Providence CYC awarded $1.8M grant to address traumatic stress among city middle school youth

A $1.8 MILLION GRANT has been awarded to the Providence Children and Youth Cabinet by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE CHILDREN'S YOUTH CABINET
A $1.8 MILLION GRANT has been awarded to the Providence Children and Youth Cabinet by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE CHILDREN'S YOUTH CABINET

PROVIDENCE – A five-year, $1.8 million grant has been awarded to the Providence Children and Youth Cabinet to identify, address and decrease post-traumatic stress disorder among students in targeted Providence middle schools that have experienced violence.

The grant was awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, according to a Thursday release by Brown University’s Annenberg Institute for School Reform.

The South Side, West End and Olneyville neighborhoods, home to the Roger Williams, Gilbert Stuart and Christopher DelSesto middle schools, reported to have the most interactions with the child welfare system and will be targeted through the program. The link between increased levels of trauma felt in these environments and the chronic absences, delinquency and suspensions of 11- to 14-year-olds will be measured.
Launching in October, the program will be called “Building Trauma Sensitive Schools” and is expected to enroll close to 3,000 youth.

In addition, prevention services in the community also will be established through partnerships with BTSS and The Providence Center, Everett Company Stage and School and the Rhode Island Student Assistant Services.

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Rebecca Boxx, CYC director, said the program will begin to address the neighborhoods with the “most elevated adolescent trauma,” moving forward in a “tiered approach of therapeutic, evidence-based programs.”

She welcomed community involvement saying “BTSS will be enhanced by involvement and guidance from neighborhood leaders and residents who will seek additional opportunities to address root causes of trauma within their communities.”

On top of SAMHSA’s grant, CYC received a $25,000 Community Development Block Grant from the city of Providence to reduce stress among the city’s middle school-aged children.
Mayor Jorge O. Elorza said, “We need all children to be ready to learn in our schools and this grant will help us towards achieving that goal.”

BTSS is a continuation of work begun by CYC in partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation called the Evidence2Success initiative. The CYC is a coalition of more than 150 organizations and community members.

A division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, SAMHSA has awarded 56 similar grants across the country in its goal of reducing the impact of substance abuse and mental illness.

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