Mississippi Youth Resilience Center - The Mississippi Youth Resilience Center (MY-REC), housed in Mississippi State University's Behavioral Health Clinic, will bring evidence-based trauma treatment directly to trauma-exposed youth ages 2-18 and their families across Mississippi, particularly in Mississippi’s Golden Triangle Region. MY-REC will offer services to all youth and families, with specialization in rural youth and youth with developmental disabilities, including autism. Using Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy adapted for trauma, Skills for Psychological Recovery, and Project Support Positive Parenting Module, the Center will reach 660 or more youth over five years. All interventions include parent/caregiver engagement. In line with priorities of expanding access to evidence-based treatment, advancing recovery through community-based and family-centered care, and using data and gold-standard science to guide services, goals are to close the rural trauma-treatment gap in Mississippi, make trauma-focused treatment accessible to developmentally disabled youth statewide, and build a trained, community-based referral network. Measurable objectives are: Deliver trauma treatment to at least 40 youth in Year 1, growing to at least 140 youth and families annually Years 2 through 5, for an estimated 570 or more served over the five-year project period; Establish a trained, five-county referral network, a partner summit, and two integrated rural primary care sites; Use annual listening sessions and community engagement including interviews and surveys to adapt interventions and referral procedures, documenting at least one adaptation per year; Track outcomes through trauma symptom measures and SAMHSA's GPRA and SPARS systems. The Golden Triangle region includes nearly 35,000 youth. Between 19-21% of residents live in poverty, and 46.3% of Mississippi children have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience: the third-highest rate in the US. In Mississippi, 80/82 counties are federally designated mental health shortage areas. Rural children exposed to trauma often have nowhere to receive treatment, and trauma among children with developmental disabilities is frequently unrecognized because trauma services are rarely adapted to their needs, especially in rural areas. Staff and advanced graduate clinicians will deliver TF-CBT, PCIT adapted for trauma, and Project Support, traveling to community sites across the Golden Triangle, including libraries and faith-based locations for delivery. A full-time case manager will coordinate referrals and wraparound support and deliver SPR. The Center will issue telehealth tablets and hotspots to families in need, and MSU Extension will facilitate extending services statewide. Beginning in Year 2, supervised health trainees will deliver Project Support to rural youth and families via telehealth, building a pipeline of trainees invested in rural trauma response. Following foundational partnership and adaptation work with rural schools in Years 1 and 2, clinicians will also provide trauma-focused services in rural schools beginning in Year 3. MY-REC begins and continues with community engagement. We utilize our team’s existing partnerships, including with Oktibbeha County Youth Court and University of Mississippi Medical Center, and MSU Extension's presence in every Mississippi county. A trained referral network of schools, faith leaders, dental providers, autism service providers, and primary care clinics will identify trauma-exposed youth and refer them directly to MY-REC, anchored by tailored referral partner trainings in Year 2 and followed by a 3-year learning community of health service leaders. To develop our referral network with attention to our Mississippi context, we also utilize engagement with autism service providers, dentists, faith leaders, and foster/kinship caregivers to tailor and deliver trainings for each of these populations to better notice, respond to, and
