Improving Child Trauma Screening and Treatment
Project BRIDGE aims to strengthen the identification and treatment of traumatic stress among children and youth.
What is Project BRIDGE?
Project BRIDGE (Building Recovery through Trauma-Informed Detection, Guidance, and Early Intervention) is a five-year initiative launched in 2026 that is funded through a federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant as a National Child Traumatic Stress Network Category II Center.
It will provide staff in child-serving systems with best practices for trauma screening and will develop and disseminate an evidence-informed single-session intervention for children and youth experiencing traumatic stress.
Project BRIDGE is led by CHDI staff with support from national experts, state agencies, behavioral health providers, and families.
Why Project BRIDGE?
Children and youth experience trauma at high rates, yet many who experience traumatic stress are not identified and do not receive services, as trauma screening is not yet routinely implemented across many child-serving systems.
When children and youth who are experiencing traumatic stress are identified, professionals may have limited options for providing support when longer-term, trauma-focused, evidence-based treatments are unavailable, inaccessible, or not feasible.
Project BRIDGE will address these gaps through the following activities.
What are the goals of Project BRIDGE?
Project BRIDGE will enhance child-serving professionals' ability to identify children and youth experiencing traumatic stress by:
- Updating CHDI's Trauma ScreenTIME courses
- Developing an online course focused on trauma screening for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Providing in-person and virtual training opportunities on trauma screening best practices for child-serving professionals
Contact Brittany Lange to learn more about training opportunities
Project BRIDGE will develop an evidence-informed single-session intervention designed for children and youth experiencing traumatic stress.
This intervention is intended for use across a range of child-serving systems, particularly where traditional, longer-term trauma-focused evidence-based treatments are not available or feasible. Activities will include the development of:
- Training curricula
- Practice manuals
- Implementation resources
- An online training course
Following development, the intervention will be disseminated through Learning Communities and a Train-the-Trainer initiative in partnership with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and other child-serving sites.
Project BRIDGE will enhance child-serving professionals' ability to identify children and youth experiencing traumatic stress by:
- Updating CHDI's Trauma ScreenTIME courses
- Developing an online course focused on trauma screening for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Providing in-person and virtual training opportunities on trauma screening best practices for child-serving professionals
Contact Brittany Lange to learn more about training opportunities
Project BRIDGE will develop an evidence-informed single-session intervention designed for children and youth experiencing traumatic stress.
This intervention is intended for use across a range of child-serving systems, particularly where traditional, longer-term trauma-focused evidence-based treatments are not available or feasible. Activities will include the development of:
- Training curricula
- Practice manuals
- Implementation resources
- An online training course
Following development, the intervention will be disseminated through Learning Communities and a Train-the-Trainer initiative in partnership with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and other child-serving sites.
Related Resources
Trauma ScreenTIME Courses
Free trauma screening courses for staff in schools, pediatric primary care, child welfare, juvenile justice, early childhood, and other settings.
Evidence-Based Treatments for Trauma
Learn about trauma-focused evidence-based treatments available in Connecticut and beyond.
Kids
Mental Health
Training
View other courses on children's behavioral health topics on the Kids Mental Health Training portal.
Career Opportunities
We're seeking a Senior Project Coordinator and a Project Coordinator to work on Project BRIDGE. These roles will support data collection, research, training, development, and more.
