One of only eight

in Connecticut

PUTNAM — Day Kimball Healthcare’s Behavioral Health Outpatient Clinic is now one of just eight outpatient psychiatric clinics for children across Connecticut to provide Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI), a relatively new short-term intervention for children (along with their caregivers) who have been exposed to trauma or who have disclosed physical or sexual abuse within the previous 30-45 days.

Day Kimball is one of three clinics to have been selected to receive training in and to begin providing the intervention this year through the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut’s (CHDI) CONCEPT grant. The grant is awarded to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau. The other two clinics to begin providing the intervention this year are United Services in Dayville and Child and Family Guidance Center in Bridgeport.

“We are very fortunate to have the outstanding Behavioral Health team that we have here at Day Kimball,” said Andre P. Bessette, PhD, child, adolescent and family psychotherapist and chief psychologist of Day Kimball’s Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health program. “They are deeply committed to the youngsters and families in this community and to serving their behavioral health needs which are sometimes profound.”

Bessette noted that children and families can be referred into the program by pediatricians and other community physicians, schools, other behavioral health providers and DCF. Parents or guardians can also call directly on their own.

CFTSI was developed by and initially only provided at Yale University’s Child Guidance Clinic. The method now has national research showing its effectiveness. CHDI began working with the model developers at Yale and the CT Department of Children and Families (DCF) last year to disseminate CFTSI to behavioral health providers throughout Connecticut as part of the federal CONCEPT grant.

Over the past five years CHDI had already trained a network of 28 mental health provider agencies to treat child traumatic stress that had occurred in the child’s past using the Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) evidenced-based model.  CFTSI is a model that fills a gap in the trauma services network in Connecticut by addressing trauma immediately after it occurs and preventing development of further problems.

Last year four agencies were trained in the method: Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Center for Youth and Families in Torrington, Community Health Resources in Manchester, Family and Children’s Aid in Danbury and Family Services of Greater Waterbury.

 Training is provided through CHDI’s Learning Collaborative and includes face-to-face trainings, consultations from Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy experts, and work with local DCF offices to establish collaborative relationships.

 The training has been completed at this year’s participating clinics and the new intervention is now in use at each of the three facilities, including Day Kimball. CHDI will continue to offer consultation and support to ensure the continued success of the program after the end of the grant year this June.