Tuesday, January 28, 2025
1/28/2025
The Network for Enhancing Wellness in Disaster-Affected Youth (NEW DAY) brings together a national consortium of leading experts in disaster recovery and children's mental health to collaborate with disaster-prone regional coalitions and other key stakeholders to expand the scope, reach, and equity of evidence-based interventions for youth exposed to disasters, mass violence, and public health crises. Disasters carry a very broad, heavy, and sustained mental health burden, and youth (0-21) are particularly vulnerable. Despite advances in disaster mental health, youth-serving professionals in most disaster-affected regions typically lack adequate training and preparation to provide needed intervention and support to disaster-affected youth. Headquartered at Florida International University's preeminent Center for Children and Families, Project NEW DAY will address key gaps and advance training, education, and technical assistance in youth disaster response by achieving five Overarching Goals: (1) Foster and maintain a strategic network and several collaborative advisory coalitions to advise project efforts to improve youth disaster behavioral response; (2) Increase the availability of three evidence-based, trauma-focused interventions for addressing youth behavioral health in the context of disasters [i.e., Psychological First Aid (PFA)/PFA for Schools, Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR), Child Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) after Disasters]; (3) Increase professional knowledge, skill, adoption and implementation of PFA/PFA-S, SPR, & CARE after Disasters among youth-serving professionals and systems of care in disaster-affected communities; (4) Reduce racial and ethnic disparities in children's disaster behavioral health and service utilization; and (5) Increase the reach and sustainability of PFA/PFA-S, SPR, & CARE in the aftermath of disasters by leveraging school systems, families, community agencies, and technology. These goals will be achieved by reaching a number of Measurable Objectives including (i) Providing at least 40 on-site multi-day trainings in PFA/PFA-S, SPR, and/or CARE after Disasters to at least 2500 youth-serving professionals in disaster-affected communities; (ii) Lead at least 260 virtual group consultations for PFA/PFA-S, SPR, and CARE after Disasters implementation support; (iii) Hold weekly office hours to offer 1:1 consultation and technical assistance to local leaders, supervisor, and professionals as they work to implement, improve, or sustain disaster-related youth practices in their settings and networks; (iv) Develop and distribute a set of practice guidelines for overcoming behavioral health disparities in disaster-affected communities, with particular focus on communities of color; (v) Produce 5 professional workshops on key topics in PFA/PFA-S, SPR, and CARE after Disasters implementation for youth; and (vi) Produce 15 professional webinars per year on key disaster-affected youth topics. For maximal reach, Project NEW DAY will provide training, education, and technical assistance to mental health providers and systems, as well as key youth-serving workforces and systems outside of mental health care and those in minority-serving settings.
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).