Child advocacy training and support center (CATS) - the child advocacy training and support (CATS) center, housed at baystate family advocacy center (BFAC) will operate as a samhsa nctsi category II…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Baystate Medical Center, Inc. $599,999 on September 30, 2026, to establish and operate the Child Advocacy Training and Support (CATS) Center, a SAMHSA National Treatment and Service Adaptation (TSA) regional category center under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532).

The CATS Center, housed at Baystate Family Advocacy Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, will deliver evidence-based training, consultation, and technical assistance to multidisciplinary team members across the 900-member national Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) network. Direct recipients of capacity-building supports include CAC multidisciplinary team members—forensic interviewers, mental health providers, medical professionals, law enforcement, child welfare personnel, and victim advocates. The center will strengthen workforce capacity through a national technical assistance infrastructure focused on trauma-informed service delivery and specialized tools and resources for children and families affected by child abuse, with priority focus on youth involved in commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking and those experiencing complex trauma.

The center targets children ages two through eighteen served through CAC systems who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking, exposure to violence, and drug endangerment. Activities include refining and adapting evidence-based childhood trauma treatments and establishing sustainable national workforce capacity across the United States.

Performance period runs through September 29, 2031.

Child advocacy training and support center (CATS) - the child advocacy training and support (CATS) center, housed at baystate family advocacy center (BFAC) will operate as a samhsa nctsi category II national treatment and service adaptation (TSA) center specializing in child abuse and maltreatment within children's advocacy center (CAC) systems. The CATS center team, in partnership with national experts on CAC service delivery, evidence-based treatment (EBT) trauma curriculum developers, nctsi CAT II and CAT III sites, and stakeholders representing each multidisciplinary team (MDT) discipline, will implement comprehensive, coordinated capacity-building efforts focused on strengthening workforce capacity across the 900 member national CAC network through evidence-based training, consultation, and technical assistance to multidisciplinary teams, while expanding access to gold-standard trauma treatments for children and families affected by abuse. The primary population of focus is children ages 2-18 served through CAC systems who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking (CSET), exposure to violence, and drug endangerment, with priority focus on CSET-involved youth and those with complex trauma. CAC MDT members; mental health providers, forensic interviewers, medical professionals, law enforcement, child welfare personnel, and victim advocates; are the direct recipients of capacity-building supports. The CATS center will build sustainable national workforce capacity across the united states in the following ways: 1) establish and scale a national TTA infrastructure to strengthen CAC service delivery through broadened stakeholder leadership, continuous evaluation, and strategic dissemination, ensuring MDT members are trauma-informed and have the specialized tools, skills, and resources for effective service delivery to children and families impacted by child abuse. 2) refine and adapt evidence-based childhood trauma training curricula, including trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), the core curriculum on childhood trauma (CCCT), and the foundations for outreach through experiential child advocacy studies training (FORECAST) simulation model to meet the needs of CAC mdts and priority populations. 3) deliver trauma-informed treatment and service resources through targeted dissemination of evidence-based MDT training, consultation, and technical assistance to nctsi category II-III grantees and CAC service providers nationally through the intensive learning community (ILC) model. 4) build localized, sustainable TIC training capacity within CAC systems through a train-the-facilitator (TTF) model, certifying regional CAC staff to independently deliver evidence-based curricula. 5) implement a rigorous, data-driven evaluation plan to continuously assess intervention effectiveness, fidelity, and child health outcomes, using findings to drive continuous quality improvement across all project activities. Measurable objectives include: training a minimum of 1,000 MDT professionals per year and 300 mental health providers in TF-CBT annually; including hosting 2 regional ilcs per year each serving full CAC mdts; achieving 90% of ILC participants reporting intent to implement trauma-informed practice changes; offering five discipline-specific virtual trainings per year to address trauma-informed and trauma-specific practices for each MDT affinity group (law enforcement, child welfare, medical, victim advocacy, mental health), including promotion of timely access to trauma treatment; conducting individual CCCT and FORECAST training for child welfare teams and other disciplines looking to deepen their understanding of trauma-informed practice; certifying 4 new TTF facilitators annually; and submitting the evaluation plan within 3 months, workforce plan within 3 months, and dissemination plan within 6 months of award, each updated annually.