Research

Immigrant and refugee children often face disruptions to their social-emotional and educational development due to migration and resettlement. School Mental Health Ontario partnered with CCR, University of Maryland’s National Center for School Mental Health and Western University’s Centre for School Mental Health to develop the Supporting Transition Resilience Of Newcomer Groups (STRONG) Program. STRONG is a school-based intervention designed to support social-emotional and academic functioning among newcomer refugee/immigrant students by promoting positive adjustment during resettlement through a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach. 

In 2021, CCR and Loyola University Chicago began a three-year research grant with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct a randomized trial to evaluate STRONG in Chicago Public Schools. Data collection is complete and analyses are underway.

 

While there are 3.85 million U.S. Children with unmet mental health needs, there are no known programs designed for teachers that combine information about mental health and coping skills to help students respond to stress, grief, and trauma. 

By providing the Stress and Coping Toolkit (SCT) to teachers, CCR aims to build student coping skills and mental health awareness, enhance resilience in the face of stress, reduce mental health stigma, and improve access to mental health care for those who need it. 

During the SCT Pilot Trials, 30 schools and 96 teachers were engaged. 168 students provided feedback on content and impact of the toolkit. Our study found that the toolkit provided the resources and the tools to make a true impact for students. 

CCR is now preparing to conduct a rigorous randomized trial, slated to begin in July 2024. The evidence of effectiveness will pave the way for dissemination of the SCT to over 400 schools in Chicago and beyond.

 

In 2020, CCR launched the Resilience Education to Advance Community Healing Pilot Project ( REACH), an expansion of the TEACH or TRS-D pilot. 

School-based REACH project teams, ideally including a school administrator, teacher, school mental health professional, a caregiver, and a community partner, engage in courses on the REACH Learning & Resource Hub – a virtual, accessible, on-demand learning platform that also offers free PEL credit hours and CE credits for Illinois licensed social workers, professional counselors, and psychologists. Team members learn about trauma and complete a trauma-responsive schools needs assessment to determine strengths and areas for growth.

Once complete, REACH supports schools to integrate new strategies, mindsets, and approaches to strengthen existing SEL, MTSS, and PBIS systems by creating realistic, customized, whole-school, data-driven Action Plans. Action Plans can be incorporated into School Improvement Plans. 

REACH schools can also participate in a Community of Practice (CoP) - a virtual opportunity to collaborate and share best practices with peers from across the state around focused topics, as well as gain PEL credit hours and CE credits. 

To learn more about our current REACH program, click here.

 

Benson, M. A., Abdi, S. M., Ford-Paz, R. E. (2017). Practice Applications with Immigrant and Refugee Youth. In A. Hilado & M. Lundy (Eds.), Models for practice with immigrants and refugees: Collaboration, cultural awareness and integrative theory, (pp. 339-361). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Distel, L., Torres, S.A., Ros, A.M., Brewer, S.K., Raviv, T., Coyne, C. et al. (2019). Evaluating the implementation of Bounce Back: Clinicians’ perspectives on a school-based trauma intervention. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Ford-Paz, R. E., Crown, L., Lawton, K., Goldenthal, H., Day, G., Coyne, C. A., Gill, T., Harris, N., Blakemore, S., & Cicchetti, C. (2018). Working on Womanhood (WOW): A participatory formative evaluation of a community-developed intervention. Evaluation and Program Planning, 72, 237-249. 

Ford-Paz, R. E., Kuebbeler, A., Contreras, R., Garduño, M., & Sánchez, B. (2015). Training Community Opinion Leaders to Raise Awareness and Promote Early Intervention for Depressed Latino Adolescents. Progress for Community Health Partnerships, 9(2), 191-201.

Ford-Paz, R. E., Santiago, C. D., Coyne, C., Rivera, C., Guo, S., Rusch, D., St. Jean, N., Hilado, A., & Cicchetti, C. (2020). You Are Not Alone: A public health response to immigrant/refugee distress in the current sociopolitical context. Psychological Services, 17(S1), 128-138. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ser0000381. PMID: 31464470.

