Pediatric specialties
CAARE Diagnostic and Treatment Center
The CAARE Center provides patient care, teaching, research and prevention initiatives on behalf of abused and neglected children.
The CAARE Center was founded in 1988 and is part of the UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento, California. The CAARE Center staff includes psychologists, a psychiatrist, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, home visitors and administrative support staff.
UC Davis Children’s Hospital and the CAARE Center are ranked in the Top 50 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.
The CAARE (Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation) Diagnostic and Treatment Center is recognized nationally as a model program for the evaluation and treatment of child maltreatment as well as training of mental health providers in empirically-based treatments. The CAARE Center’s mission is to provide patient care, teaching, research and prevention initiatives on behalf of abused and neglected children and children and youth identified as high risk.
Our services and programs are funded through contracts, grants, fee-for-services patient care revenue, charitable events, and the United Way Employee Giving Program.
Research Activities
Our faculty are involved in research focused on Evidence-Based Therapy (EBT) including Parent-Child Care (PC-CARE) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and other trauma responsive interventions for maltreated and traumatized young children and system-involved youth.
Learn more about faculty research activities
Academic Programs
The CAARE Center provides training in empirically based treatments through our Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) training program and Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy training program. UC Davis is a leader in implementing more than 150 PCIT programs at public mental-health and child-welfare agencies across the U.S. and in several countries.
The CAARE Center also provides ongoing training for mental health professions through our nationally recognized American Psychological Association (APA) accredited clinical psychology training program as well as training programs for master level clinicians.
Learn more about the CAARE Center’s training programs
Increasing Trauma-Responsive Knowledge and Practical Skills
This three-hour web course is for caregivers of youth experiencing sex trafficking and exploitation. This includes three modules about:
- Information about sex trafficking
- Meeting the needs of youth with practical parenting strategies
- Secondary traumatic stress and self-care strategies
CAARE Patient Services
UC Davis CAARE Center offers empirically-based treatments to our clients including:
- Evaluations, including child welfare evaluations
- Counseling for victims of crime
- PC-CARE parent-child behavioral intervention treatment program
- Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
- Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Consultations and expert testimony
Overview of Mental Health Services
View our Brochure (PDF)
Get in touch with us
Contact Information
For academic or faculty-related questions, e.g., information about our training programs or our research activities, please call our CAARE phone number.
To learn more about referring a child for services, please also call our general CAARE Center phone number.
