Through an earpiece, a coach guides a caregiver during play with a child.

Parenting intervention program receives $5 million in federal grants

(SACRAMENTO)

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has recently granted a total of $5 million over five years to UC Davis Health’s PC-CARE program, a parenting intervention for children ages 1-10. The grants fund two key projects:

  • The development of a training and education platform: A $600,000 grant will be used to train 320 mental health providers in PC-CARE and 380 workers in PC-CARE Toolbox, an adapted model for the non-mental health workforce. Both PC-CARE and PC-CARE Toolbox are designed to educate caregivers and children about the effects of trauma on children and to teach and practice positive communication skills, calming skills and effective behavior management strategies. The project will also create the PC-CARE Learning Center, a web-based training platform to help standardize trainees’ learning about child trauma and principles of PC-CARE.
  • Support for families during the reunification process: $400,000 to provide systematic trauma screening and an adaptation of PC-CARE to biological parents and their young children in the process of reunification after an out-of-home, foster-care placement. This will help parents and children better adjust to this transition and give parents tools to support this process.

“We are grateful to SAMHSA for these opportunities, both to extend the reach of PC-CARE through training and to provide quality care to some of our most vulnerable children and families,” said Susan Timmer, director of mental health research at the UC Davis CAARE Center

About SAMHSA

SAMHSA has given $62.4 million in grants nationally this year, with $800,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) support.  

SAMHSA’s National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (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.

Since the program began in 2000, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network has provided trauma treatment and services to hundreds of thousands of children and adolescents, with more than 380 grants awarded to more than 225 member centers.

Related links

Fewer behavior problems in young foster care kids after PC-CARE program
A thoughtful shift: Leading families to life-changing results

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