Ford-Paz, R. E., DeCarlo Santiago, C., Bustos, Y., Uriarte, J. J., Distel, L. M. L., Ros, A. M., Coyne, C. A., Rivera, C., Guo, S., Rusch, D., St. Jean, N., Hilado, A., Zarzour, H., Gomez, R., & Cicchetti, C. (2022). Acceptability and initial promise of trainings for community stakeholders serving refugee and immigrant families. Psychological Services. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000457

Goldenthal, H. J., Gouze, K., Raviv, T., Tragoudas, G., Holley, C., & Cicchetti, C. (2023). The Ready to Learn Through Relationships (RLR) Program: Development, Feasibility, and Acceptability. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01472-0

Goldenthal, H.J., Gouze, K.R., Russo, J., Raviv, T., Holley, C., & Cicchetti, C. (in press). Potentially traumatic events, socioemotional and adaptive functioning: Associations with self-regulatory skills in a community sample of primarily Black and Latinx 3-5 year-olds. Child Psychiatry & Human Development.

Goldenthal, H.J., Raviv, T., Baker, S., Holley, C., Summersett-Williams, F., & Gouze, K.R. (2021). Development and evaluation of a training and implementation model for school-based behavioral health interventions. Psychology in the Schools, 58(7), 1299-1319. http://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22504

Martin, C.P., Russo, J., Goldenthal, H., Holley, C., Gouze, K.R, Williford, A. (2021). Supporting young children exposed to potentially traumatic events: Implications for early care and education policy. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8(2), 119-126.

Pullmann, M., Gaias, L., Duong, M., Gill, T., Curry, C., Cicchetti, C., Raviv, T., Kiche, S., & Cook, C. (2022). Reducing racial and ethnic disproportionality in school discipline through an assessment-to-intervention process: A framework and process. Psychology in the Schools.

Raviv, T., Warren, C. M., Washburn, J. J., Kanaley, M. K., Eihentale, L., Goldenthal, H. J., Russo, J., Martin, C.P., Lombard, L.S., Tully, J. & Fox, K. (2021). Caregiver perceptions of children’s psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA network open, 4(4), e2111103-e2111103.

Raviv, T., Smith, M., Hurwitz, L., Gill, T.L., Baker, S., Torres, S.A., Bowen, I.E., & Cicchetti, C. (2022). Supporting school-community collaboration for the implementation of a multi-tiered school mental health program: The Behavioral Health Team model. Psychology in the Schools. doi.org/10.1002/pits.22683

Ros, A.M., Brewer, S.K., Raviv, T., Santiago, C.D. (2019). How do parent psychopathology and family income impact treatment gains in a school-based intervention for trauma? School Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-019-09324-2

Santiago, C.D., Bustos, Y., Jolie, S.A., Toussaint, R.F., Sosa, S.S., Raviv, T., & Cicchetti, C. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on immigrant and refugee families: Qualitative perspectives from students and parents. School Psychology, 348-357. doi: 10.1037/spq0000448

Santiago, C.D., Raviv, T., Ros, A.M., Brewer, S.K., Distel, L.M.L., Torres, S.A., Fuller, A.K., Lewis, K., Coyne, C.A., Cicchetti, C., & Langley, A. (2018). Implementing the Bounce Back trauma intervention in urban elementary schools: A real world replication trial. School Psychology Quarterly, 33,1, 1-9. 

Santiago, C.D., Raviv, T., & Jaycox, L. (2018). Creating Healing School Communities: School-Based Interventions for Students Exposed to Trauma. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 

Summersett Williams, F. Ford-Paz, R., & Washburn, J.J. (2021). Substance Use Disorders. In J. Ehrenreich-May & S. Kennedy’s (Eds.), Applications of the Unified Protocols for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents (pp. 96-111). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Taussig, H.N. & Raviv, T. (2022). Foster care and child well-being. In J. Korbin and R. Krugman (Eds.), Handbook of Child Maltreatment: Vol. 3. New York: Springer.

 

Cicchetti, C. & Gill, T. (2019, November). Behavioral Health Team: Introducing the model. Conference presentation for the American Public Health Association 2019 Annual Meeting: Creating the Healthiest Nation: For science. For action. For health., Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Cicchetti, C. & Gill, T. (2019, November). Promoting childhood resilience as a key component to trauma-informed Chicago. Conference presentation for the  American Public Health Association 2019 Annual Meeting: Creating the Healthiest Nation: For science. For action. For health., Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Cicchetti, C., Hoover, S., Santiago, C. D., Crooks, C., Marr-Stapleton, P., & Torres, S. (2019, November). Equipping school personnel with evidence-informed strategies to support refugee & immigrant students. Conference symposium for the 2019 Annual Conference Advancing School Mental Health, Austin, TX, United States.

Cicchetti, C., Summersett-Williams, F.C. (2019, September). Impact of trauma on students & communities: Building trauma-responsive schools. Conference session for the Council for Opportunity in Education Annual Conference. Chicago, IL, United States. 

