The SSW's Social Work Community Outreach Service (SWCOS) has been awarded $1,213,822 from the Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger and SAMHSA for Antiracist Child and Family Systems.
SWCOS, in partnership with the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Chicago School of Psychology, will develop the Collective for Anti-Racist Child and Family Systems (CACFS). The purpose of this five year project is to expand the knowledge base for and increase the number of organizations working to reduce trauma in African American and Latinx children by effectively institutionalizing antiracist, anti-oppressive practices. The project aims to address behavioral health disparities by developing and promoting antiracist, anti-oppressive trauma-informed care approaches, including the SHARP framework.
Leading the effort will be, above from left to right, Wendy Shaia, Principal Investigator (PI) and Clinical Associate Professor/Executive Director of the Social Work Community Outreach Service, Assistant Professor Ericka Lewis (Co-PI), and Associate Professor Melissa Smith (Evaluator).
The project will use evidence-based approaches to address trauma and meet the needs of Black/African American and Latinx children and families while examining their social conditions, environmental conditions, and lived experiences. The project will train clinicians, administrators, and service providers by advancing their knowledge of implicit bias, systemic oppression, intersectionality, and culturally responsive approaches.