Care Plus NJ Inc., a primary and behavioral health services for adults and children, announced it has been provided a $2 million grant — $400,000 every year for five years — from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to support its Bergen County Community Treatment and Services Center project.
The grant will help improve the quality of trauma services by increasing access of effective treatment models, tools and serving as a community resource.
The New Jersey Department of Children and Families, the Center for Hope and Safety, and Bergen’s Promise are all partners on the project.
Through the grant, project will target children and adolescents up to age 21 from a diverse set of gender, racial and ethnic backgrounds, with a focus on the Korean population in Bergen County.
“We are grateful to be awarded this grant from SAMHSA to fund the Bergen County Community Treatment and Services Center project, which will help us improve upon the specialized care we provide to children and families in northern New Jersey,” Laura Siclari, board chair, Care Plus NJ, said. “Not only will this funding allow us to increase access to effective treatment models and provide the necessary tools to children and families coping with trauma, it will also allow CarePlus to serve as a valuable community resource and model to promote trauma-informed care by implementing evidence-based practices.”
The five-year project should screen 7,500 children and 2,250 of them will receive clinical interventions, CarePlus NJ estimated. About 165 clinicians will also receive training on evidence-based practices.
“This project will also have an impact on the greater Bergen County community by increasing awareness among professionals and caregivers on the subject of potentially traumatizing events, and recognizing how trauma symptoms may present in children,” added Siclari. “The grant enables us to better serve our community by improving access to effective treatment models to produce positive outcomes.”