Claudio Santiago Rivera. (2019, October). Psychological distress and public safety response for refugees and immigrants within Chicago’s “sanctuary” city status. Plenary presentation for the 2019 Conference of Ford Fellows, Empowered Scholarship: Engaging with the World, Connecting with Each Other, San Juan, PR.

Curry, C. (2019, October). Combating racism and inequity in schools: The role of adult SELcompetency. Conference presentation for the Social & Emotional Learning Exchange 2019 presented by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, Chicago, IL, United States.

Curry, C. & Baker, S. (2021, October 29). An introduction to trauma, racism and equity: Building healing centered schools. Conference Session for the Illinois Association of School Social Workers Annual Conference, We Are Stronger Together, Tinley Park, IL, United States.

Curry, C., Gill, T., Pullman, M., & Gaias, L. (2020, October).  The DDAS: Toward reducing schools' racial educational and health disparities. Conference paper for the Annual meeting of the Advancing School Mental Health Conference in Baltimore, MD, United States.

Curry, C., Holley, C., Gill, T., & Summersett-Williams, F. (2019, November). Trauma responsive schools: Race, equity and marginalized students. Paper presentation for the 2019 Annual Conference Advancing School Mental Health, Austin, TX, United States.

Curry, C., Patel, R., & Meldrum, M. (2022, October 13). Filling the gap: Trauma-responsive training and coaching for pre-service and early career teachers. Virtual conference session for the Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health.

Curry, C. & Vargas-Ocasio, B. (2021, March 23-24).  Impact of trauma on refugee & immigrant families: Building trauma-responsive school communities. Recorded conference session for the School Social Work Association of America Virtual Annual Conference, Beacon of Hope.

Ford-Paz, R. E. (2019, August). You’re Not Alone: A public health response to refugee distress in the current sociopolitical context. In A. Saw (Chair), Community-centered approaches to promoting refugee resilience. Symposium conducted at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL, United States.

Ford-Paz, R. & Huang, C. (2022, October 27-28). Supporting Newcomer Youth Wellness in Schools. Conference session for the Illinois Association of School Social Workers Annual Conference, Tinley Park, IL, United States.

Ford-Paz, R. E., & Santiago, C.D. (2019, October). You’re Not Alone: A public health response to immigrant/refugee distress in the current sociopolitical context. In C. Cicchetti (Chair), Refugee and immigrant experience and innovative clinical and community responses. Symposium for the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Chicago, IL, United States.

Ford-Paz, R. E., Hilado, A., Rivera, C., Coyne, C. A., Santiago, C.D., & Cicchetti, C. (2019, June). You Are Not Alone: A public health response to immigrant/refugee distress in the current sociopolitical context. In D. Rusch (Chair), Supporting the mental health and well-being of all immigrants: Chicago’s local response to increased distress in the current sociopolitical climate. Symposium for the 17th Biennial Society for Community Research and Action Conference, Chicago, IL, United States.

Ford-Paz, R. E., O’Rourke, M. & Vargas-Ocasio, B. (2021, October 28-29). Supporting Newcomer Youth Wellness in Schools. Conference session for the Illinois Association of School Social Workers Annual Conference, We Are Stronger Together, Tinley Park, IL, United States.

Raviv, T. & Holley, C. (2019, August). Supporting resilience in young children: Addressing the impact of trauma and inequity. Plenary presentation for the PCIT International Biennial Convention, Chicago, IL, United States.

Raviv, T. & Smith, M.L. (2019, October). Building resilient youth and communities in Illinois: Benefits of a trauma-responsive schools designation. Panel presentation for the Trauma Informed Schools Summit, Santa Monica, CA, United States

Raviv, T., Cicchetti, C., Habib, M., & Jaycox, L.H. (2020, November). What did you learn in school today? Barriers and opportunities in the implementation of school-based interventions for diverse youth exposed to trauma. Panel presentation for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies 36th Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, United States.

Raviv, T., Smith, M., Washburn, J., O’Rourke, M., Eihentale, L., Roberts, A., & Meldrum, M. (2022, October). Informing efforts to scale-up implementation of trauma-responsive schools: Results from a randomized pilot. Paper presentation for the Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice, Baltimore, MD, United States.

Raviv, T., Vargas-Ocasio, B., Baker, S.M., Goldenthal, H., Rivera, C., & Lee, J.A. (2021, October). Development, feasibility, and acceptability of the stress & coping toolkit. Virtual paper presentation for the 24th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health.

