Multi-System Trauma-Informed Collaborative for Children Exposed to Violence (MSTIC)

This program provides technical assistance that helps selected states develop or modify and implement policy and practice designed to help children and youth exposed to violence and their families, consistent with recommendations from the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence. This program is authorized pursuant to the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2016, P.L. 114-113.

Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, in collaboration with American Institutes for Research (AIR), aims to improve policies and practices of four states with respect to the identification, screening, assessment, and the treatment of children and youth exposed to violence. Chapin Hall and AIR will develop and execute a proposal mechanism and review process to select states capable of developing or improving policies and practices to improve outcomes for children and youth in child-serving systems. Working closely with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Chapin Hall and AIR will support four selected states in the development of strategic plans to ensure effective cross-systems collaboration and improve outcomes for children and youth exposed to violence.

AIR and Chapin Hall will guide states to ensure plans include trauma-informed screening and assessment at each point of contact across child-serving systems, with a particular focus on juvenile justice and child welfare, engage national and local expertise to promote capacity to implement evidence-based, trauma-informed services, and identify mechanisms to blend and braid funding to support and sustain policy initiatives. Training and technical assistance will occur across three 16-week design and implementation cycles. Project and TTA teams will conduct onsite follow up and provide virtual TTA in coordination with OJJDP and with the support of subject matter experts, local TTA providers, and a national Advisory Board, all of whom will attend a national convening approximately halfway through the state engagements. An ongoing virtual peer learning community and national convening will enable cross-jurisdictional collaboration supported by national and local content and systems change experts.

CA/NCF