The center for traumatic stress and comorbidity (ctsc) will provide comprehensive training, implementation, and technical assistance to support nctsn category III sites currently implementing…

The center for traumatic stress and comorbidity (ctsc) will provide comprehensive training, implementation, and technical assistance to support nctsn category III sites currently implementing trauma-focused treatments by training participating agencies in two complementary trauma-informed evidence-based practices (ebps), the modular approach to therapy for children (match) and parent child interaction therapy (pcit). The goals of the ctsc are to: 1) improve youth and family outcomes related to traumatic stress, comorbid conditions, and associated family problems by increasing the quality of trauma-informed care; 2) increase agency capacity to treat traumatic stress and comorbidities such as anxiety, depression and behavior problems by implementing and sustaining complementary trauma-informed ebps; 3) improve clinician empowerment (attitudes, self-efficacy, and satisfaction) for implementation of ebps for traumatized youth; and 4) increase the capacity of nctsn members to partner with surrounding communities and policymakers to integrate complementary ebps into trauma-informed treatment. Highly effective ebps are available to treat traumatic stress symptoms in children; however, none of these treatments have the capacity to inclusively treat trauma-related disorders and potential comorbidities that could intensify the serious mental and physical health consequences associated with trauma exposure. Research and a recent survey of nctsn sites demonstrate a crucial need for training and education in the concurrent use of ebps to address traumatic stress and comorbid conditions. Through this initiative, the ctsc would: a) promote comprehensive treatment of childhood trauma and related sequelae; and b) help nctsn sites use clinical evidence and decision-making frameworks to treat child traumatic stress while skillfully adapting treatment to address comorbidities and stressors that interfere with treatment. Ctsc will provide training and implementation for two ebps, match and pcit. These trauma-informed ebps offer a unique complement to existing treatments for traumatic stress. Collectively, these two programs provide services for youth ages 2-17 and cover approximately 80% of the comorbid problems associated with traumatic stress. Ctsc will provide multiple match and pcit trainings using a structured implementation framework, the learning collaborative methodology, in a regionally staged approach over the 5 years of this initiative. Ctsc will train over 138 providers in the models across approximately 26 sites and build sustainable training capacity at each agency, allowing sites to independently train additional providers in these ebps indefinitely. The results of this initiative will provide trauma-informed services to over 3,400 youth annually and 17,000 youth over the 5 project years. Ctsc will also provide technical assistance and consultation and develop trauma-informed toolkits and process management guides to support the implementation of complementary ebps for traumatic stress and collaborate with community providers and nctsn partners to enhance the treatment of trauma and comorbidity in youth.