Rivera, C., Gill, T., & Singleton, P. (2021, October). Youth participatory action research: Ethics training. Virtual paper presentation for the Annual meeting of the American Public Health Association Conference in Denver, CO, United States.

Russo, J., Gouze, K., Holley, C., Kerns, C., & Meldrum, M. (2023, March). Educator stress and the use of trauma-informed practices in an urban Head Start center. In A. Williford (Chair), Looking out for teachers who are looking after our children: Examining teacher stressors and supports. Paper symposium for the Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.

Sanders, T. , Smith, M.  (2023, March 21). Spotlight on Illinois: Supporting student wellbeing. Conference presentation for the Council of Chief State School Officers 2023 Legislative Conference, Washington, DC, United States.

Shah K., Joshi S. V., Fox G. S., & Cicchetti C. (2022, Oct.). Stick, stones, and words do hurt: It takes a village to respond to bullying. Clinical perspective presentation for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2022 Annual Meeting, Toronto, CA. 

Smith, M.  (2023, May 4-5). REACH: A Partnership between a state education agency and health experts to connect children and families with mental health resources. Conference presentation for the Building Bridges for Student Mental Health, Itasca, IL, United States.

Smith, M.L., Antonopoulos, H., Vona, P.  (2020, October 29).  A school-community model for trauma responsive schools. Virtual symposium for the Annual meeting of the Advancing School Mental Health Conference in Baltimore, MD, United States.

Smith, M.L., Cicchetti, C., Wiley, C. & Martin, C.  (2020, October 29). It takes a village: Building a state’s trauma responsive schools designation. Virtual conference presentation for the Advancing School Mental Health. Baltimore, MD, United States.

Smith, M.L., Cicchetti, C., Buckman, Matthew & Koppling, J.  (2021, June). Trauma responsive schools: Walking the walk with trauma-informed policies, procedures, and practices. Virtual panel presentation for the Linking Systems of Care Information Expo.  

Smith, M.L. & Whybrow, R. (2019, November). Promoting resilience in Chicago Public Schools through healing trauma together: A trauma-sensitive school model within a multi-tiered system. Conference presentation for the 2019 Annual Conference Advancing School Mental Health, Austin, TX, United States.

Summersett Williams, F., Goldenthal, H., Singleton, P., Curry, C., Baker, S., Gouze, K., (2019, November). Implementing a trauma-informed SEL-based afterschool curriculum for girls in historically under-resourced settings. Conference presentation for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) 35th Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, United States.

Syeda, M., Santiago, C. D., Crooks, C., Nadeem, E., Reinert, P., Lovettt, S., Cicchetti, C., Torres, S., Jolie, S., & Bustos, Y. (2022, Oct.). Impact and evaluation of STRONG. Virtual conference presentation for the 2020 Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health. Virtual Convening.

Vargas-Ocasio, B. (2019, November). Suicide assessment and prevention in schools. Breakout presentation for the 2019 Proficio Conference: Improving Special Education Services for Students with Complex Needs, Oak Lawn, IL, United States.

 

Cutshaw, O.P., Gouze, K.R., Holley, C., Meldrum, M., & Kerns, C. (2023, April). Examining change in classroom strategies after trauma-informed care training. Poster presentation for the 95th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL, United States.

Elahi, S., Raviv, T., Ford-Paz, R., & Baker, S. (2022, November 17-20). A needs assessment of school-based clinicians on cognitive behavioral therapy for anxious students. Poster presentation for the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 56th Annual Convention, New York City, NY, United States.

Gill, T., Rivera, C., Singleton, P. (2021, October). Youth participatory action research: Youth-led research assessing the impact of COVID-19 on adolescents and their home environments. Virtual poster presentation for the Annual meeting of the American Public Health Association Conference in Denver, CO, United States.

Goldenthal, H.J., Gouze, K., Holley, C., Curry, C., Singleton, P., & Gouze, K. (2019, November). Building trauma-informed preschools: Exploration of a new training model and preliminary outcomes. Virtual poster presentation for the 35th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Boston, MA, United States.

Goldenthal, H.J., Coyne, C., Dunlap, S., Raviv, T., Cicchetti, C., & Gouze, K. (2017, May). Building trauma-informed schools: Assessing the effectiveness of school-based trainings on knowledge acquisition in school personnel. Poster presented at the 29th Annual Convention of the Association of Psychological Science, Boston, MA, United States.

