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Project Abstract ReCast Baton Rouge (RCBR) proposes to serve a population of 3,800 at-risk youth and families within the City of Baton Rouge and greater East Baton Rouge Parish over a period of five (5) years. This proposal will utilize a participatory trauma-informed approach designed to promote safety, anti-violence, community and youth engagement, leadership development, peer support, and first-responder training. Through strategic planning, RCBR will focus its activities on improving governance and capacity building by convening and engaging a diverse community coalition of stakeholders. During 2016, the City of Baton Rouge was challenged with both civil trauma and natural disaster of epic proportion. On July 5, Alton Sterling, an African-American civilian, was shot and killed by two Baton Rouge City Police officers that incited questions surrounding the shooting--ultimately sparking civil unrest. Mass protests ensued when cell phone video footage was released seeming to provide evidence of questionable circumstances. These protests included a high school-led initiative referred to as ?The Wave? with a reported crowd of 3,000 persons. Tensions surrounding these events were exacerbated when a lone gunman ambushed and killed Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola, three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers, wounded several others and caused great community harm in what appeared to be an act of retaliation. The perpetrator of this action was not a Baton Rouge native, which demonstrated the national attention these events had received. Finally, on August 12, the City and surrounding areas experienced catastrophic flooding dubbed a 1000-year event. This natural disaster displaced an estimated 500,000 persons, within East Baton Rouge Parish and neighboring parishes, when unexpected ravaging flood waters in excess of 30 inches swept the area. RCBR, led by the Office of the Mayor-President along with a coalition of stakeholders comprising the grant planning team ? including the Capital Area Human Services District, the Louisiana Center for Health Equity and the Louisiana Department of Health-Office of Behavioral Health, will guide the development and implementation of a Community Resiliency strategic plan. Specifically, RCBR will 1) develop strategies to reduce the impact of trauma brought on by the events of 2016, 2) build capacity of and empower community-based organizations to implement best practices for building resilient and trauma-informed communities; 3) ensure high-risk youth and their families benefit from evidence-based youth violence prevention and youth engagement activities; 4) link the East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS), other LEA, community-based non-profit organizations, government entities, youth leaders law enforcement, faith-based organizations, businesses, public and private institutions to create a network that improves and strengthens equitable access to behavioral health resources and services while reducing trauma and sustaining community change.

Metro Louisville, a thriving metropolitan city, has experienced recent escalations in community violence and civil unrest that threaten to destroy its most vulnerable neighborhoods. The Louisville Metro Trauma Resilient Community (TRC) Initiative is a city-wide program that seeks to promote resilience and equity for Louisville’s high-risk youth and families most affected by trauma, violence and civil unrest. To address this growing crisis, the TRC Initiative will utilize a comprehensive, community based approach consisting of 1) capacity building, 2) community, first responder, and referral source education, 3) youth and family centered, evidence-based trauma-focused interventions, and 4) consumer feedback and evaluation to help youth and their families overcome the effects of trauma. Specifically, this project will 1) increase knowledge and skills of personnel who make referrals and provide services to children and families regarding trauma, community violence, and related services, 2) provide trauma-focused intervention services to children and their families exposed to community violence, and 3) evaluate the impact of the project on consumers of this proposed project. The TRC Initiative will develop a community-engaged advisory board (Champions of Community Challenges) to increase trauma awareness among community leaders, enhance outreach and training across multiple sectors, and identify the effects of adverse community experiences in order to address their manifestations in the community. Additionally, TRC will engage in trauma-informed community and referral source training in order to develop a common language, build engagement within the community, and establish a safe communication process for all collaborators to follow. Project-related activities, services, and outreach efforts will target West and South Louisville communities, where high-risk youth and families most affected by trauma, violence, and civil unrest reside. By the completion of the project, 250 clinicians will have been trained in evidence-based trauma interventions (e.g. AF-CBT, CBITS, Parent University), 475 children and their families in West and South Louisville will have been provided trauma treatment and education, 40 service providers, public school officials, and leaders will become local trainers in the Sanctuary Model® (Champions for Community Change), and 50 community agencies serving youth exposed to community violence and trauma will have become trauma-informed, including 12 “backbone” agencies that will become certified Sanctuary Model® organizations. Project evaluation findings will be disseminated through presentations and publications, with an emphasis on the project’s impact and lessons learned regarding how to best respond to the needs of youth and families.

Char-Meck ReCAST (CMR) seeks to improve resilience and healing among high-risk youth and families in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, NC by: (i) increasing trust and healing between government organizations and communities of color; (ii) increasing culturally sensitive, trauma-informed services; and (iii) addressing key social determinants underlying the recent civil unrest, following the shooting deaths of two African American men in our community. Racial disparities in employment and education have created isolated areas of poverty in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, especially for African Americans. The unemployment rate of African Americans (14%) is more than twice that of whites (6%). The median household income of whites is 86% higher than that of African Americans; and shockingly, the poverty rate for African American children (39%) is eight-times higher than for white children (5%). These conditions can produce traumatic events for children, including victimization and exposure to violence. Nearly a quarter of adolescents in the community experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime . The community offers services (including mental health services) that can address the consequences of racialized poverty. These service organizations are not always trained to deliver culturally sensitive, trauma-informed care to marginalized groups. The community also lacks an organized framework that ties these services together in a way that facilitates sustainable change among high-risk youth and their families. Char-Meck ReCAST will address these issues by implementing evidence-based, violence prevention programs for youth and establishing linkages to trauma-informed (TI) behavioral health services. Specifically CMR will: (i) create a youth advisory body to develop a strategic plan; (ii) conduct broad-based trauma-informed (TI) training and TI peer support training for youth; (iii) integrate neighborhood patrol officers into youth/community activities; (iv) create a TI information communication plan/website; and, (5) increase our community’s Rapid Response capabilities. Key outcome measures will be determined through the planning process, but will be designed to measure progressive change in youth; changes in family perceptions regarding police-community relations; and access to TI healing services. When fully implemented, Char-Meck ReCAST will reach over 147,000 children within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. 1. NC Poverty Research Fund (2016). Economic Hardship, Racialized Concentrated Poverty, and the Challenges of Low-Wage Work: Charlotte, North Carolina. 2. Costello, E. J., Erkanli, A., Fairbank, J. A., & Angold, A. (2002). The prevalence of potentially traumatic events in childhood and adolescence. Journal of traumatic stress, 15(2), 99-112.