Nextgen center for adolescent resilience and empowerment - the nextgen center for adolescent resilience and empowerment (care) at the university of denver will serve as a national treatment and…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded the University of Denver $600,000 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to establish the NextGen Center for Adolescent Resilience and Empowerment (CARE), a national treatment and service adaptation center.

The center will refine the NextGen Resilience evidence-informed model, strengthen its evidence base, and develop training, products, and infrastructure to support high-fidelity implementation at child-serving sites across the nation. NextGen Resilience addresses healing from childhood trauma and builds resilience among adolescents and their caregivers by focusing on connection, healthy boundaries, physical health and well-being, and a strengthened internal locus of control—skills designed to protect against contemporary behavioral health risks including substance use disorders, process addictions, and negative effects of social media and excess screen time.

The University of Denver's Butler Institute for Families and the Kempe Center, an NCTSN-affiliated academic center for clinical treatment of child traumatic stress, partner to deliver the center's work. Performance occurs in Denver, Colorado, with a period of performance from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2031. The center's capacity-building focuses on behavioral health, education, and juvenile justice professionals and systems serving trauma-exposed adolescents.

Nextgen center for adolescent resilience and empowerment - the nextgen center for adolescent resilience and empowerment (care) at the university of denver will serve as a national treatment and service adaptation center for nextgen resilience: empowered and equipped for the future, an evidence-informed model that promotes healing from childhood trauma and builds resilience among adolescents and their caregivers in the context of contemporary risks. Nextgen care will refine the model, strengthen its evidence base, and develop the training, products, and infrastructure to support high-fidelity implementation at child-serving sites across the nation. The center is a partnership between the university of denver's butler institute for families and the kempe center, an nctsn-affiliated academic center advancing clinical treatment for child traumatic stress. Adolescents who experience trauma today face risks unlike those of prior generations. Trauma-exposed youth are more likely to feel lonely, disconnected, and without a sense of hope or purpose. These symptoms, which heighten vulnerability to anxiety and depression, also raise the risk of poor physical health, substance and process use disorders (addictive behaviors), and increase susceptibility to the negative effects of excess screen time, artificial intelligence chatbots, and social media. Current trauma treatment models do not adequately equip youth to build resilience against these contemporary risks. Nextgen fills this GAP by addressing the underlying drivers of behavioral health disorders: connection, healthy boundaries, physical health and well-being (equipping youth for their future), and a strengthened internal locus of control (empowering youth to take charge of their future). These skills promote healing from trauma and protect against future behavioral health disorders. The population of focus who are the primary beneficiaries of the center's capacity-building are the behavioral health, education, juvenile justice, child welfare, and substance use workforce and the systems that support trauma-exposed adolescents nationally. Nextgen care will reach these systems through a national network of nctsn sites and federally funded technical assistance partners, while also serving adolescents and caregivers at a primary implementation site in colorado springs, colorado. The center will address two needs: a GAP in trauma treatment models that build resilience against contemporary risks, and limited workforce capacity to deliver models with fidelity and effective implementation context. At the primary implementation site, we will deliver nextgen to youth ages 12-21 who have experienced traumatic stress and are at elevated risk for behavioral health disorders to refine the model, build its evidence base, and support national capacity-building. To build national capacity, the center will pursue five goals: (1) refine the nextgen resilience model and build its evidence base through rigorous pre-/post- and follow-up evaluation; (2) develop nextgen products and infrastructure for national dissemination, including manualized guides, psychoeducational videos, an implementation toolkit, participant materials, and a website; (3) build workforce capacity by training 30 new nextgen facilitators across the nation and delivering the nctsn core curriculum on child trauma and related trainings to at least 1,000 providers and educators; (4) develop and disseminate products and collaborate across nctsi category i-III and other federal partners; and (5) engage youth, families, and providers in continuous model improvement. Measurable objectives that advance samhsa's strategic priorities include improving access to evidence-informed treatment, preventing serious behavioral health disorders, using gold-standard science, engaging and empowering families, addressing emerging behavioral health threats, and supporting the make america healthy again priorities by addressing root causes and preventing long-term physical and mental health problems.