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In this month's issue:
- CHDI staff + CT schools testify in support of the School-Based Diversion Initiative at state budget hearing
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Engaging young people in quality improvement work with DMHAS Young Adult Services
- Looking back on the last 10 years of trauma-informed care
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Two new experts join our staff
...and more! Plus, be sure to check out this month's featured Kids Mental Health Training course: Race and Mental Health.
| | CHDI and Partner Schools Testify on Impact of the Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative | | |
"SBDI provides far more than guidance—it provides structure, accountability, data systems, funding, and expert coaching that help schools fundamentally shift how we respond to student behavior and behavioral health needs."
-Lauren Miele, Principal, Enlightenment School, Waterbury
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Last week, CHDI's Jeana Bracey testified before the CT Appropriations Committee in support of preserving funding for the Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI), which is facing a 20% cut in the Governor's proposed FY2027 budget.
SBDI works with schools, law enforcement, and community-based providers to reduce in-school arrests, suspensions, and expulsions for students with behavioral health challenges. Since 2009, 82 participating schools across 29 districts have seen an average 25% decrease in court referrals.
| | Associate Vice President of School and Community Initiatives, Jeana Bracey, PhD, (pictured above, image: CT-N) testified at the Appropriations Committee Hearing on February 17th. | | |
Dr. Bracey told legislators that reduced funding would "dramatically limit the program's reach and effectiveness, disrupt services, and ultimately be harmful to students, schools, and communities." Leaders from eight SBDI partner districts statewide—including Bridgeport, Danbury, New Britain, Waterbury, Windsor Locks, and West Hartford—also submitted testimony on the program's impact.
Watch or read the powerful testimony from Dr. Bracey and SBDI schools on our blog:
| | Connecting at the Join Rise Be Young Adult Leadership Summit | | | | |
CHDI's Meghan Flynn and Ashley Nelson spent January 30th chatting with young adults about their goals and dreams at the Join Rise Be Youth Summit. The event was held in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services' Young Adult Services (YAS) division, which helps young adults with behavioral health needs transition from youth to adult services and build necessary skills for adulthood.
CHDI is currently working with YAS to provide Quality Improvement (QI) services, including data development support and benchmarks for performance improvement.
| | Because integrating the perspectives and lived experiences of youth and families is a critical part of our approach to QI, Meghan and Ashley also talked with summit participants about their experiences with YAS. This spring, they will also join a Young Adult Advisory Board meeting to hear more from young people about their experiences to help further inform and strengthen YAS services. | | Looking Back: The Last Decade of Trauma-Informed Care | | | | |
What's the current state of research on trauma-informed care (TIC) for youth and families? To answer this question, CHDI’s Jason Lang, PhD and colleague Rochelle Hanson (Medical University of South Carolina) edited an upcoming special section on TIC in the journal Child Maltreatment highlighting some of the most critical TIC research happening today
In their introduction, "Ten Years Later: An Updated Critical Look at Trauma-Informed Care Among Agencies and Systems Serving Youth and Their Families," Drs. Lang and Hanson describe the growing interest in TIC among child-serving systems and settings, summarize recent research, identify remaining knowledge gaps, and make recommendations for advancing the science to improve benefits for youth and families. Preview it online now ahead of the print release:
| | May need institutional access to read full text. | | In the News: Staff Publication Cited in Recent NPR Piece on Law Enforcement in Schools | | |
"Do armed police make schools safer? Here's what the research says." by Katherine Kokal, WUWM 89.7 FM (Milwaukee NPR affiliate), 2/4/26.
This recent story on the role of school resource officers (SROs) in Milwaukee cited a 2023 paper co-authored by CHDI's Jamie LoCurto, PhD, and colleagues on the effects of law enforcement in school settings. Their paper reviewed and synthesized findings from 32 studies from across the US, UK, and Canada.
| | February Featured Course: Race and Mental Health | | |
This month's featured Kids Mental Health Training is a two-part course exploring how racism can negatively impact behavioral health outcomes and how it can manifest in behavioral health treatment and systems.
Eligible licensed clinicians can earn 3 continuing education credits from NASW-CT for each part of the course, for a total of up to 6 CECs (see details on course page).
Instructor: Dr. Cecilia Frometa is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor of Child Psychology at Yale and a faculty member at the Yale Child Study Center.
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Kids Mental Health Training is an online learning portal that provides convenient, evidence-based training on a variety of children’s behavioral health topics for clinicians, educators, pediatric providers, and other youth-serving professionals.
All KMHT courses are offered at NO cost and many offer continuing education credits!
| Browse course catalog: KidsMentalHealthTraining.org | | Welcoming New Staff Members | | |
Kasia Baca, PhD, MPH, MA
Senior Associate
Kasia brings over 10 years of experience in public health, epidemiology, mixed-methods approaches, and data visualization to CHDI. She joins us from the CDC's Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Program, where she served as CT's state assignee.
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Mariah Brennan, MPA
Senior Data Analyst
Mariah is a current PhD candidate at Syracuse University. She most recently served as a Research Associate at the D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families and as a Lerner Graduate Research Fellow at Syracuse.
| | Keeping Up with the Latest Trauma Research | | Chief Program Officer Jason Lang, PhD, presented an overview of the latest trauma research alongside colleagues Monica Fitzgerald, PhD (left) and Ernestine Briggs-King, PhD (center), at the 41st annual Chadwick International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment in San Diego last month. | | This Month's Ray of Sunshine | | CHDI's Sunshine Committee fosters staff well-being and builds community for our growing hybrid team. In February, they brought the team together with a charcuterie workshop. | | | | Chell's Charcuterie joined us February 4th to teach our team the art of board building, just in time for Valentine's Day! 🧀 💕 | Project Coordinator Gianna Mendes, pictured, shows off her finished heart-shaped board. | | | | |
