The Center for the Study of Violence Against Children (CSVAC)

Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment Institute

“Preserving and restoring the future of America’s traumatized children.”

The Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment Institute (CATTI) is a multidisciplinary, University-Community collaboration housed at the University of Kentucky's Center for the Study of Violence against Children. The mission of CATTI is to facilitate child and family recovery from psychological trauma through statewide service delivery, and to increase the capacity of the mental health community to provide services that are empirically-based and culturally relevant. This mission is undertaken in partnership with public child welfare, the judiciary and the Department of Mental Health. This project builds on an already nationally-recognized child assessment and treatment center in Kentucky, and proposes to develop a clinical nucleus for clinical training, and dissemination of trauma informed evidence-based practices (TI-EBPs) in four rural to urban areas in Kentucky.

The CATTI project will provide three interventions that have been identified as best practice approaches, and provide a continuum of care to traumatized children: Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) for ages 2-12), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for ages (3-17), and Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) (for school aged children). These interventions were selected due to the exposure profile of at-risk children in the state, the majority of whom are suffering from exposure to interpersonal, family and community based violence.

Based on a Needs and Readiness Assessment, Clinical Associates of UK's Center for the Study of Violence against Children will be selected and trained using a Breakthrough Collaborative Model as regional partners in the delivery of clinical services. Subsequently, using a "train the trainer" approach, these Clinical Associates will train and mentor (with the support and resources of CATTI) additional regional associates to use the three selected TI-EBPs. These Clinical Associates will provide a reciprocal service to UK CSVAC by functioning as colleagues, referral sources, and "best practices ambassadors" in Kentucky, thereby positively influencing the project's effectiveness in the region. These formal and personal links are promising for ongoing dissemination and intellectual investment beyond the grant period. Following a carefully designed strategy involving intense community collaboration and partnership with NCTSN, CATTI will make adaptations to the manualized protocols to fit the cultural needs of residents in the regional sites and to address cultural barriers to implementation that could threaten to derail the project. CATTI has the support of key stakeholders (state public child welfare system, school system, consumer groups, community mental health, and advocacy groups) who have expressed their commitment and support and who will serve as advisors to the project.

For more information about CATTI and the NCTSN, see the following links:

NCTSN Welcomes the Center for the Study of Violence Against Children to Child Trauma Network

Child Trauma Research Gets $1.6 Million

National Child Traumatic Stress Network