Research and Evaluation

The NCCEV strives to develop and enhance programs and methods to evaluate and treat children and families exposed to violence and other trauma.

Childhood Violent Trauma Clinic

The Childhood Violent Trauma Clinic provides longitudinal assessment and treatment for children and their families who are affected by violence and other potentially traumatic circumstances. In addition to providing comprehensive assessment, treatment planning and intervention, the clinic provides a venue for the assessment of acute traumatic stress in children. At present, little is known about factors that enhance or detract from children’s posttraumatic adjustment. The Childhood Violent Trauma Clinic capitalizes on the opportunity for assessment of childhood and family symptomatology and functioning in the immediate aftermath of experiences that may be traumatic. The CVTC provides the following areas of expertise:

Development, evaluation and dissemination of innovative approaches to integrating community-based assessment and treatment services for children and families exposed to violence, especially the mental health law-enforcement collaboration of the Child Development-Community Policing (CDCP) Program
State-of-the-art psychometric development and technical assistance for implementation of screening and assessment measures of child trauma history, exposure and sequelae
Comprehensive approaches to program evaluation and systems of care research

The CVTC is a component of the Childhood Violent Trauma Center, a collaborative between the NCCEV at the Yale Child Study Center and the University of Connecticut Department of Psychiatry that focuses on the development and study of assessment and treatment approaches for children exposed to violence. The CVTC is a component of the National Children’s Traumatic Stress Network, a Substance Abuse Mental Services and Administration (SAMHSA) funded national network of research and practice centers dedicated to the development and dissemination of effective assessment and treatment approaches to children affected by trauma.

CDCP National Evaluation Fellowship

Through the CDCP National Evaluation Fellowship police and clinical representatives from CDCP sites across the nation have joined a national program evaluation project to examine the coordination of mental health, law enforcement and related services and their capacity to enhance well-being and improve the quality of intervention for violence exposed youth. The project involves multi-site data collection monitoring CDCP service provision and acute assessment of childhood trauma and includes the following components:

Coordination of programmatic evaluations across the national CDCP network.
National CDCP evaluation conferences on a thrice yearly basis
Clinicians and Police Officers from CDCP sites become national fellows in the NCCEV
Enhancement of mental-health law enforcement initiatives designed to provide coordinated responses to children exposed to violence
Refinement of acute clinical and law enforcement response and assessment protocols.
Assessment of CD-CP implementation and professional training curricula
Refinement of psychometric instruments for the assessment of trauma history, exposure, and sequelae as a basis for assessing program outcomes.
Development of empirically supported approaches to the treatment of complex posttraumatic symptoms in children, adolescents and their families.

Domestic Violence Initiative

The Domestic Violence Home Visit Follow-up Program provides police and advocacy support after an incident of domestic violence. Neighborhood patrol officers and domestic violence advocates visit homes where a violent incident has occurred to ensure the safety of victims and their children, to answer questions about the legal process, to provide information about practical issues and psychological responses to violence, and to offer assistance in connecting with other community services, including clinical services for children and parents. Results from intervention and comparison police districts will clarify the effectiveness of the intervention in terms of police and mental health service delivery.

Consultation

NCCEV faculty provide consultation related to research and evaluation of childhood acute trauma, police-mental health collaboration and training, service delivery, and treatment protocols to a range of professionals including the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Safe Start program and member sites in the SAMHSA funded National Children’s Traumatic Stress Network. Consultation with specific groups is arranged by contacting the research faculty.

For additional information, call the NCCEV at 203-785-7047 or email nccev@info.med.yale.edu