UAMS's Department of Family and Preventive Medicine Research and Evaluation Division (DFPM RED) focuses on family and environmental factors linked with poor health, growth, and psychosocial development. We conduct research to test theoretical models, collaborate with community partners to implement and evaluate interventions, train on research-based curriculum, and translate those models into community settings. We partner with communities and community organizations to implement and evaluate programs intended to improve outcomes. Many of our projects take research-based knowledge and translate it into practice. Our training programs target professionals in community-based settings such as early care and education, mental health, home visits, shelters, and substance abuse treatment.
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.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Department of Family and Preventative Medicine (DFPM) Research and Evaluation Division (RED)
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Baltimore-Network of Early Services Transformation (B-NEST) will strive to prevent and support recovery from traumatic stress in very young children through 1.) collaborative care and integration of early childhood trauma prevention, detection and intervention in pediatric primary care, 2.) evidence-based early childhood trauma interventions, and 3.) partnership with families, community elders and cross sector providers to raise awareness and prevent and respond to symptoms of traumatic stress in children ages 0-5 and their families in Baltimore City. We will implement HealthySteps in the University of Maryland Medical Center’s pediatric primary care program and innovative trauma screening, education and attachment-based, developmental guidance tools. We provide two-generational, evidence-based trauma treatment (Child Parent Psychotherapy, TF-CBT) and attachment-based and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) parent education interventions (Attachment Vitamins, ACE Interface). By applying implementation science strategies and creating interprofessional training, we will increase the primary care sites capacities and future workforces to provide child and family traumatic stress resources and implement trauma informed practices in the primary care setting through partnerships with NCTSN Category II Centers (Child Trauma Research Program, Family Informed Trauma Treatment Center, Pediatric Integrated Care Collaborative and NCTSN Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma). In partnership with local grandparents, our community health worker and community programs will increase community engagement and access to family education and public awareness through community-based, peer-led engagement interventions and workshops to promote social and racial inequities in health promotion.
University of Minnesota
The Collaborative for Resilient Kids and Families in Minnesota is a partnership between The University of Minnesota School of Social Work, Watercourse Counseling Center, Somali American Parents Association, Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, Minneapolis Public Schools, and Boston Children's Hospital Trauma and Community Resilience Center. This collaboration aims to provide trauma-responsive, culturally, and linguistically relevant mental health support to East African and Latinx children, youth, and their families in Minneapolis. Specifically, the project objectives include (1) engaging Latinx and East African communities in trauma-responsive mental health services at all services levels; (2) improving psychosocial outcomes for East African and Latinx children attending MPS; (3) increasing capacity in Minnesota to address refugee and immigrant trauma that reflects cultural needs; and (4) utilizing outcome evaluation data to increase support and sustainability for the model statewide.
University of Missouri Columbia
The overarching goal of the Central Missouri- Child Trauma Initiative (CM-CTI) is to provide, and increase access to, trauma-focused, evidence-based practices (EBPs) for trauma-exposed children (ages 0-18) and their families throughout central Missouri. Our work is housed at the University of Missouri School of Medicine Psychiatry Department, with collaborators from the University of Missouri- St. Louis. Specific aims of the CM-CTI project are to: 1) increase children’s access to three leading trauma-focused, EBPs: Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Trauma and Grief Component Therapy (TGCT), and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT); 2) significantly mitigate children’s trauma-related symptoms by post treatment as well as reduce trauma symptoms among caregivers receiving CPP. 3) Build a sustainable child trauma workforce in central MO by hosting Learning Total Collaboratives (LCs) for each of these EBPs (i.e., CPP, TGCT, and TF-CBT) for mental health professionals). Our current work also includes the SOAR (System Offering Actions for Resilience in Early Childhood) project, which is committed to building community awareness and developing programs to promote the social-emotional wellness of children age 0-8 and their families in Boone County. Our focus is on early child wellness, universal developmental screening, information/referral, workforce development and treatment services. As a Center of Excellence in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health we provide a continuum of services and supports and partner to create a collaborative system that promotes social emotional well-being of young children and their families.
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Addressing Childhood Trauma through Intervention, Outreach, and Networking (ACTION)
The Addressing Childhood Trauma through Intervention, Outreach, and Networking project (ACTION) supports the University of New Mexico Children's Psychiatric Center (UNM-CPC) by providing and maintaining access to outpatient trauma-focused treatment and offering a wide range of training and consultation opportunities for providers and trainees. ACTION serves youth ages 6-21, and their families, living in the Albuquerque Metro Area, providing integrated evidence-based treatments including: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency for complex trauma (ARC), and Trauma Affect Regulation: Guide for Education and Therapy (TARGET). Special emphasis is placed upon culturally responsive, contextually driven service delivery given the high percentage of historically underserved, ethnically and culturally diverse families who seek trauma-informed services at UNM-CPC. In particular, ACTION is committed to serving youth and families who have experienced oppression-based trauma or come from communities historically reluctant to engage in mental health treatment, and who suffer from ongoing health disparities, including Native American, African American and Black-multiracial youth, as well as LGBTQIA+ identified youth. ACTION also provides training and consultation in trauma-informed practices, culturally responsive care, and evidence-informed strategies to address secondary traumatic stress (STS) at individual and organizational levels of care within the UNM system. In addition, ACTION is committed to the dissemination of the ARC model of complex trauma treatment throughout New Mexico, given the scarcity of service providers who are trained in evidence-based treatments for trauma.
