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Previous Grants

Our clinical research team has been awarded multiple federally-funded research grants to conduct studies that have led to the development of proven strategies and models for communities and clinical facilities throughout the country and have had a significant positive impact on the well-being of children and their families.

Project LAUNCH

2019-2024

In 2019, Children’s Research Triangle, in conjunction with the Partnership for Resilience (P4R), received a 5-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) to improve the well-being of young children in Chicago’s Southland.  Project LAUNCH: Illinois Southland (PL:IS), the collaboration between CRT and P4R, was designed to promote the wellness of young children by enhancing and expanding available services in Chicago’s Southland area.  PL:IS worked with children aged zero to eight, and their parents, in the suburban Cook County region directly south and southwest of Chicago.  The mission of PL:IS was to integrate health, mental health and education systems through the creation of sustainable community partnerships, education and training programs, and trauma informed mental health practices.  To this end, project goals included:

Project Team

Emily Odiase

Co-Project Director

Anne Wells

Co-Project Director

Cassandra Boyd

Project Evaluator

Robert Powell

Project Coordinator, Partnership 4 Resilience

Trauma Treatment Program

2009-2021

SAMHSA funded Trauma Treatment Program

Children’s Research Triangle’s (CRT) Trauma Treatment Program (TTP) was an assessment-driven, trauma informed intervention program based in Chicago, Illinois. Funded from 2009-2021 as a Community Treatment and Service Center for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the TTP made trauma-informed therapeutic services available to children and adolescents ages 0 to 18 by providing and evaluating evidence-based interventions, and educating professionals, caretakers, and other community members about the impact of trauma on youth. The TTP was an expansion of the existing program at CRT, thereby increasing the number of children served in the community. The TTP followed a comprehensive screening, assessment, and treatment process, which included foundational material from the NCTSN’s 2012 Breakthrough Series Collaborative, Improving Comprehensive Assessments and Case Formulations by Implementing the NCTSN Core Curriculum. As part of the TTP, all children and adolescents referred to CRT for services underwent an initial screening for trauma exposure. Children identified as having a history of trauma were referred for an assessment designed to obtain more information about the child’s trauma history, behavioral presentation, and trauma-related symptomatology. A high standard of care was ensured by ongoing training, consultation, and reflective supervision for TTP staff and partner sites. The TTP worked in multiple under-resourced community settings, requiring the use of a variety of treatment interventions to best meet the needs of the clients served. Consequently, the TTP employed several Evidence-Based Practices, including Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS). During each of the five years of funding, 400 children and adolescents were screened for traumatic histories; 225 underwent a systematic trauma assessment; 60 participated in TTP trauma-focused interventions; 60 participated in Youth Trauma Workshops; one partner agency received intensive consultation services; 100 community members received training about the mental health impact of childhood trauma, and 50 community members received training on prevention/mental health promotion topics related to childhood trauma. Taking into account overlap in screening, assessment, and treatment, CRT provided direct services to a minimum of 8,220 individuals over the twelve years. We are pleased that this grant also allowed us to expand services to military families in the Chicagoland area.

Project Team

Linda Schwartz, Ph.D.

Project Director

Anne Wells, Ph.D.

Project Evaluator

Julianna Wesolowski, LCPC

Project Coordinator

Samantha Orbach, PsyD

Training Coordinator

Project Thrive

2012-2017

ACF Funded Project Thrive

Project Thrive was a Regional Partnership Grant funded by the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families/US Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of this project was to develop and implement an integrated system of care that was grounded in trauma-informed transdisciplinary assessment, treatment, and case management for children ages birth to 18 years in out-of-home care at SOS Children’s Villages Illinois. As part of Project Thrive, all youth residing at either of the partner SOS villages were screened for prenatal or environmental substance exposure. If they had a positive screen, they would then be evaluated and be provided with therapeutic services as needed. The project had three main components: system integration, safe children, and stable families, thus a large focus was on working with families as units, including both the foster parents and the biological parents. Through the collaborative efforts of the treatment team, the goal was to increase permanency and stability for the children at SOS.

Project Team

Ira Chasnoff, M.D.

