Expertise in complex trauma in children
We provide
training, support, and practical resources for service providers working with trauma-exposed youth
We work to support providers, particularly within child welfare and juvenile justice settings, to obtain resources or training they need to improve the outcomes for their youth
We Honor Culture and Advance Equity
- We believe in elevating the voices of youth and families and supporting healing in all communities
- We recognize the intersection of race, trauma, and other important aspects of identity as critical to trauma-informed care.
- We integrate this framework in all of the work that we do
Our Projects
Primary Projects
Honoring Culture and Advancing Equity
Experiences of trauma are often compounded by systems of oppression such as racism, sexism, heterosexism and the like. Identifying and addressing the influence and intersectionality of these individual and systemic experiences is critical for supporting the needs of youth who have experienced trauma.
Think Trauma Toolkit
Training of Trainers
Developed by NCTSN partners, Think Trauma is a modularized, skills-based, interactive trauma-focused training curriculum designed for frontline, residential staff who work directly with youth in detention and long-term residential or correctional facilities.
Early Childhood Education
Supporting Parents & Educators
Our Center collaborates with early childhood teachers, counselors, administrators, and paraprofessionals to better understand the needs and gaps for achieving a more trauma-informed early childhood education setting.
Meaningful Trauma Screening & Assessment
Equipping Child-Serving Systems
At CCTASI, we believe that the screening and assessment process provides an opportunity to meaningfully engage and collaborate with families and other providers. By screening for trauma experiences, mental health, or behavioral needs, providers can understand how to most effectively intervene and offer the help to families that is needed for healing.
Transition Age Youth
Enhancing Trauma-Informed and Strengths-Based Practices
Transition Age Youth (TAY) describe older youth (approximately ages 16-24 years) involved in child welfare and other child serving systems. These youth face unique challenges as they grow older, sometimes being too old for youth services but too young for adult services.
CANS-Trauma
Certification & Resources
Project Director and P.I., Cassandra Kisiel, Ph.D. is the primary developer of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Trauma Version (CANS-Trauma Comprehensive). The CANS is an information integration tool that gathers data about the experience of a youth and his/her family.
CCTASSI Films
CCTASI came to understand the power of film to raise awareness about the development impact of traumas with the 2017 release of Remembering Trauma, a two-part film series which highlights the risk of misdiagnosis in youth with complex trauma histories. Remembering Trauma has been widely used and disseminated across the US and 26 other countries.
Race & Trauma Film
As of May 2020, CCTASI is in the process of developing a short narrative film that will creatively demonstrate how Youth of Color are impacted by complex trauma. We chose to make this film in an effort to address a longstanding gap by exploring the important intersection between race, ethnicity, and trauma.
CCTASSI Mission
Our Center’s mission is to use a racially and socially just lens to address gaps in knowledge and practice related to the complex developmental effects of trauma across child-serving settings. We offer national expertise through trauma-informed training, consultation, and implementation support for providers and systems. We also work to develop, adapt and disseminate an array of trauma-focused products and resources for caregivers, youth, and professionals in child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health, and education settings to support the healing and success of youth and families in all communities.
Our Goals
We help
with healing youth and families affected by trauma in all communities
Our Center’s mission is to use a racially and socially just lens to address gaps in knowledge and practice related to the complex developmental effects of trauma across child-serving settings. We offer national expertise through trauma-informed training, consultation, and implementation support for providers and systems. We also work to develop, adapt and disseminate an array of trauma-focused products and resources for caregivers, youth, and professionals in child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health, and education settings to support the healing and success of youth and families in all communities
Meet The Team
Our Team
Our Projects
span different service systems, & focus on supporting frontline providers, Youth & Families
Our work focuses on supporting frontline providers and system-involved youth and families, including subpopulations who may be at heightened risk due to racial trauma and systemic oppression. We collaborate with these individuals and systems by providing valuable trauma-informed training, tools, and practices to the providers who work with youth every day.
