Saturday, December 21, 2024
12/21/2024
The Child Advocacy Training and Support Center (CATS) at Baystate Medical Center will coordinate and consolidate the vast resources and expertise of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) to support Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) in meeting their mission and the National Children’s Alliance’s (NCA) Standards for Accredited Members with the primary goal of increasing access to trauma informed services for children and their families. The CATS Center team, in partnership with national experts on CAC service delivery, evidence-based treatment (EBT) trauma curriculum developers, and stakeholders representing each multidisciplinary team (MDT) discipline will implement comprehensive, coordinated capacity-building efforts focused on dissemination of trauma-focused EBTs. The CATS Center will be the vehicle for dissemination of trauma informed care (TIC) across the CAC system, embedded within the MDT model in a way that will promote comprehensive TIC and sustainability, effectively impacting the 350,000 youth who are served through CACs annually. The CATS Center will achieve this in the following ways: 1) Establish a national training center to support CACs in ensuring their MDT members are trauma-informed and have specialized tools, skills, and resources for effective service delivery by leveraging existing expertise and partnerships. 2) Increase system capacity and competencies of the CAC MDT professionals’ (i.e., medical, mental health, law enforcement, child-welfare, victim advocates) trauma-informed response using a learning collaborative model and specialized curriculum specific to each discipline. (meeting 8 hours of child abuse training outlined as an essential component in the Standards) 3. Increase availability of training in EBTs, such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to mental health professionals within CACs (meeting 40 hours of training in EBTs another essential component of the Standards). 3) Supporting sustainability of TIC throughout CAC MDTs by serving as a continuing resource for training, consultation, and technical assistance to CAC MDTs for 6 months after their initial ILC and providing additional training and consultation regarding priority areas such as commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking, problem sexual behaviors, screening and engagement, and secondary traumatic stress prevention. 4) Develop and consolidate NCTSN products specifically for CAC service systems such as factsheets and webinars, and create a specific location for these resources on the NCTSN website for ease of accessibility, with linkage to NCA. The CATS Center will reach 80% of all CACs through training and resource distribution with emphasis on selecting CACs that are under resourced or attempting to meet the NCA’s Standards for Accredited Members.
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).