Kristi House, Inc., the Children's Advocacy Center serving large, ethnically diverse Miami-Dade County, proposes to strengthen community capacity for evidence-based, trauma-informed, culturally competent practices for children overcoming serious trauma in Miami-Dade County. C-START (Child Severe Trauma Awareness, Response and Treatment) is focused on providing training in and treatment using evidence-based practices for child trauma, particularly for underserved, racial and ethnic minorities and special populations.
With the area's current capacity for mental health services severely outstripped by need, C-START will target critical service gaps and underserved communities. With the partnership of EBP developers and master trainers, C-START will make its impact under three major objectives: 1) service delivery; 2) capacity building; and 3) awareness and education.
Service delivery will be carried out by therapists and care workers serving children, adolescents and families. Along with Kristi House, 10 partner-agencies working with ethnic and racial minorities, LGBTQ+ youth and newcomers have committed to C-START to provide evidence-based practices and participate in EBP trainings. Over the five years, we anticipate reaching 3,760 children and adolescents with evidence-based treatment, 95% of whom will be racial and ethnic minorities, newcomers and LGBTQ+ children and adolescents.
Capacity-building will take a Community-Based Learning Collaborative approach to spreading EBPs including Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Culturally Modified Trauma Focused Therapy, Risk Reduction through Family Therapy, and Problematic Sexual Behavior Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for school-age children. All EBPs will be taught by national master trainers. Additional experts in child trauma and race; substance use disorders and risky behaviors; Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts; and unaccompanied, refugee, and immigrant minors will expand capacity for treating trauma impacting special populations of youth. Specialized techniques to support clinicians and other care workers such as Motivational Interviewing and Components for Enhancing Career Engagement and Reducing Trauma (CE-CERT) will further fortify the workforce with sustaining support, advanced training and skill building. C-START anticipates training 252 clinicians, care managers and senior leaders in EBPs and several hundred others in mini-trainings on child trauma.
Education through C-START will encompass delivery of evidence-based and best practice prevention, education, training and awareness programs for service providers, parents and youth to increase awareness of child trauma and access to services. Outreach will focus on communities where children are at high risk and underserved. NCTSN Core Curriculum College participation by a cohort of educators and trainers will further strengthen the trauma-informed foundation for care in Miami. We expect the Kristi House Education team will reach 4,000 to 4,250 participants a year for a total of 21,000 education course participants over the five-year grant.
Input from consumer-clients, partners from other NCTSN sites and workgroups, master trainer faculty and evaluators from the University of Miami will provide input and guidance throughout the project.