(Hammond and Westville, IN) - Purdue University Northwest’s Department of Psychology has been awarded a five-year, $3 million grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
PNW will partner with pediatric healthcare clinics in Lake, Porter, and La Porte counties to support mental health services and interventions for child traumatic stress.
The project, called “Northwest Indiana Identification and Management of Pediatric Experiences of Trauma and Underlying Stress,” was selected as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative to implement routine screenings as well as brief in-office and group interventions for child traumatic stress, on top of increasing access to longer-term services by training large cohorts of local mental health providers in specific evidence-based interventions for child trauma.
“The size and scope of this type of direct mental health services grant is unprecedented at Purdue Northwest,” said Amanda Zelechoski, Project Director and professor of Psychology at PNW.
"The clinical and research expertise of our faculty, as well as our new psychology graduate programs, position us extremely well to work with our pediatric healthcare partners in the region to change the trajectories for our most vulnerable youth and families.”
Pediatric primary care clinics have become a key entry point for the rapidly increasing number of children exposed to potentially traumatic or stressful experiences that result in physical and mental health symptoms. PNW will partner with two of the largest pediatric clinics in Northwest Indiana: Associated Pediatricians and HealthLinc.
The grant funds will be used to implement child trauma screenings, add behavioral health professionals at each pediatric clinic, provide brief in-office and group interventions, and train 25-50 therapists per year in several child trauma intervention models.
“HealthLinc is proud to partner with PNW to prioritize and normalize mental health support for children,” stated Beth Wrobel, HealthLinc CEO.
“Partnerships between healthcare and universities are essential for driving progress, addressing health disparities, and improving the quality of life," she said.
A primary component of the NWI program is to hire and embed mental health professionals into the pediatric clinic, which has long been a goal for Associated Pediatricians.
“Mental health care has become such a large part of the care we provide to kids and being able to provide timely interventions and resources to families is critical,” said Dr. Elizabeth Campbell, pediatrician and partner/owner of Associated Pediatricians.
“The impact of bringing these mental health providers into our office space where they can work directly with our families is going to be tremendous. We’re grateful to partner with PNW to advance the care we provide to the communities we serve,” she said.
For more information, visit pnw.edu/nwi-impetus.
