Policy Brief Explores Role of Telemedicine in Advancing Equity |
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The COVID pandemic helped demonstrate that telemedicine facilitates access to health services and improves equity among socioeconomically, racially, and ethnically diverse families. Research has also shown that telemedicine is generally as effective as in-person psychotherapy.
This policy brief was jointly authored by staff from CHDI, the Village for Families and Children, Connecticut Children's, and Yale New Haven Health Center/Yale Medicine and includes four recommendations to support the long-term effectiveness of telemedicine services for children and families.
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Connecticut's Youth Mobile Crisis Services Highlighted as a National Model to Decriminalize Mental Health |
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The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) released a new report, Youth Mobile Response Services: An Investment to Decriminalize Mental Health. The report evaluates the role of law enforcement and mental health systems in the United States and their relationships to racial justice. It also examines mobile response as an alternative to using law enforcement to respond to youth and young adults who are experiencing a traumatic event, mental health symptoms, and/or crisis in their communities. Mobile Crisis programs in Connecticut, Oklahoma and Oregon are profiled as national models. CHDI's President and CEO Jeffrey Vanderploeg contributed to the CLASP report. CHDI serves as Connecticut's Mobile Crisis Performance Improvement Center.
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Keeping Young People with Mental Health Challenges and Trauma in School and Out of Court: SBDI |
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Connecticut's School-Based Diversion Initiative was recently profiled by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) in their new report, Linking Systems of Care: How Four Jurisdictions Are Coordinating Services. SBDI was highlighted for its success in diverting youth away from formal legal interventions and toward therapeutic and healing services, as well as for strengthening family, school, and community partnerships. CHDI's Jeana Bracey contributed to the report and has worked with NCJFCJ on their School-Justice Partnerships initiative.
SBDI has served 60 schools across 22 school districts in Connecticut and continues to expand to additional schools each year. CHDI co-developed the SBDI model and serves as the state's SBDI Coordinating Center. Learn more about SBDI at www.ctsbdi.org.
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Validating the Child Trauma Screen in Pediatric Primary Care |
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Pediatric primary care providers have an important role in addressing the health effects of trauma, yet routine screening is rare. A study published in Clinical Pediatrics found that the 10-item Child Trauma Screen (CTS) could accurately identify youth suffering from PTSD symptoms, and may be particularly feasible to implement in busy primary care practices. The article, "Validating the Child Trauma Screen Among a Cross-Sectional Sample of Youth and Caregivers in Pediatric Primary Care," was co-authored by CHDI's Jason Lang, together with Penn State's Christian Connell, and Susan Macary, formerly of CHDI.
CHDI developed the CTS in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and Yale. It being used by behavioral health providers, pediatricians, school staff, child welfare workers, and juvenile justice staff to identify children who may be suffering from trauma exposure and need more comprehensive assessment or treatment. The study published in Clinical Pediatrics is the third peer-reviewed study indicating that the CTS is reliable and has good to excellent psychometric properties as a brief screen. The CTS is available at no charge to providers. Learn more at www.chdi.org/cts.
CHDI is also developing training in best practices for trauma screening in pediatric primary care and other settings through the ScreenTIME project.
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Highlighting Children's Evidence-Based Behavioral Health Treatments in Connecticut |
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The Connecticut Department of Children and Families and CHDI hosted a virtual press conference to share recent research on evidence-based treatments (EBTs) for children’s mental health that reduce racial and ethnic disparities in child outcomes. The Village for Families and Children and a mother whose child received treatment at the Village joined the press conference to share their experiences with EBTs.
There is a growing consensus that the COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in an increase in mental health and trauma-related concerns for children and youth and disproportionately harming those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). As Connecticut looks to support families, EBTs are an effective and available resource that can help meet children’s behavioral health needs. Over the past decade, more than 15,000 children have benefitted from selected EBTs at over 60 provider sites in Connecticut. Families can find a provider offering selected evidence-based treatments at www.chdi.org/ebt.
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View the full press conference on CT-N
Listen to a story on WSHU Public Radio: Connecticut Child Welfare Agency Funds Mental Health Treatments Arising From COVID.
Read the Hartford Courant article: Connecticut DCF commits to evidence-based treatments for children’s mental health; study shows therapies are particularly promising for children of color.
View the journal article published in Children and Youth Services Review, "Outcomes, evidence-based treatments, and disparities in a statewide outpatient children’s behavioral health system."
Learn more about our work to expand children's mental health evidence-based treatments in Connecticut at www.chdi.org/ebt
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Promoting Wellness for Mental Health Awareness Month this May |
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In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month we are sharing Connecting to Care's “31 Days of Wellness Calendar.” The wellness calendar reminds us to take a moment each day for our own health and wellness and to inspire others to do the same. Follow Connecting to Care on Facebook for a daily wellness post.
Connecting to Care is a federally funded initiative focused on improving the state's behavioral health system for children. CHDI serves as the Connecting to Care Coordinating Center. Learn more at www.plan4children.org.
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Health Equity Planning and Technical Assistance Available for Organizations |
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Free technical assistance to develop health equity plans is available for community mental health agencies and child-serving organizations from Connecticut's Connecting to Care initiative. The process uses the National CLAS (Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate Services) Standards and is designed to transform organizations to be more racially just and culturally and linguistically appropriate, eliminate health disparities, and increase adherence to federal guidelines and other funding requirements.
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Lang Discusses Statewide Trauma-Informed Systems of Care |
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CHDI’s Jason Lang discussed CHDI’s and Connecticut’s statewide work on trauma-informed care as part of a roundtable at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) biennial meeting on April 7. The panel, Trauma Informed Approaches: Supporting Communities in Strengthening Measurement and Building Evidence of Impacts, focused on how to best measure the impact of large-scale initiatives to support children and families experiencing trauma. The panel was moderated by Alayna Schrier of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and included Daniel Chen (George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health) and Erin Ingoldsby (James Bell Associates).
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