Project Intersect aims to improve the well-being of children and adolescents who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking (CSET) or are at high risk of CSET through the provision of high-quality trauma-focused, evidence-based treatment. The project seeks to increase its network of mental health providers trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and advanced TF-CBT for youth experiencing CSET. Additionally, Project Intersect will collaborate with multiple NCTSN category II sites to deliver enhanced TF-CBT applications at the intersection of CSET, racial trauma, and substance use problems. Project Intersect also provides support and training to systems and individuals intersecting with youth experiencing CSET including child welfare/foster care, CSET residential programs in Georgia, as well as caregivers. CSET awareness training is also provided to professionals and community members across the state to better identify youth experiencing CSET and connect them with trauma-informed and evidence-based treatment, services, and supports.

Our model includes licensed therapist—family support services teams trained to deliver high quality, compassionate trauma-informed care by providing evidence-based treatment, such as Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy® (TF-CBT); Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI); Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) serving children ages two to seven; and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Families are paired with a family support worker to provide aftercare for up to 12 months after discharge.

HEARTS is a whole-school prevention/intervention program that aims to create trauma-informed, safe, supportive, and equitable learning and teaching environments that foster resilience and wellness for everyone in the school community. HEARTS utilizes a multi-tiered system of support to address trauma at the student, staff, school organizational, and district levels through training and consultation with school personnel, and mental health supports for students and families. HEARTS work is guided by six principles that are grounded in trauma research and an extensive review of trauma-informed systems work nationally: Understanding Trauma and Stress; Cultural Humility and Equity; Safety and Predictability; Compassion and Dependability; Empowerment and Collaboration; and Resilience and Social Emotional Learning. A core feature distinguishing HEARTS from many other trauma-informed school approaches is the centrality of cultural responsiveness and equity in all aspects of the program. We believe that given the toxic, trauma-inducing, and pervasive nature of structural racism and other forms of oppression, any efforts to mitigate the effects of trauma must include efforts to counteract these harms. Further, without a culturally responsive and equity-promoting lens, there is a risk that trauma concepts could be used to pathologize marginalized communities rather than underscore their resilience. HEARTS-Extended (HEARTS-E) is our NCTSI-funded project that provides evidence-based trauma-focused mental health treatment, services, and support systems for trauma-impacted children and youth at three elementary and two middle school sites in San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), focusing on capacity-building for SFUSD personnel to deliver these services.

Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) is a comprehensive health system that provides an array of services at all levels of care for all age groups. Annually, care provided by HFHS includes over 2 million patient visits, 78,000 ambulatory surgeries and 93,000 hospital admissions. HFHS is also one of Michigan's largest and most experienced providers of behavioral health services, including 5 outpatient clinics, 10 integrated care clinics, an inpatient unit, intensive substance use treatment facilities, and school- and community-based health clinics. HFHS is the primary safety net hospital in Detroit. Nearly 60% of patients have Medicaid or Medicare, and the system provides ~$500 million in uncompensated care for uninsured patients each year. Our newest SAMHSA grant seeks to improve the capacity and provision of trauma-focused services within pediatric behavioral health and integrated care clinics across HFHS. Children ages 4-17 years will be served through this project and will be identified and referred for services through screening at well visits, inpatient stays, ED visits, and behavioral health care appointments. To do so, we are implementing two trauma-focused treatments, the Attachment, Regulation and Competency Framework (ARC) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), while increasing identification of and referral to treatment for child traumatic stress. Our goal is to have our Child Trauma Specialty Service become the central hub for treatment of child trauma in the metro Detroit area, which includes a population of over 850,000 children under age 18.