the use of a variety of treatment interventions to best meet the needs of the clients served. Consequently, the TTP employs several Evidence-Based Practices, including Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS).
Children’s Crisis Treatment Center
Children's Crisis Treatment Center (CCTC) is a private, non-profit agency that provides mental/behavioral health services to children and their families. For over 40 years, CCTC has developed and implemented innovative ways of helping children as young as 18 months old and their families cope with obstacles that interfere with their emotional, social, and cognitive growth. CCTC’s approach to care is based on the belief that despite tremendous challenges, children heal from psychological injuries. Through partnerships with families, schools and communities, CCTC creates the contexts in which this healing may occur. CCTC is dedicated to addressing the impact of childhood abuse, neglect, traumatic events and other challenges that can affect childhood development. CCTC offers a wide array of services and programs that are provided at the Center as well as in the home, community and school. CCTC serves more than 3,500 children and their families annually. Their success and reputation for excellence have gained CCTC recognition for their expertise in the areas of trauma, school-based services, and early childhood treatment. Such acknowledgements reflect CCTC's leadership role in the children's mental health services community. CCTC is a trauma-informed organization and is certified in the Sanctuary Model, an evidence-supported model of trauma-informed care. CCTC provides training and consultation in trauma-responsive care as an extension of their services and is a leader in the region for both trauma-informed care and trauma-focused treatment.
CHRIS 180
CHRIS 180 (formerly CHRIS Kids) serves children, young adults, and families by providing mental health counseling at our CHRIS Counseling Center, group homes for abused and neglected children in foster care, adoption services, a Drop-In Center for homeless young adults, a permanent supportive housing program, and in-home programs to strengthen families. The CHRIS Training Institute provides training for the broader community with a focus on trauma-informed care. Our project aims to: (1) increase school-based, trauma-informed services by providing therapy, community support, behavior aid, and family advocacy services for uninsured or under-insured youth and their families who have experienced or witnessed traumatic events using the Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competence (ARC) framework; (2) develop trauma-informed school environments and train staff on trauma-informed practices aimed at transforming the culture for students that promotes connection through ARC in the school community; (3) provide ARC training and ARC Learning Collaborative for mental health workers within CHRIS 180 and with partner agencies across the state; (4) develop a trauma-informed School Referral Network designed to increase access to resources and locate trauma-informed care in the community; (5) develop a website where professionals and the public can find trauma-focused information, resources, referrals, and register for training. In addition to the Fulton and Dekalb County School Systems, CHRIS 180 collaborates with the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute (JRI) and Georgia State University on this project.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children
The Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children is a multi-disciplinary child abuse team and child advocacy center comprised of social workers, psychologists, child abuse physicians and fellows, child protection case workers, prosecutors, and police. The Center screens over 2,000 families each year for child abuse and neglect and provides several trauma-informed psychological therapies including trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), and child and family traumatic stress intervention (CFTSI). The Center provides local, statewide, and national trainings including Beyond the Silence Forensic Interviewing, Darkness to Light, PCIT, Child and Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE), Child Abuse Pediatrics and Pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner training. The Divisional research focuses on adverse childhood experiences, traumatic brain injury, traumatic stress, parent and child interaction parenting support and adversity screening in pediatric primary care. The Mayerson Center is also building community capacity to address and prevent trauma and child maltreatment.
Clark, Jim, LCSW, Ph.D.
Jim Clark, LCSW is Dean of the FSU College of Social Work. His work includes forensic behavioral health, disaster interventions, clinical and research ethics, and the study of lives. He has responsibility for research and service institutes that serve a wide number of populations exposed to traumatic stress.
Clifford Beers
Clifford Beers has a respected century-plus tradition of bringing leading-edge mental health solutions to children and families. Today, driven by a trauma-informed approach, Clifford Beers continues to develop and implement community-based systems of care programming in clinic offices, schools, and homes. Among other things, Clifford Beers offers outpatient care, services for children and their families facing autism or intellectual/developmental disabilities, care coordination that considers the full family dynamic, trauma training for child-serving organizations (schools, camps), and emergency crisis care. In FY2017, Clifford Beers served over 6,300 children/caregivers and provided professional development training to over 3,300 in Connecticut and beyond. In 2018, Clifford Beers received the Gold Seal from The Joint Commission, a distinction reserved for those organizations delivering safe, highest-quality quality care. Clifford Beers also maintains a policy presence and is eager to collaborate with organizations and individuals committed to protecting and expanding funding to support critical human services. Clifford Beers envisions behavioral health care that provides for truly integated and trauma-informed whole-person/whole-family care to allow children and families to achieve optimal wellness in all categories: physical health, mental health, and social determinants of health.