Exposure to trauma is pervasive in Baltimore. Nearly one third of children in Baltimore experience multiple traumas or adverse childhood events (ACEs) by age 17, according to recent data collected by the Child & Adolescent Measurement Initiative. Consistent with national statistics, data from the Baltimore City Child Fatality Review found that victims of child abuse and neglect in Baltimore are disproportionately infants and toddlers, accounting for 90% of severe and fatal maltreatment since 2012. Early exposure to maltreatment and other trauma is linked to negative outcomes, including impairments in brain development, physical health, and psychosocial functioning. Despite these risks, negative trauma-related outcomes are both treatable and preventable, particularly during early childhood, yet significant gaps in service access persist, including poor uptake of mental health referrals. Natural contexts where young children frequent, such as primary care, early education/schools, and early intervention, offer unique opportunities to deliver integrated services and raise the standard of care for early childhood health and wellness. Although there are models for trauma-informed child welfare, healthcare, and education, there is not yet a model for trauma-informed early intervention. Enhancing the capacity of the child-serving workforce to provide evidence-based services and promotion/prevention, while partnering with the community to enhance parenting education and public awareness, are key drivers for early childhood health and wellness.

Project Return Home expands the reach and impact of Bethany Christian Services’ existing child trauma center to serve urban Grand Rapids and the metropolitan Kent County area of West Central Michigan. The target population is traumatized children aged 3-18 who have been removed from their homes due to child abuse, neglect, or maltreatment, and who live in foster care or other out-of-home placement. Trauma treatment will also be delivered to their parents, most of whom struggle with their own unresolved sources of childhood trauma. The project will adapt/replicate an empirically based trauma-informed treatment model to help foster children achieve four measurable outcomes: 1) reduce behavioral problems extending from childhood trauma; 2) increase the rate and timeliness of child-family reunification; 3) reduce the number of disrupted foster placements; and 4) reduce the rates of recidivism for repeat out-of-home placement of children.

Bethany partners with the Child and Adolescent Traumatic Stress Center of Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, to replicate the trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) model for foster children, and will draw on the resources of its own Child and Family Traumatic Stress Center, which has successfully implemented two other U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-funded clinical models for treating traumatized adopted youth and youth aging out of the foster care system.

Catholic Charities of the East Bay Mental Health Department provides services utilizing a trauma-informed restorative practices model serving individuals and families in urban settings. Our model is a unique adaptation of
CBT, Motivational Interviewing, and community based restorative healing practices that addresses issues common to youth and adults that have experienced intergenerational poverty, family and community violence, criminal justice system involvement, and health, housing, and educational disparities. Our clinicians are based in schools and community settings in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties in California.  

CenClear Child Services, Inc. (dba CenClear) was established in 1980 as a non-profit corporation. Head Start is the original program and the program on which CenClear's comprehensive service delivery system is modeled. Through the provision of Head Start Services, it was soon realized that there were other issues that the Head Start program alone could not address. Early on it was discovered that accessible mental health services for children, particularly under the age of five, were limited or nonexistent. As a result of this CenClear submitted an application and was awarded the contract to provide Family-Based Mental Health (FBMH) Services. Since then, CenClear has continued to expand to meet the needs of the communities we serve and now provides an arrays of mental health and drug and alcohol services. Over this time, we have recognized the importance and need to be trauma informed and to provide evidence-based trauma interventions. As an agency, we have begun the process of Sanctuary certification. We have had staff trained as Mental Health First Aid Trainers (youth and adult) and regularly offer in house and out-of-house trainings. In addition, we have increased training for staff to be certified in various EBPs, partnered with the county to develop a Child Advocacy Center (CAC), and have two mental health clinics and a drug and alcohol clinic certified as Trauma Informed Care Centers through BHARP. The SAMSHA Healing After Trauma (H.A.T.) grant is a further extension of CenClear's vision to meet the needs of the communities we serve and promote healing and recovery through the use of evidence based practices (EBPs), increased accessibility and service capacity for children and youth who have experienced trauma.