The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, is accepting applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2016 National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS) grant. The purpose of the NCCTS is to develop and maintain a collaborative network structure, support resource and policy development and dissemination, and coordinate the networks national child trauma education and training efforts.
The NCCTS is part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCTSI). The purpose of NCTSI is to improve the quality of trauma treatment and services in communities for children, adolescents, and their families who experience or witness traumatic events, and to increase access to effective trauma-focused treatment and services for children and adolescents throughout the nation. The initiative is designed to address child trauma issues by creating a national network of grantees”the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) or Network”that works collaboratively to develop and promote effective trauma treatment and services for children, adolescents, and their families exposed to a wide array of traumatic events.
The NCTSN is composed of three types of centers:
- The National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS) - (Category I) develops and maintains the collaborative network structure, supports resource development and dissemination, and coordinates the Networks national child trauma education and training efforts.
- The Treatment and Service Adaptation Centers - (Category II) provide national expertise and assume responsibility in the Network for specific areas of trauma, such as specific types of traumatic events, population groups, and service systems, and support the development and adaptation of effective trauma treatments and services for children, adolescents, and their families that can be implemented throughout the nation.
- The Community Treatment and Services Centers - (Category III) are primarily service programs that implement and evaluate effective treatment and services in community settings and youth-serving service systems and collaborate with other NCTSN centers on clinical issues, service approaches, and policy, financing, and training issues.
The NCCTS program seeks to address behavioral health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities by encouraging the implementation of strategies to decrease the differences in access, service use, and outcomes among the racial and ethnic minority populations served.