Friday, November 22, 2024
11/22/2024
Char-Meck ReCAST (CMR) seeks to improve resilience and healing among high-risk youth and families in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, NC by: (i) increasing trust and healing between government organizations and communities of color; (ii) increasing culturally sensitive, trauma-informed services; and (iii) addressing key social determinants underlying the recent civil unrest, following the shooting deaths of two African American men in our community. Racial disparities in employment and education have created isolated areas of poverty in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, especially for African Americans. The unemployment rate of African Americans (14%) is more than twice that of whites (6%). The median household income of whites is 86% higher than that of African Americans; and shockingly, the poverty rate for African American children (39%) is eight-times higher than for white children (5%). These conditions can produce traumatic events for children, including victimization and exposure to violence. Nearly a quarter of adolescents in the community experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime . The community offers services (including mental health services) that can address the consequences of racialized poverty. These service organizations are not always trained to deliver culturally sensitive, trauma-informed care to marginalized groups. The community also lacks an organized framework that ties these services together in a way that facilitates sustainable change among high-risk youth and their families. Char-Meck ReCAST will address these issues by implementing evidence-based, violence prevention programs for youth and establishing linkages to trauma-informed (TI) behavioral health services. Specifically CMR will: (i) create a youth advisory body to develop a strategic plan; (ii) conduct broad-based trauma-informed (TI) training and TI peer support training for youth; (iii) integrate neighborhood patrol officers into youth/community activities; (iv) create a TI information communication plan/website; and, (5) increase our community’s Rapid Response capabilities. Key outcome measures will be determined through the planning process, but will be designed to measure progressive change in youth; changes in family perceptions regarding police-community relations; and access to TI healing services. When fully implemented, Char-Meck ReCAST will reach over 147,000 children within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. 1. NC Poverty Research Fund (2016). Economic Hardship, Racialized Concentrated Poverty, and the Challenges of Low-Wage Work: Charlotte, North Carolina. 2. Costello, E. J., Erkanli, A., Fairbank, J. A., & Angold, A. (2002). The prevalence of potentially traumatic events in childhood and adolescence. Journal of traumatic stress, 15(2), 99-112.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
