In a climate of scarce behavioral health resources and great need, Third Sector of New England raises and leverages public and private investments to deliver on resident-identified outcomes. It acts as a nimble intermediary bringing together residents, public systems, community-based organizations, and funders, and identified a suite of culturally-relevant evidence-based programs with proven successes that can be effectively implemented to achieve results. Its current programs that track specifically to symptoms of PTSD and were selected by the communities we serve, include: Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools: This evidence-based therapeutic intervention is designed to reduce anxiety, depression and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTSD) in adolescents. Eighty percent of participating youth show improvement in PTSD symptoms. This program integrates the performing arts to engage youth in their own healing. The youth build social problem solving skills by reenacting difficult situations. They practice combating negative thoughts through activities such as "Helpful Other Thoughts". They also learn how to reduce anxiety through relaxation techniques. Act and Adapt: This evidence-based program reduces symptoms of acute depression in adolescents through school-based therapeutic groups. The youth learn how to cope with stress by solving problems within their control and – for problems outside of their control – by adapting. The program has been successfully implemented with Latinx and BIPOC adolescents in more than 40 schools in the Chicago Public School system and has been rigorously evaluated. Positive outcomes have included high retention, high participant satisfaction, and statistically lower depressive symptoms.
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.
Third Sector of New England - Children and Youth Cabinet
United Community Services, Inc.
United Community and Family Services, Inc. (UCFS) through the expansion of child traumatic stress screening and treatment services increases the availability of screening, referral and treatment of childhood trauma for children ages 0-6 living in New London and Windham counties of Connecticut (CT) with a particular focus on those living in Windham county which is more rural, economically depressed, and lacks adequate social services. Within this age group, the project aims to identify evidence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)s, and infants and children with social/emotional difficulties and/or developmental delays. The overarching goal of this project is to increase screening, evaluation and treatment of young children who have experienced trauma. The work focuses on identifying children who have experienced one or more ACEs and connecting those children and their caregivers to diagnostic evaluation and clinically appropriate treatment.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Family and Preventative Medicine Research and Evaluation Division
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences'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. The center conducts 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. It partners 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. Its training programs target professionals in community-based settings such as early care and education, mental health, home visits, shelters, and substance abuse treatment.
University of California, Davis - CAARE Diagnostic & Treatment Center
For more than 25 years, UC Davis CAARE Center has provided evidence-based treatment to maltreated children in Sacramento County and contributed to the evidence base supporting the use of these interventions with this vulnerable population. While mental health services are available to children in foster care, they can take months to begin, they may not receive services without obvious symptoms, and services targeted at the child rarely include the biological parent. Additionally, birth parents are often reluctant to seek help for difficult visits for fear that it will reflect poorly upon their parenting or extend the child's time in care. Resource caregivers also receive limited support for navigating the biological parent-resource parent relationship and may struggle with helping children cope with conflicted feelings and difficult visit interactions. The current Category III project screens children for trauma and comorbid disorders and provides an adaptation of the brief (7-session) Parent-Child Care (PC-CARE) intervention to all biological parents of children aged 1-10 years participating in visits. The adaptation combines three services: PC-CARE with biological parents to increase access to services and support good quality visits, consultation to resource parents around the visitation process and children's responses to trauma, and an online PC-CARE resource to promote generalization of skills to support children's well-being. PC-CARE offers a novel approach to supporting reunification and reducing children's trauma-related symptoms by providing empirically supported coping and parenting skills at a key point during the family's transition, without the family's need to seek out or wait for a referral for intervention.
University of California, Davis Early Psychosis Programs - The Trauma and Adolescent Mental Illness Services Project
Comorbid trauma and psychosis are common yet under-recognized in juvenile justice (JJ), child welfare (CW), and community mental health (CMH) settings; and recognized youth do not receive appropriate services. The Trauma and Adolescent Mental Illness (TAMI) Services Project triples the capacity of service providers in Sacramento County, CA, to provide evidence-based services for youth (age 12-22) with comorbid trauma and psychosis in JJ, CW, and CMH settings. Project goals are: 1) Increase capacity of child-serving systems to identify and appropriately link youth experiencing trauma and psychosis symptoms by implementing a universal screening and referral protocol in Sac County JJ and CW settings; 2) Increase the capacity of Sac County CMH services to provide evidence-based trauma-focused care for youth with comorbid trauma and psychosis by implementing a curriculum that addresses the training needs of CMH providers. TAMI services comprise Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (TI-CBTp; Folk et al., 2019), developed in collaboration by the UC Davis (UCD) SacEDAPT clinic and UCD CAARE Center. We implemented TAMI services in the SacEDAPT clinic in 2014, have provided care to over 65 youth, and built capacity for 25 cases per year. Unfortunately, an estimated 100 system-involved youth need TAMI services annually in Sac County, and SacEDAPT is the only Sac County provider of TAMI services. This project will increase TAMI service capacity in Sac County by expanding to 6 additional CMH sites. Our team is uniquely positioned carry out this work: the SacEDAPT clinic and CAARE Center have an established partnership and are nationally recognized leaders in the development and implementation of EBPs for youth with trauma and psychosis in diverse settings.
University of Missouri St. Louis - Children's Advocacy Center
Children's Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis is a University-based, multidisciplinary center that provides trauma-focused services to youth, families, and the community. We serve children impacted by all types of traumatic events including childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. We also serve witnesses of domestic abuse and violent crime and children who have suffered accidents, natural disasters, and traumatic bereavement. The goal of our grant, Project CONTACT (Community Operations Network for Treatment After Childhood Trauma) is to partner with community agencies to increase participation in our Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI).
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 - Supporting Trauma Recovery Opportunities & Nurturing Growing Emotional Resilience
Supporting Trauma Recovery Opportunities & Nurturing Growing Emotional Resilience (STRONGER) 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.
University of Southern California Child and Adolescent Collaborative for Trauma-Informed Care (USC-CACTIC)
The University of Southern California Child and Adolescent Collaborative for Trauma-Informed Care (USC-CACTIC) will apply evidence-based, trauma-informed principles to raise the standard of care and expand access to evidence-based trauma, grief, and loss mental health services for children and youth ages 0-24 with complex trauma by implementing sustainable methods that are culturally, linguistically, and developmentally appropriate in multiple settings. To achieve the aims of this project, USC-CACTIC established a synergistic collaboration between the University of Southern California (USC) and the Violence Intervention Program (VIP). Mental health programs within these organizations will partner to improve and expand services. The majority of clients served at the VIP clinic are from socioeconomically disadvantaged, communities in metro Los Angeles, and come from diverse social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. USC-CACTIC will expand access and improve culturally responsive, evidence-based trauma screening, assessment, trauma-informed psychotherapy, outreach, and prevention services for unserved, underserved, or inappropriately served children and youth ages 0-24 with complex trauma; cultivate and support a collaborative, trauma-informed system of care that is recovery-oriented and equity-based; and reduce secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout for personnel at the USC and VIP clinics who work directly with trauma-exposed youth. The specific aims of the USC-CACTIC are threefold, to: (1) expand access and improve culturally responsive, evidence-based trauma screening, assessment, trauma-informed psychotherapy, outreach, and prevention services for unserved, underserved, or inappropriately served children and youth ages 0-24 with complex trauma; (2) cultivate and support a collaborative, trauma-informed system of care that is recovery-oriented and equity-based; and (3) reduce secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout for personnel at the USC and VIP clinics who work directly with trauma-exposed youth.
University of Tennessee Health Science Center: Center of Excellence for Children in State Custody
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.