The CARES Institute at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine is internationally recognized for its leadership with respect to research, education, and services for children and families impacted by abuse and other traumas. Mental health services, training, and research are under the direction of Esther Deblinger, PhD, co-developer of Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). This project ultimately seeks to enhance the availability and accessibility of evidence-based therapy for trauma-exposed youth. This will be accomplished through: 1) a post-graduate fellowship program in which fellows receive comprehensive training in trauma-informed evidence-based services and related professional development activities; 2) the use of engagement strategies with caregivers that seek to overcome barriers to starting treatment to enhance initiation and completion of evidence-based trauma-focused therapy; 3) providing a self-care course for TF-CBT-trained clinicians throughout the country, particularly those working with underserved populations, designed to reduce secondary traumatic stress and burnout, and increase effective coping and clinical competency.
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.
CARES Institute at Rowan University
Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc. - Trauma Services Program
The Trauma Services Program (TSP) of Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc. (CCS) provides evidence-based, comprehensive and multi-disciplinary services to children, adolescents and their families who have experienced trauma with a focus on those who have experienced complex trauma who are in need therapeutic and other supportive services in Cayuga County, NY. Currently, there are several barriers to accessing services for children who have experienced trauma, most notably the lack of comprehensive, multi-disciplinary program that provides, therapy, care management and peer services to meet the needs of these children and their families. Additionally, our community is lacking regular, comprehensive training for child-serving agencies to be able to identify children who have experienced trauma and refer them to trauma and grief-informed services. By bringing together community stakeholders and expanding our multi-disciplinary team to include a focus on this population, CCS will ensure the services available are responsive to the needs of the youth and families. Assessments of services will be consistently completed to identify service gaps and enhance service delivery. By implementing the program, Cayuga County, NY will finally have an all-encompassing, collaborative, holistic approach to children who have experienced trauma which will improve engagement for families and mitigate the long-term effects of the trauma experienced by our county's children.
Center for Child & Family Health
The Center for Child & Family Health's (CCFH) Project REACH: Responsive, Equitable, Accessible, and Child-Focused Trauma Services will increase access to and improve the quality of trauma-focused treatments and services for children, adolescents, and their families who experience traumatic events to improve child, family, and system outcomes and address racial and ethnic behavioral health disparities. Project REACH targets youth from birth to 18 and their families who are affected by trauma and psychosocial adversity, especially those at risk for negative sequalae of trauma exposure including African American and Latinx children and those involved in the child welfare system. Project REACH will (1) increase participation and access to trauma treatment and prevention services for children and adolescents and their families through conducting outreach, providing acute prevention response to traumatic events, and reducing racial disparity in perception of care; (2) increase CCFH's capacity to provide an array of direct outpatient trauma-informed evidence-based practices (i.e., Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Parent Child Interaction Therapy, and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress,) to reduce trauma and mental health symptoms of children and adolescents and their families; (3) increase access of our child welfare system to trauma-informed services by implementing and disseminating the NCTSN's Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma (a.k.a., Resource Parent Curriculum [RPC]); and (4) advance NCTSN efforts through participation on committees, developing resources to address workforce stress, and facilitating the Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma.
Center for Child Counseling, Inc
Center for Child Counseling, Inc is dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families in Palm Beach County. Their services focus on promoting positive mental health for children, families, and our community. They support thousands of children each year, preventing and healing the effects of adverse childhood experiences and trauma, while promoting resiliency and healthy relationships.
Centerstone of Florida, Inc
The purpose of the Centerstone of Florida Trauma Training and Treatment project is to increase access to effective trauma-focused treatment and services for children and adolescents ages 2-17 and their families who witness or experience traumatic events in three Florida counties (DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota). Centerstone will implement two trauma-focused evidence-informed and evidence-based interventions developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN): (1) Assessment-Based Treatment for Traumatized Children: A Trauma Assessment Pathway (TAP) and (2) Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). A care manager conducts eligibility assessments and co-occurring disorder screening at intake. Therapists conduct additional (up to three) TAP Assessments with the client/family to identify the most appropriate treatment for each child/adolescent. The Trauma Trainer arranges Youth Mental Health First Aid courses for focus area stakeholders. The Outreach Specialist conducts outreach and engagement in diverse community venues, interfacing with child-serving systems, state/local agencies, healthcare providers, law enforcement, child welfare agencies, and more to identify/refer/engage individuals in need of trauma program services. The Specialist develops community partnerships to collaborate with the Advisory Council and Youth Task Force. The Trainer arranges training for community stakeholders in trauma-informed practices, cultural competence, and NCTSN Learning Center modules. The Trainer coordinates with Centerstone Military Services (CMS) to host military culture and best practices training for providers who work with children of military families.
Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling Services, Inc.
Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling Services, Inc. provides comprehensive clinical services for individuals ranging from 5 years old to adults. The clinic has observed an uptick in referrals for children since the onset of the pandemic, resulting in a higher number of trauma cases. Families inquiring about services have expressed challenges in locating mental health care, specifically services that are suitable and effective. Thanks to a grant awarded one year ago, an intensive services track for children was established, allowing for prompt treatment for children discharged from hospitals or emergency rooms, with therapy and psychiatry services available within a week. Furthermore, the clinic operates at the INN three days per week, with clinical staff offering services to the communities specified in the grant. This initiative is designed to build relationships with families of those receiving treatment.
