Partners for success: A collaborative program between the Smith College School for Social Work and the Springfield, Massachusetts, public schools

When Traumatic Stressors are Not Past, But Now: Psychosocial Treatment to Develop Resilience with Children and Youth Enduring Concurrent, Complex Trauma

“…To improve the accessibility and cultural relevance of services, the project reported here, called the Empowering Counseling Program (ECP, named by its student co-founders), has been carried out in community schools using participatory action Bulanda, Szarzinski, Silar, & Tyson McCrea, 2013;Tyson McCrea, 2012) and consumer evaluation designs (Davies et al, 2009;Macran, Ross, Hardy & Shapiro, 1999;Tyson McCrea & Spravka, 2008). Schools are increasingly seen as promising settings to improve equality in meeting young people's mental health needs (Armbruster & Lichtman, 1999;Brown et al, 2006;Pynoos 1999;Sessions et al 2001), because they eliminate many obstacles for clients, including transportation, poverty-level caregivers' demanding schedules, and stigma in attending psychiatric clinics (Banks et al 1996;Fusick & Bordeau, 2004;Washburn, 2002).…”