Project Description:
Anchorage Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS), Child & Family Services Division was granted funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to establish the Alaska Child Trauma Center (ACTC), a member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). The NCTSN is composed of 70 centers throughout the US, whose mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children and their families. As part of the NCTSN, the ACTC is tasked with development of a community-based treatment network that will establish best practices-based services for children, ages 3-12 who have suffered trauma.
The ACTC has developed a specialized trauma-focused clinic that serves up to 45 children at a time, ages 3-12, who have been repeatedly exposed to trauma, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, or domestic violence. The majority of children served by this clinic are children in the foster care system. Through the training and experience of the ACTC, the entire ACMHS Child & Family Services Division develops capacity to identify, assess, and treat children and families with trauma histories using best-practices interventions.
A primary function of the NCTSN is the collection of trauma-related data from children and families receiving services. The NCTSN data managers are at the Duke University, Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). The DCRI serves as the data repository, for the NCTSN Core Data Set, a national database populated by all 70 centers in the NCTSN. A subset of this data will be used to conduct a Cross Site Evaluation of the 70 centers. Those data will be used to evaluate long-term outcomes of interventions used by centers.
The Center for Human Development (CHD) is contracted by ACMHS to conduct evaluation activities and provide an interface between the ACTC and the NCTSN data resources. CHD retrieves and summarizes ACTC data and provides the ACTC with a variety of reports that can be generated from the NCTSN InForm system. CHD also receives data from a Trauma Informed Services (TIS) Survey to summarize results evaluating ACTC training events and giving an indication of the TIS capacity of Alaskan providers.
Core Function(s):
Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Disadvantaged Circumstances, Other