CHAT Clinic at the Center for Psychological Services Rutgers University
The Children (and Families) Healing After Trauma (CHAT) clinic is an outpatient specialty clinic at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology of Rutgers University. We serve youth ages 3 to 21 years old and their families referred from New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P), local schools, mental health partners, and general community referrals from surrounding Rutgers University. Our mission is to support children and families impacted by trauma to rebuild their identity, establish a sense of safety and foster positive relationships with others. Using a multi-systemic, collaborative treatment approach, we hope to give each individual that has faced complex trauma an opportunity to process their experiences and look toward the future with hope. CHAT's specialty areas include adjustment to resource care, impact of trauma and loss, behavior management, sexual abuse and stress management for caregivers. Our clinic provides individual, family and/or group sessions utilizing trauma and attachment informed treatment modalities that include Trauma Focused- Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC) and Game-Based (CBT). CHAT attempts to overcome treatment barriers by providing transportation services to and from the clinic for DCP&P-involved families and in-home parent management training and family sessions, when needed. Additionally, CHAT provides mentors to clients to increase the opportunity for positive peer interactions.
Child Advocacy Center of Oswego County at CAC Foundation, Inc.
The project within the Child Advocacy Center of Oswego County (CAC) at CAC Foundation, Inc. will increase the capacity and access to trauma-focused mental health services to integrate evidence-based, best practice treatment and services for children(ages 4-12), adolescents (ages 13-17), and their families who experience or witness traumatic events in response to child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and trauma. Since 2013, Oswego County, which is one of sixty-two counties in New York State and is a large rural area bordered to the north by Lake Ontario and spread over 951 square miles, has been towards the top of the state ranking in the number of child abuse disclosures per capita. The CAC through this project proposes four key activities to increase capacity and access to mental health services that will result in 730 clients receiving approximately 17,500 sessions of trauma-informed mental health services: 1. Enhancing capacity-building training and practice in evidence-based treatment in adapting trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) - Target: 430 clients; 2. Implement Problematic Sexual Behavior-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Adolescents treatment program into an evidence-based practice in addition to TF-CBT - Target: 200 clients; 3. Re-establish and enhance ""PROTECT"" (Parents Reaching Out to Engage, Connect, and Talk) group treatment model for non-offending parents and caregivers to focus on psychoeducation about keeping children safe, making healthy choices as caregivers, parenting skills and strategies, as well as how to handle disclosures of abuse from children, and repairing ruptures in the parent-child relationship - Target: 100 clients; and 4. reform and re-establish the Trauma Response Team with sustainable redundancy to help build team readiness to respond to traumatic events within the community. Through the implementation of this project, CAC will increase capacity and access to mental health services through evidence-based, best practices to not only help children survive from trauma but to go on to thrive.
Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters Child Advocacy Center
The Child Advocacy Center (CAC) at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) is dedicated to providing expert forensic, mental health, and advocacy services to children who may have experienced maltreatment and trauma. CHKD’s CAC has been Accredited by National Children’s Alliance since 2003, and includes three child-friendly facilities in which law enforcement, child protection, medical and mental health, judicial, and victim advocacy professionals work together to provide a multidisciplinary, collaborative response to children and families when there is a concern that abuse or neglect has occurred. As the largest CAC in Virginia, the program serves approximately 1,500 children annually in the eastern region of Virginia (Hampton Roads) by identifying and providing trauma-informed and evidence-based services with the goal of preventing further trauma and strengthening resilience. As a NCTSN Community Treatment and Services Center, the CHKD CAC aims to increase access to and participation in evidence-based screening, assessment, treatment, and prevention services for children through the GRowing Evidence-based Assessment and Treatment (GREAT) for Children project. Providing these vital services for our diverse community of children ages 12 months-18 years will reduce health disparities and increase individual and family resilience. The project also aims to enhance the capacity of key stakeholders and multidisciplinary partners to identify, refer, and serve children who have experienced traumatic stress.
Children's Services at Gateway Healthcare, Inc.
In the “Scaling Up Access to Trauma-Focused CBT for Children in Rhode Island” Project, Gateway Healthcare will provide services across Rhode Island to all genders and racial/ethnic backgrounds, with a particular emphasis on black, indigenous, and children of color (BIPOC). RI has over one million residents with large communities of Hispanics, African-Americans, West Africans, Latin Americans and Southeast Asians1, including refugee families, and a high rate per capita of military service members. Through its Child and Family Therapeutic Outreach (CFTO) program, Gateway provides intensive home-based services to approximately 700 children in RI annually. In RI, 50% of maltreatment investigations involved children whose race and ethnicity were black, Asian, or Hispanic, a disproportionately high percent of the population. More than 30% of the children and adolescents who present at Gateway for intensive home-based services and outpatient therapy present with exposure to psychological trauma. Gateway will implement TF-CBT in its intensive home-based treatment program and clinic-based outpatient services. The proposed project will raise the standard of care available to children in RI impacted by trauma by increasing the number and capacity of providers trained to provide evidenced-based services. Additionally, Gateway’s collaboration with community organizations specific to the target populations of interest (i.e., BIPOC) will increase the level of trust necessary for families to seek and continue engagement in mental health services.