Through our project, CN Guidance & Counseling Services and partners (FCA, EPIC/South Shore, and HCC) will serve Nassau and Suffolk County (NY) children, adolescents, and families largely from underserved / under-resourced communities who have experienced traumatic events through evidence-based practices informed by Child HELP Partnership, a NCTSI Category III Treatment and Service Adaptation (TSA) Center.
POPULATION(S) TO BE SERVED through our project include: DEMOGRAPHICS — at-risk children and adolescents, including those from racially and ethnically diverse urban and suburban communities, residing in Nassau and Suffolk counties (for example, according to the NYS Department of Education, 75% (5,145) of the children enrolled in the Hempstead Public School District in our service area speak Spanish). Like CN Guidance, our partners Family & Children’s Association (FCA), EPIC Long Island and South Shore Child Guidance Center (EPIC/South Shore), and Hispanic Counseling Center (HCC) all currently serve many of the most vulnerable residents of Long Island, and together we will use existing referral relationships to identify and address health disparities for disparate populations served. Targeted hotspots will include those facing service gaps, high vulnerability, poor health, and high avoidable ED usage as identified in a robust Community Health Needs Assessment 2022-2024 from NY’s largest healthcare provider, Northwell Health. CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS — children and youth who have experienced complex trauma (e.g., adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), grief, disaster- and COVID-related, race-based, hate-based, historic, and complex physical and emotional trauma), including those who are at risk for or who have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder or serious emotional disturbance defined by a DSM IV diagnosis.
STRATEGIES/INTERVENTIONS our project will implement include trauma-informed approaches to: (a) non-clinical outreach/engagement services to support target populations, (b) short-term / interim clinical services to reduce or preempt longer-term care need, and (c) custom referral pathways to long-term child serving programs. PROGRAMMATIC COMPONENTS will include: Peer Services (both Youth Peer and Family Peer Advocates), Screening, Diagnostic Assessment, Care Management, Therapy, Prevention, Referral Pathways (in/out), and Training of Community Partners.
PROJECT GOALS AND MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES of our project include: (1) Increase the number of at-risk individuals (children/family members) receiving evidence-based practices, (2) Improve organizational capacity to provide evidence-based screenings in the community, (3) Increase capacity for providing evidence-based, trauma-informed treatment to individuals who screen positive for traumatic experiences, (4) Conduct outreach activities designed to promote knowledge of available mental health resources in the Long Island region, (5) Promote continuity of care for vulnerable children and families through inter-agency cooperation, (6) Improve daily functioning among at-risk children and families, (7) Monitor and mitigate housing insecurity among individuals and families served through this grant, (8) Address education concerns among those served with grant funding, (9) Assess criminal justice system impacts, (10) Improve the degree of social / community connection among children served throughout the grant period, and (11) Provide quality care to recipients of grant services, in order to promote positive perception of trauma-related treatment
NUMBER of people to be served annually = ~300-375
NUMBER of people to be served throughout the lifetime of the project = 1750