Mental Health Center of Denver [1]
The Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver - Trauma Treatment Project (GRID-TTP) in Denver, Colorado, will target youth aged 11-17, primarily African American and Latino/Latina, who are gang involved or at risk of gang involvement, and who reside in three Northeast Denver neighborhoods with high rates of community, domestic, and gang-related violence. GRID-TTP will be part of a citywide effort to reduce gang violence and to address the impact of this violence on city residents, especially Denver's youth. The project, implemented by a consortium of Denver government, community, and faith-based agencies, led by the Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD), is based on the Comprehensive Gang Model developed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. GRID-TTP will deliver two primary interventionsCognitive Behavioral Interventions in Schools (CBITS) and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS)in three middle school, one high school, and five recreation/community centers in the targeted Denver neighborhoods. During the two-year project period, 140 unduplicated youth will be served, some of whom, along with their families, will be referred to other MHCD services.
Prior funding to the Mental Health Center of Denver supported the Family Trauma Treatment Program, which providd access for low-income children and families to community mental health services through a network of more than thirty locations throughout the Denver area. The program improved services and treatment for children who experienced trauma by implementing and evaluating evidence-based interventions in a variety of community settings including schools, shelters, juvenile detention centers, day care centers, and neighborhood clinics.