Goldenthal, H.J., Coyne, C., Dunlap, S., Raviv, T., Cicchetti, C., & Gouze, K. (2017, October). Evaluating the effectiveness of school-based trainings on knowledge acquisition in school personnel by role.  Poster presented at the 22nd Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health, National Harbor, MD, United States.

Goldenthal, H.J., Coyne, C., Gill, T., Dunlap, S., Rivera, C., Cicchetti, C., & Gouze, K. (2017, November). Assessing capacity for the implementation of trauma-informed practices: Piloting the use of the ARTIC and ProQOL in a special education school district. Poster presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Chicago, IL, UNited States.

Goldenthal, H.J., Raviv, T., Baker, S., Cicchetti, C., & Gouze, K. (2018, May). Factors Promoting the Successful Implementation of Tier II Interventions. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Convention of the Association of Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Goldenthal, H.J., Gill, T., Rivera, C., Dunlap, S., Gouze, K.R., Cicchetti, C. (2018, October). Readiness factors for implementation innovation in a special education school district. Poster presented at the Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health, Las Vegas, NV, United States.

Meldrum, M., Elahi, S., Raviv, T., Smith, M., O’Rourke, M., Curry, C., & Holley, C. (2022, October 13). Examining schools' needs and procedures for increasing trauma responsiveness. Virtual poster presentation for the Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health.

Meldrum, M., Russo, J., Gouze, K., Holley, C., Kerns, C., Merrick, J., & Cutshaw, O. (2023, March). Supporting the relational and developmental needs of young children exposed to potentially traumatic events. Poster presentation for the Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.

Meldrum, M., Singleton, P., Curry, C., Baker, S., Patel, R., & Gouze, K. (2022, August 5). Care in the classroom: Trauma-informed training for preservice and early-career teachers. Poster presentation for the American Psychological Association Convention 2022, Minneapolis, MN, United States.

Rivera, C., Gill, T., & Cicchetti, C. (2020, October).  Developing the next generation of healthcare leaders through health promotion and workforce development. Virtual poster presentation for the Annual meeting of the American Public Health Association Conference in San Francisco, CA, United States.

Russo, J., Goldenthal, H., Williams, F., Curry, C., Baker, S., & Gouze, K. (2020, July). Mapping Out Resiliency: Exploration of an After-School Program for Girls. Poster presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. Presented in virtual format due to COVID19.

Singleton, P., Curry, C., Fisher, M., Goldenthal, H., Washburn, J., Raviv, T. (2019, October). Developing the next generation of trauma-informed educators: A program for Golden Apple scholars. Poster presentation for the Social and Emotional Learning Exchange, Chicago, IL, United States

Singleton, P., Goldenthal, H., Gouze, K., Holley, C., Curry, C., Cicchetti, C. (2019, August). Implementation of a pilot school-based early-childhood trauma-intervention. Poster presentation for the American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.

Singleton, P., Raviv, T., Washburn, J., Goldenthal, H., & Cicchetti, C. (2019, November). Launching new trauma-informed educators: Adding trauma training to a pre-service teacher mentoring program. Poster presented at the 2019 Annual Conference Advancing School Mental Health, Austin, TX.

Sroka, A., Russo, J., Eihentale, L., & Gouze, K.R. (2021). Predictors of Girl Scouts’ Values: The Role of Adaptive Skills and Behaviors in a Historically Marginalized Community Sample. Poster presented at the Annual Conference of the Midwestern Psychological Association. Presented in virtual format due to COVID19.

Sroka, A. W., Meldrum, M., Gouze, K., Holley, C., Kerns, C., & Cicchetti, C. (2023, August). Early childhood teacher perceptions of the need for and impact of a trauma-informed intervention. Poster presented at the 176th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington D.C., United States. 

Summersett-Williams, F., Baker, S., Goldenthal, H., Curry, C., Singleton, P., Gouze, K. (2019, October). Embedding SEL trauma-informed practices into after-school programming: A community-based collaboration to implement and evaluate SEL in the GirlSpace program. Poster presentation for the Social & Emotional Learning Exchange 2019 hosted by Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, Chicago, IL, United States.

 

Cicchetti, C. (2019, October). Refugee and immigrant experience and innovative clinical and community responses. Invited speaker for the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Topic: Refugee and Immigrant Experience and Innovative Clinical and Community Responses. Chicago, IL., United States.

Ford-Paz, R. E. (2019, November). Intersection of practice, policy, and advocacy for refugee/immigrant children & youth in family systems. Invited speaker for the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health Annual Convening, Chicago, IL, United States.