The ChildTrauma Academy recently welcomed The Children's Enhancement Project (CEP), one program operated by CommCare, based in Kansas City, MO, to our cadre of NMT Training Certification Sites.  The Children's Enhancement Project (CEP) is a major initiative of the Missouri Department of Mental Health and the eight Community Mental Health Centers of the Northwestern Region and is designed to allow children affected by serious mental, emotional or behavioral disorders to stay in their own communities while receiving mental health services.

     CEP's mission is to support children and youth by enhancing the services and supports available, discussing and acting on issues affecting children, developing community partnerships, and promoting communication between child-serving organizations, families, and supports systems. CEP develops and implements services designed to allow children with serious mental illness to stay in their own communities, and where possible, in their own homes, while simultaneously improving the child's well-being.  At least half of the children that CEP reaches have remained at home while CEP provided wrap-around services.  In the case, though, that it is not possible for a child to remain at home, CEP utilizes Professional Parent Homes run by "professional parents" who are trained in trauma, positive behavioral support methods, and person-centered planning. The "professional parents" work closely with the child's family and a team of professionals, led by an Enhanced Behavioral Specialist to create a care plan and assesses the child's progress. Professional Parent Homes are also utilized when a child is in the custody of Children's Division and needs help to be able to function safely in a foster home.  They are further utilized as a "step-down" from residential so parents can learn the needed skills to work successfully with their child.

      Enhanced Behavioral Specialists from CEP also work with children in other environments, such Children's Division, Juvenile Court or KCRO placement, to ensure that therapy (and other resources) are available and accessible to each child.  Further, CEP is part of a continuum of care provided by the Community Mental Health Centers.  When it is determined that a child no longer requires the intensive level of care provided by CEP, trained professionals will continue to work with the family to determine what on-going services are still needed, and they will assist in connecting the family with those resources.

     CEP's goals for NMT are two-fold: to enhance the therapeutic services for  children with a history of complex trauma in their history, and to shift the general perspective that many adults, both professionals and care-givers, regarding dysegulated children.  "One of my greatest challenges is getting the school or parents (or professional parents) or Children's Division or even sometimes the case worker to understand that what they are seeing is a dysregulated child, not a manipulative, oppositional one.  When you ask a child why they did something and they say "I don't know", it is because they really don't know - and NMT explains this.  If we can get our teams moving with this same understanding, we then have a better treatment plan, a better IEP, a better and different experience for the child and a much greater chance for a positive outcome," says Terry Cunningham, CEP Coordinator.  CTA is thrilled to have CEP starting Certification Training.  Their relationship-centered approach aligns well with core NMT principles, and we're very exciting to begin working with them.