Mountain Comprehensive Care Center (MCCC), a current NCTSI-III grantee, will continue the Hope Initiative to increase access to and provide evidence-based and trauma-focused treatment and services for children/adolescents birth to age 17 and their families who experience traumatic events within the 8 adjacent counties of Breathitt, Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Magoffin, Martin, Perry and Pike counties located in eastern KY and Central Appalachia.
Population: The population of focus is children/adolescents birth to age 17 and their families who experience traumatic events within the 8 targeted counties. The population will be rural and includes at-risk populations, LGBTQ and those with complex trauma (e.g., exposure to parental behavioral health issues, domestic violence, child abuse, parental deployment or incarceration), and demographically will mirror the general public. Based on data from the current project, it is anticipated that 35% of youth may be male, 63% female, and 2% transgender or gender fluid. All counties are rural, “distressed,” and among the nation’s worst 10% for economic inequities.
Interventions: MCCC will use the evidence-based practices of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Child-Parent Psychotherapy as well as ensuring a trauma-informed care approach to all services. MCCC will conduct comprehensive, culturally-appropriate outreach and training for child-serving systems and community partners to increase access to trauma-focused care as well as provide direct outpatient evidence-based and trauma-focused treatment and services including therapy, care management, prevention, wraparound services and follow-up for up to 6 months post discharge to ensure ongoing stability.
Goals/Objectives: The project will serve 150 youth in Year 1 and 200 annually in Years 2-5 for a total of 950 over the 5-year period. Goals are to increase access to effective trauma-focused treatment and services systems for children/adolescents (0-17) and their families who experience or witness traumatic events; improve provision of effective trauma-focused treatment and services systems; and maintain effective project implementation and evaluation by conducting CQI activities. Objectives include: training 5 local, regional and/or state services systems and community partners annually about trauma, services, identification, and referral protocols; collaborate quarterly with NCTSI Centers to develop, advance and adapt interventions to improve engagement/outcomes for traumatized youth; conduct 150 screenings and assessments in Year 1, and 200 annually in Year 2-5, to identify participants in need of treatment/services and connect to the appropriate care; provide direct evidence-based outpatient mental disorder treatment, care management, therapy, prevention, advocacy, wraparound services so that 70% of clients served show an improvement in their social and/or behavioral functioning; provide and/or coordinate training in evidence-based practices for 10 project staff; and conduct quarterly Project Management Team meetings to monitor outcomes, and ensure CQI. Morehead State University will conduct an independent project evaluation including process and outcomes evaluation.