Judge Baker Childrens Center

Judge Baker Children's Center, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, operates as a federal grant recipient providing nationwide training, implementation support, and clinical technical assistance for evidence-based trauma-informed treatments and behavioral health services for children and families. The organization holds 41% of its recent federal awards (16 of 39 total) as a prime grant recipient and operates as a sub-recipient on 59% of awards (23 sub-awards), predominantly under federal grant programs rather than federal contracts.

Judge Baker's customer concentration is heavily skewed toward health and human services agencies. The Department of Health and Human Services accounts for the majority of the organization's activity across three sub-agencies — the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Administration for Children and Families — together with the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, which collectively cover 79% of recent awards. The organization's award portfolio has grown sharply: one award in 2022, four in 2023, thirteen in 2024, declining to three in 2025 and five in 2026 to date.

As a prime recipient, Judge Baker has secured three named federal grants totaling $600,000 minimum across SAMHSA programs. The most recent is a $600,000 SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance award (CFDA 93.532) granted September 30, 2026, running through September 29, 2031, to support the Trauma and Related Adversities, Comorbidity, and Evidence-Based Care (TRACE) initiative. TRACE provides nationwide training and technical assistance to expand access to evidence-based treatments — the Modular Approach to Therapy for Children (MATCH) and Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) — for trauma-affected children and families, with workforce capacity-building targeting clinicians, supervisors, and organizational leaders serving youth ages 2-17 nationwide. An earlier SAMHSA grant to Judge Baker Children's Center supported the MetroWest Evidence-Based Trauma-Informed Referral & Treatment Initiative for Children (METRIC), based at the Baker Center Waltham division, providing trauma-focused assessment and evidence-based treatment to 2,350 projected children and adolescents in Waltham and surrounding MetroWest communities through September 29, 2026. Judge Baker also holds a sub-award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (awarded August 1, 2024, completing February 1, 2026) supporting implementation science research on a culturally grounded substance use prevention curriculum (Ho'ouna Pono) for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth in rural Hawaii.

On the sub-recipient side, Judge Baker's engagement spans food nutrition and child welfare programs under the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (multiple 2024–2026 sub-awards for Child Nutrition Program blocks and special education funding) and specialized roles under research and training grants. Dr. Christopher Bellonci of Judge Baker Children's Center serves as Medical Director of a Center of Excellence addressing behavioral health disparities impacting LGBTQ individuals under a University of Connecticut sub-award (December 2024), providing training, coaching, and clinical consultation on trauma response, suicidality, and depression in LGBTQ youth. Judge Baker has also sub-contracted with the University of Maryland, Baltimore for a Center for Excellence on Behavioral Health Disparities and with North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services to train clinicians in MATCH implementation. Combined obligated federal dollars across all prime and sub awards total $33.7 million across the source data window.