University of Rochester, Mt. Hope Family Center (Category III)
STRONGER (Supporting Trauma Recovery Opportunities & Nurturing Growing Emotional Resilience) supports trauma-exposed children and families in the Greater Rochester, NY area. STRONGER provides services for unaccompanied refugee, immigrant, and newcomer children, who may experience symptoms of traumatic stress stemming from their experiences. Trauma-responsive mental health services are available for military-affiliated children and families. Addressing the reality of health care disparities, and often limited access to appropriate and sensitive care, STRONGER partners with local child-serving community systems such as child welfare, mental health, early childhood services, refugee supports, school districts, and military-affiliated organizations, to link with our services. Through STRONGER, a total of 750 individuals will be served over the five-year project. We offer Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A), Tuning Into Kids/Teens (TIK/T), and Trauma Systems Therapy for Refugees (TST-R) depending on developmental levels and needs. STRONGER draws on resources from NCTSN and SAMHSA to provide psychoeducation and ongoing dialogue regarding trauma-responsive care with community partners and referral sources. STRONGER collaborates with NCTSI-Category II Centers to develop, advance, or adapt trauma-informed interventions. STRONGER enhances availability of culturally-informed evidence-based trauma treatment services and builds on existing collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary team of community stakeholders, including a Community Advisory Board and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging team working to improve the lives of children and families exposed to trauma.
UPMC Western Behavioral Health/Theiss Center for Trauma and Early Childhood Behavioral Health
The University of Pittsburgh's Theiss Complex Child and Adolescent Trauma (CCAT) Project expands access to evidence-based trauma treatment for children in Western Pennsylvania. It aims to improve service access and outcomes for high-need, underserved communities including racial/ethnic minority and low-income populations. It places an emphasis on children impacted by complex trauma, particularly those in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. In collaboration with UPMC Western Behavioral Health and its Theiss Center for Trauma and Early Childhood Behavioral Health (Theiss), the CCAT Project's primary goal is to increase access to trauma-related, evidence-based practices (EBPs) in Western Pennsylvania to remediate the impact of complex traumatic stress. This goal will be accomplished by: 1) expanding the age range of Theiss trauma services (up to age 18) through the incorporation of Integrative Treatment of Complex Trauma (ITCT, Child & Adolescent versions); 2) expanding the geographic reach of Theiss by leveraging UPMC's Western Behavioral Health network throughout Western Pennsylvania for the implementation of evidence-based trauma treatments to support children impacted by complex trauma (including ITCT as well as Child Parent Psychotherapy-CPP); 3) facilitating trauma-related training and professional development for the mental health and related workforce (emphasizing the fields of child welfare/juvenile justice); and 4) serving as a resource for high-need, underserved communities by collaborating with local human service agencies to provide prompt clinical consultation and support to meet the complex needs of members of their community experiencing traumatic events.
UT Graduate School of Medicine Center of Excellence
The UTGSM Center of Excellence serves children and families involved with the child welfare system. The Implementing Multi-system Programs to Strengthen Attachment in Children and Families Affected by Trauma (IMPACT) is focusing on young children impacted by trauma. We are working with community mental health centers to train clinicians in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and its adaptations for toddlers and for trauma (Trauma-Directed Intervention). We are utilizing reflective supervision practices and address secondary traumatic stress with clinicians. We also offer the Resource Parent Curriculum with the Child Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) program for foster and kinship placements, and teach case workers the CARE model for use with the children they work with. We are partnering with other NCTSN sites to enhance screening of young children as well.
Volunteers of America Dakotas, Youth and Family Trauma Center
Volunteers of America, Dakotas, Youth and Trauma Center provides and increases access to effective trauma-focused treatment and services for children and adolescents ages 4-17 and their families who have been impacted by traumatic events, with a focus on those who have experienced multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences and/or COVID-related trauma including American Indian and other populations impacted by health disparities. The project serves the Sioux Falls area metro and surrounding counties. VOAD provides and increases access to effective trauma-focused treatment and services by: training therapists in evidence-based, trauma-focused, culturally responsive interventions; working with referral sources to ensure children, adolescents and their families who have experienced trauma are connected with services; providing free, low-barrier initial trauma screenings; screening and assessing children and adolescents for trauma using Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version, the Pediatric Symptoms Checklist and the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen; providing evidence-based trauma treatment and services using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and Honoring Children Mending the Circle; and collaborating with child and family-serving agencies to provide trauma-focused training. Services are delivered in outpatient and residential settings and via telehealth.
Volunteers of Southeast Louisiana
Volunteers of America is one of the nation’s oldest and largest comprehensive human services organizations with 16,000 paid professionals, dedicated to helping those in need rebuild their lives and reach their full potential. Founded in 1896, the faith-based nonprofit has affiliates in over 400 communities in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and serves more than 1.5 million people a year. For 127 years, Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana has empowered and uplifted individuals including veterans, at-risk youth, low-income seniors, men and women returning home after incarceration, homeless individuals and families, persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, families in need of affordable housing, and those recovering from addictions. Our work touches the mind, body, heart – and ultimately the spirit – of those we serve, integrating our deep compassion with highly effective programs and services. Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana’s children and family program provides services for youth with incarcerated parents, youth involved with the justice system, youth with behavioral health challenges and youth exposed to crime. Our NCSTI-Category III (C.A.N.- CARE, ADVOCATE, NURTURE) program focuses on increasing the community’s awareness about youths’ exposure and impact of traumas; such as domestic abuse, violent crimes, and substance abuse to youth and adolescents. The services delivered will be based on evidence based practices for mental health treatment, in/and outpatient services, day treatment, and community outreach services. Screenings through PHQ-9 and assessments TESI-C and TESI-PR-R to develop treatment, which will include TF-CBT. TF-CBT activities are designed for home based services and in residential facilities.