Project Director

Anne Wells, PhD

Project Evaluator

Erin Telford, PsyD

Project Coordinator

Eric Seto, PsyD

Assistant Project Coordinator

Prenatal Substance Use Prevention

2006-2013

MCHB Funded Prenatal Substance Use Prevention

The Maternal Child and Health Bureau (MCHB) awarded CRT a grant to develop a training and technical assistance program for Community Health Centers and Maternal and Child Health sites that would impact clinical practice in three areas: prevention, identification, and referral to treatment. We worked with clinics throughout the nation to guide clinicians in the screening of pregnant women for potential use of substances and children for evidence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs). All clinic personnel were trained to communicate the message that there is no safe amount of alcohol to drink during pregnancy and to use educational materials to promote healthy pregnancies free of alcohol use.

Project Team

Ira Chasnoff, M.D.

Project Director

Anne Wells, PhD

Project Evaluator

Family and Child Treatment Services (FACTS)

2008-2012

From 2008 to 2012, the Children’s Bureau of the Administration of Children and Families awarded CRT a Regional Partnership Grant (RPG). In order to meet the aim of promoting family safety and permanency for children in Southern Illinois who had been affected by exposure to methamphetamine or other substances, we developed an integrated and collaborative system of care in Southern Illinois that identified and addressed the developmental, behavioral and mental health needs of the affected child and family.

The project had seven goals

  1. Public and private agencies in the Southern Region will deliver collaborative services within an integrated system of care for children and families who have been prenatally or environmentally exposed to methamphetamine or other substances of abuse.
  2. Biological/foster/adoptive families will be educated on the effects of prenatal and environmental exposure to methamphetamine and other substances of abuse and how to access services for the family.
  3. An increased number of professionals in Southern Illinois will demonstrate knowledge about the impact of prenatal or environmental exposure to methamphetamine or other substances of abuse and be capable of providing comprehensive assessment and treatment services to children who have been exposed.
  4. DCFS caseworkers and substance abuse treatment providers will refer prenatally or environmentally exposed children to FACTS for a full assessment of cognitive, behavioral, developmental, and mental health functioning, as well as specialized therapeutic services.
  5. The physical and behavioral health status of prenatally and environmentally exposed children in Southern Illinois will be improved through the delivery of specialized, comprehensive assessment services.
  6. The physical health and behavioral health status of prenatally and environmentally exposed children and families in Southern Illinois will be improved through the delivery of specialized, comprehensive treatment services at FACTS.
  7. Permanency, stability and safety for children who have been prenatally or environmentally exposed to methamphetamine or other substances will be increased.

Project Team

Anne Wells, Ph.D.

Project Evaluator

Erin Telford, Psy.D.

Project Coordinator

Ira Chasnoff, MD

Principal Investigator

Neurocognitive Habilitation Therapy replication study/Parents and Children Together

2006-2009

This replication project, which was renamed Parents and Children Together (PACT), was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We conducted group therapy intervention for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in the Champaign-Urbana area of Illinois. The group was open to foster and adopted children ages 6 – 12 living in the area who were prenatally exposed to alcohol. We used a revised curriculum based on the one we used in the initial study. Our focus continued to be on helping children learn self-regulation skills. Parents learned about FASD’s and how best to help their children compensate for their weaknesses.

Project Team

Anne Wells. Ph.D.

Project Director

Erin Telford, PsyD

Training Director

Ira Chasnoff, MD

Principal Investigator

Linda Meyers, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator

Neurocognitive Habilitation Therapy

2001-2005

From 2001-2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded CRT to develop and evaluate a Neurocognitive Habilitation Project, involving the identification and assessment of children ages six to 12 with FAS or ARND. CRT clinicians created a group therapy curriculum for the children and their parents designed to educate them about FASD’s and give strategies for managing the neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, with a focus on learning techniques for self-regulation. This curriculum was based on the Alert Program® developed by occupational therapists, Mary Sue Williams and Sherry Shellenberger. Data collected during this project were used in four subsequent publications: Chasnoff, I.J. et al. (2015), Wells, A.M., et al. (2012), Chasnoff, IJ, et al. (2010), and Bertrand, J. et al. (2009).

Project Team

Greg Bailey, PhD

Project Director

Anne Wells, PhD

Data Analyst

Ira Chasnoff, M.D.

Principal Investigator