CONCEPT (The Connecticut Collaborative on Effective Practices for Trauma)

HELPING CHILDREN RECOVER FROM TRAUMA EXPOSURE

Beginning in 2011, Connecticut launched a seven-year effort to transform the child welfare system to be trauma-informed. The majority of children in the child welfare system have been exposed to trauma, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and chronic neglect, however  emerging best practices for children exposed to trauma had not yet been implemented in Connecticut or nationally. Today, Connecticut has made significant progress to ensure that children and families involved in the child welfare system are identified and have access to high-quality services.

Connecticut is now one of the nation’s leading examples of a trauma-informed child welfare system.

The Connecticut Collaborative on Effective Practices for Trauma (CONCEPT)

The federal CONCEPT grant provided an opportunity for Connecticut to apply a trauma-informed approach to the state’s child welfare system. The CONCEPT grant was awarded to Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) by the Administration for Children and Families (Grant #0169) to support development of a trauma-informed child welfare system from 2011-2018. CONCEPT was a collaboration between DCF, CHDI, The Yale Child Study Center, The Consultation Center at Yale, family advocates, and community providers. CHDI served as the Coordinating Center for this initiative.

The CONCEPT activities included:

1. Training and support for child welfare staff to understand childhood trauma and how to support children and families who have experienced trauma
2. Trauma screening to identify children who may be suffering from trauma and in need of specialty services
3. Dissemination of Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), to 13 community provider agencies
4.  Dissemination of the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) to 10 community provider agencies 
5. Improving collaboration between child welfare staff and community providers of evidenced-based practices 
6. Supporting wellness and reducing secondary traumatic stress reactions among child welfare staff

To learn more about CONCEPT, contact Jason Lang.

Jason Lang - Director of Dissemination and Implementation jalang@uchc.edu 860-679-1550