Alabama

The CARES (Children Advancing through Recovery and Empowerment Services) Project will be sponsored by the Montgomery Area Family Violence Project in partnership with the Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority to provide trauma-focused care to children and adolescents under the age of 18 who have been traumatized by family and/or sexual violence, and/or child abuse, and/or neglect. The project will utilize Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) with clients residing in the River Region of Alabama (including Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, and Montgomery counties). CARES will provide training both to the community at-large and to various community agencies to develop a trauma-informed system of care.

The National Children's Advocacy Center proposes to operate the Treatment/Services Development Center for Child Maltreatment as part of the National Child Trauma Stress Initiative. The T/S Development Center will be the centralized resource for knowledge, research, training and consultation for professionals who work with abused and neglected children. The Child Maltreatment T/S Development Center will collect information on existing and promising approaches to treatment and services for victims of child maltreatment and their families or caregivers. This will be accomplished through surveys of NCTSI Network members, through a Think Tank to be held in March 2002, and through annual Promising Approaches Forums. This process will also be used to identify needs or "gaps" in services and to find solutions to these needs. These "best practices" and their potential impact on lessening the impact of trauma to children will be shared with other professionals through multiple means. The Child Maltreatment TIS Development Center will work with other members of the NCTSI network to develop a national plan for identifying, researching and sharing information. This coordinated response will lead to an integrated national body of knowledge about child trauma and its effects