LifeBridge Urban Trauma Center - National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative - This five-year project (September 2023 to September 2028) will provide evidence-based treatment and services to children, adolescents, and their family members living in the greater Bridgeport, Connecticut area, who have experienced trauma and traumatic events. The 2020 Community Readiness Survey found that 17.2 % of children aged 12-17 and 15% of young adults aged 18-25 in this region of southwestern CT meet these criteria with priority populations including the undocumented, those with cultural or language barriers, individuals with disabilities, and other groups experiencing barriers to care. A community-based organization offering behavioral health, youth development, and other social support services, LifeBridge Community Services (LifeBridge), has provided services to greater Bridgeport’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations for over 173 years. With funding from NCTSI III, LifeBridge will make investments in our clinical competencies (cultural and therapeutic) to enhance the quality of our therapeutic care and improve outcomes for patients, thereby addressing the urgent need for quality trauma-focused treatment in Bridgeport. The proposed project has the following goals: 1) To increase access to evidence-based services for urban BILPOC children/youth and their families who experience traumatic events. 2) To improve the standard of care for urban BILPOC children/youth and their families who experience traumatic events. 3) To increase stakeholder engagement and youth and family voice. Project activities include training of LifeBridge clinicians in evidence-based practices for treating children and adolescents who have experienced trauma, as well as training in applying treatment practices so they are culturally relevant to the population served. As a result of this training, the project will provide 350 children and adolescents aged 6-18 with improved behavioral health services and treatment. To improve access to evidence-based services, the project includes an extensive community outreach, social media, and marketing campaign. These efforts will be designed to formalize community referral networks, increase awareness about mental health services, reduce stigma of mental health issues, and to create social cohesion on shared community priorities for addressing mental health and related needs. These activities will include an estimated 300 participants in community events, generate 10,000 social media impressions, and reach up to 140,000 people through other marketing efforts. The project includes a robust monitoring and evaluation component led by an independent team of evaluators from Brandeis University to assess the effectiveness of project activities and their impact on behavioral health outcomes. Project findings will be shared widely with the behavioral health community, as well as other relevant federal, state, and local health agencies.
