Archived Programs

UTHSC Building Strong Brains TN ACEs Initiative (BSB)

UTHSC Building Strong Brains TN ACEs Initiative (BSB) connects Shelby County Schools (SCS) students at-risk for chronic absenteeism, according to SCS guidelines, to services and supports through trauma informed partners in their community.  The program serves all grades, with a focus on grades 1-6, for students at risk for more than 10 unexcused absences.

Defending Childhood Shelby

Defending Childhood Shelby (Defending Childhood Initiative, DCI-Network for Overcoming Violence and Abuse or DCI- NOVA), works to help children and their families who have been exposed to violence or abuse. Shelby County is one of eight sites chosen by the U.S. Department of Justice for the initiative, created to address the impact of violence on children as both victims and witnesses.

Gang Intervention Focusing on Families and Trauma Supports (GIFFTS)

Gang Intervention Focusing on Families and Trauma Supports (GIFFTS) works to reduce the effect of violence on youth in targeted neighborhoods through an enriched gang intervention and prevention model using trauma-informed community resources and evidenced-based family supports. The implementation process for GIFFTS is centered around risk factors such as truancy, bullying, and classroom behavior challenges. The program incorporates protective factors to reduce the influence of trauma and violence to create a healthy connection between the youth and their schools, communities, families.

Memphis Research Consortium

Memphis Research Consortium (MRC)- record review of 359 cases of youth detained in a 2017. Review documented levels of trauma in detained youth equal to national figures for this population.  Results expanded the current knowledge of the prevalence of trauma in justice-involved youth in Shelby County and provided data to support policy changes in areas of information gathering and record keeping/sharing by various divisions of the court and with community based providers upon release. One of the goals of the Center for Health in Justice-Involved Youth is to support the Shelby County Juvenile Court and provide assistance with their efforts to become more trauma-informed, as established in the existing Memorandum of Understanding. The types of trauma identified in this study are: community trauma, complex trauma, disasters, domestic violence, early childhood, medical trauma, physical abuse, sexual abuse, violence, and traumatic grief.  

Protecting Children from ACEs and Trauma

Protecting Children from ACEs and Trauma (PCAT) encompassed developing and implementing a trauma screening protocol for children at risk for truancy due to significant ACEs and other childhood trauma in the educational and juvenile justice systems, training staff and administrators in those systems about the impact of ACEs and childhood trauma, and establishing a preferred provider network of trauma-informed, behavioral health, faith-based, and social/human service organizations that would meet their needs.  Worked directly with SCS to provide trauma screening on site and referral to community-based providers of trauma-informed services. 

Protecting Children from ACEs and Trauma in Schools

Protecting Children from ACEs and Trauma in Schools (PCAT-S) provide access to trauma screening and referral for trauma-informed services for at risk students to address the factors that lead to toxic stress and ACEs and reduce community and environmental conditions that contribute to ACEs. We worked with schools throughout Shelby County to identify and screen chronically absent students and connect the family to trauma informed resources. We offer training for families and community members to lessen the impact of toxic stress and help them understand how to prevent/mitigate effects of ACEs and trauma.

Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Memphis

Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Memphis (RRED Memphis) addressed the racial and ethnic disparities present in the juvenile justice system in Shelby County by providing a training curriculum that addresses relationships, roles and actions between law enforcement and youth at the point of initial contact in the community, in order to build relationships and create more effective interactions and outcomes for minority youth.  The Pennsylvania DMC Youth/Law Enforcement Corporation (PDYLEC) developed the curriculum used in this project and they participated in facilitating the initial training. During this training, 89 youth and 83 law enforcement (MPD, SCSO, and SCS Resource Officers) participated in this training event.    Both youth and law enforcement participants reported improved attitudes about their role in the youth-law enforcement relations, their perceptions of each other, and the importance of good relations between the groups. Overall, the findings demonstrate that both youth and law enforcement found the training useful and changed their attitudes and anticipated behaviors in ways that are beneficial to improving youth-law enforcement relationships. 

Youth Advocacy Coalition

Youth Advocacy Coalition (YAC) – Modeled after the Denver JAC’s community program, YAC was designed to provide a therapeutic programming component that was voluntary, restraint free, trauma informed, and family centered to create alternatives to detention and entry into juvenile justice system.

Shelby Connects Network

Shelby Connects Network System of Care Program coordinates the community-based services and supports to meet the challenges facing children and youth with serious mental health needs and their families. Families and youth work in partnership with mental health providers, family support specialists, natural community support systems, schools, and other community agencies to develop and implement individualized service plans based on family-driven and youth-guided direction to address the needs of the child and family. Shelby Connects Network helps children, youth, and families achieve positive life outcomes by providing the services, supports, and opportunities they need to thrive in their homes and communities.

Wraparound Frayser

Wraparound Frayser provides support for a community organization-based wraparound approach (by Legacy of Legends CDC in Frayser) to serving children impacted by mental illness and trauma. We work directly with school personnel and providers to identify the child's needs, works with the family to ensure those needs are met, and creates a trauma-informed school environment to support the child's emotional well-being and improved academic performance.