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TBH: Trauma and Behavioral Health

Principal investigator: Richard Epstein

Funding source: Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (Illinois DCFS)

For more than a decade, Illinois DCFS has contracted with MHSPP for training, technical assistance, and evaluation in support of multiple DCFS initiatives. This contract includes projects led by several MHSPP faculty members. A high-level description of current projects, alphabetical by faculty lead, include:

Richard Epstein 

  • Data Collection and Administration. This project ensures maintenance of University and DCFS computer hardware, software, and permissions to facilitate use of DCFS administrative information on the other contracted projects for which its use if necessary.
  • Evaluation of the Intensive Placement Stabilization (IPS) Program. This project evaluates the IPS program, by describing the youth who have participated in it and the outcomes they have achieved.
  • Evaluation of the SAFE Practice Model Implementation. This project evaluates the implementation of the SAFE Practice Model by describing the implementation, assessing implementation fidelity, and outcomes.
  • Evaluation of YouthCare. This project evaluates the impact of the implementation of YouthCare on youth in care.
  • Support for the B.H. Consent Decree. This project provides support for the B.H. Consent Decree by providing technical assistance for the development of child wellbeing indicators, implementation of the investigator caseload plan, and implementation of the superseding implementation plan.
  • System Focused Review of Child Protective Services. In collaboration with the University of Kentucky and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this project will review child protective services systems to help DCFS identify potential areas for continued quality improvement.
  • Technical Assistance for Children in the Hospital Beyond Medical Necessity. This project provides technical assistance to DCFS in its efforts to serve youth in the hospital beyond medical necessity.
  • Technical Assistance for Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) Implementations. This project provides technical assistance and implementation support to DCFS' efforts to use the CANS to assess well being, provide decision support, and aid services planning.
  • Technical Assistance for the Office of Delinquency Prevention and Restorative Justice. This project provides technical assistance to aid DCFS in its efforts to serve dually-involved youth.
  • Technical Assistance for Placement and Community Services. This project provides the DCFS Clinical and Child Services Division with technical assistance for clinical quality improvement projects and to facilitate placement decisions, including the use of Qualified Residential Treatment Providers (QRTPs) and secure care.
  • Technical Assistance for Service Provider Administration. This project provides technical assistance to the DCFS Provider Portal and Service Provide Identification and Exploration Resource (SPIDER).
Neil Jordan
  • Technical Assistance for Residential Treatment and Performance Measures. This project provides Residential Performance Measure (RPM) development and implementation, other congregate care-related administrative data analysis, and support for Residential Monitoring.
Cassandra Kisiel
  • Trauma Training and Consultation. This project provides the Think Trauma Training and Implementation Program (TTTIP) to child welfare residential agencies and an abbreviated version of TTTIP to DCFS Clinical Division leadership, Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) consultation to the IPS program, and support to DCFS' Office of Racial Equity Practice.
Heather Risser 
  • Asthma Management Project. This project adapts, implements, and evaluates the implementation of the Asthma Management Program designed to improve care and outcomes for youth in DCFS care who have asthma.