Friday, July 9, 2021.  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is distributing $62.4 million in grant funding to provide and increase access to effective treatment and services systems in communities throughout the nation for children, adolescents, and their families who experience traumatic events. The White House is bolstering these awards with $800,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) support.

In 2000, Congress established the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCTSI) as part of the Children’s Health Act. Through this initiative, a collaborative network of experts was created to further the development and dissemination of evidence-based clinical interventions for systems that serve children, adolescents, and families.

SAMHSA’s NCTSI raises awareness about the impact of trauma on children and adolescents as a behavioral health concern. NCTSI’s goal is to transform mental health care for children and adolescents affected by trauma throughout the country by improving the quality of community-based trauma treatment and services and increasing access to effective trauma-focused interventions.

“Providing appropriate trauma-informed treatment and service responses for our nation’s children, adolescents and their families continues to be a SAMHSA priority, and is needed more now than ever as we begin emerging from the pandemic,” said Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., who leads SAMHSA. “We are grateful to have the Biden-Harris administration’s support to expand the reach of this critical funding.”

The NCTSI comprises three types of centers. The National Center for Child Traumatic Stress develops and maintains a collaborative network structure, supports resource development and dissemination, and coordinates national child trauma education and training efforts. The Treatment and Service Adaptation (TSA) Centers provide national expertise for specific types of traumatic events, population groups and service systems. The Community Treatment and Service Centers collaborate with the TSA Centers to develop, advance or adapt interventions to improve engagement and outcomes for traumatized youth. Recipients of this third category of grant awards provide:

To read the entire press announcement, click here.