Urban Trauma Performance Improvement Center (UTPIC)

The Urban Trauma Network Initiative (UTNI) was created as a response to the national racism epidemic which has become more prevalent and has gained increased coverage within the last couple of years amidst the disproportionate impact the COVID-19 Pandemic has had within communities of color.

Black, Indegenious, Latinx, children and youth of color have been disproportionately affected by the continued increase in urban violence and the impact of structural, institutional, and personal racism intersecting with the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The resilience of children and youth has been greatly diminished during this pandemic – resulting in many needing emergency mental health interventions in various settings. Our communities of color, and specifically our Black, Indegenious, Latinx children of color, have been the most heavily impacted by the current challenges faced.

Alongside the horrendous impact this pandemic has had on communities of color, they have had to also face an increase in experiences of racism and national coverage of racially motivated harm within their communities leading to ever compounding exposure to racial trauma.

After viewing the severe impact which the pandemic and the racism epidemic was having  amongst our communities of color, and specifically within the BILPOC youth here in CT, the Department of Children and Families decided to further investigate into the capacity and quality of mental health services communities of color have within the state that could support our youth.

Their investigation found that for far too long, youths of color have received generic mental health services which lack key components for their long term improvement such as: the inclusion of the youths unique environment, their lived experience, and the utilization of a generational and inherited racial trauma lens to address racial trauma. By not addressing any potential racial trauma that the child has experienced, providers are unable to see a complete picture of youths of color seen within behavioral health. This has become even more important within the last couple of years due to the stress children of color have experienced amongst the disproportionate impact of the pandemic as well as increased exposure to racism either personally or through news coverage.

This analysis of the current mental health services provided to youths of color within Connecticut also highlighted that many providers within the field of mental health have received very limited, if any, training on addressing and supporting individuals experiencing racial trauma. This limited training on the matter of racial trauma means that even if a provider is able to identify the role racial trauma may be having on an individual’s presentation within their treatment, they lack the required interventions to help that individual heal from these racial traumas. As a result of the lack of inclusion of these components, youths of color within Connecticut have been misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and have ultimately not benefited from mental health services to its full potential.

Additionally, recent research has shown that despite the increased stressors occurring, communities of color continue to be hesitant to access mental health services, including services for their children, due to historical racial injustices within the profession, lack of representation within the providers who are providing these services, and a general distrust that these services will be able to truly understand and support them.

Seeing these areas of improvement across the mental health services provided within the state of Connecticut the Department of Children and Families partnered up with the Urban Trauma organization to revolutionize mental health services provided to youth of color within the state by addressing the key issues within the system in a holistic and all encompassing initiative, the Urban Trauma Network Initiative.

The Urban Trauma Network Initiative (UTNI) is a transformative project to redefine the mental health services youths of color within CT receive in Connecticut. The initiative seeks to improve these services through proper racially equitable training for providers as well as through supporting organizations in racially just capacity building while focusing on long-term sustainability. In order to implement this initiative UTPIC  will establish the Urban Trauma Provider Network, a network of providers trained on racial trauma and equipped with the knowledge necessary to better support youth of color experiencing racial trauma. Apart from individual provider training this initiative will also work with the organizations wherein the providers work to support them in improving upon their Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) initiatives with a focus on capacity building for long term sustainability. Organizations within the UTPN will receive support from UTPIC in developing Performance Improvement Plans focused on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion as well as consultative support, data collection improvement, infrastructure development, business practice support, improvement site visits, and the identification, development, and implementation of effective service models and practices rooted in racial equity. As a part of this network organizations will also receive support from UTPIC in creating community partnerships, community events & initiatives, and work on further integrating themselves as support centers for communities of color.