Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative Evidence-Based and Community-Defined Evidence Practices Round Two: Trauma-Informed Programs and Practices

As part of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released a Request for Application (RFA) on February 9, 2023, seeking proposals for the second round of grant funding totaling $100,000,000. For the second round of EBP and CDEP grant funding, DHCS seeks proposals to scale trauma-informed care available to children, youth, parents and caregivers in California.

Authorized as part of the 2021 Budget Act, CYBHI is a multi-year, multi-department package of investments that reimagines the systems that support behavioral health (BH) and wellness for all California’s children, youth, and their families. Efforts focus on promoting social and emotional well-being, preventing behavioral health challenges, and providing equitable, appropriate, timely, and accessible services for emerging and existing BH needs for children and youth ages 0-25. The $4.7 billion investment of state General Funds for CYBHI will improve access to, and the quality of, BH services for all children and youth in California, regardless of payer.   In Round Two, DHCS seeks to scale trauma-informed care available to children, youth, parents and caregivers in California with a specific focus on children and youth from Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) and LGBTQIA+ communities.   Specifically, this grant funding round aims to: · Increase early intervention so children and youth with, or at high risk for behavioral health conditions, can access services before conditions escalate and require higher level care. · Support the resilience of children and youth by mitigating the adverse effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Adverse effects could include brain development, emotional health and BH, among other conditions. · Build knowledge of trauma-informed support and communication for parents, caregivers and individuals close to children and youth. · Increase the capacity of child-serving service systems (e.g., child welfare, juvenile justice system), on trauma-informed practices. · Cultivate safe and stable learning environments that model trauma-informed approaches to working with children. · Improve grief support for children and youth with COVID-related trauma (e.g., death of a parent, loved one). · Improve the availability and sustainability of services for pregnant and parenting people, mothers, fathers, caregivers, and children and youth. · Reduce health disparities through improving equitable access to services for parents, caregivers, and children in California that are culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of the populations of focus.    For Round Two, the following EBPs and/or CDEPs will be scaled through competitive grant awards:   a.    Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up; b.    Child Parent Psychotherapy; c.     Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Trauma in Schools; d.    Dialectical Behavior Therapy; e.    Family Centered Treatment; f.      Functional Family therapy; g.    Modular Approach to Therapy for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct Problems; h.    Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; i.      Multisystemic Therapy; j.      Crossover Youth Practice Model; and, k.     Other practices for specified populations of focus (e.g., Family Acceptance Project) DHCS recognizes that the short-listed evidence-based practices may not have been developed or normalized on populations of focus. Additional practices and programs relating to Trauma-Informed Care may be considered eligible for grant funding with the submission of supplementary material.