Projects and Research

The Southwest Michigan Children's Trauma Assessment Center at Western Michigan University receives grants in order to fund projects that aim to create trauma-informed systems across the state of Michigan. Click on the icons below to learn more about each project currently in progress.

Grant Projects

 

Previously received grants

Trauma Screening Tool

 

The Children’s Trauma Assessment Center’s child trauma screen is used to guide clinicians and child welfare caseworkers in evaluating children ages 0-18 who have been exposed to trauma and may be at risk for other concerns, including PTSD and complex trauma. The comprehensive checklist helps pinpoint emotions, behaviors, attachment concerns, and school problems the child may be experiencing, and can be utilized in the treatment planning process. There are two versions of the screen, one for children ages 0-5 years old and one for children ages 6-18 years old. Below are links to each trauma screen.

Trauma screening tool ages 0-5

Trauma screening tool ages 6-18

For more information or training on how to use the trauma screen in your organization, please contact Emma Bomeli.

The CTAC trauma screen has been validated through a screening of 95 children in Larimer County, Colorado, who were assessed by Larimer County Human Services for risk and safety issues related to child maltreatment between September and December 2013 and for whom the CTAC screen (1st version) had been completed. Internal validity of the child screen was established through findings that proved that as exposure to traumatic experiences increases, so does the presence of adverse behaviors, emotions and attachments/school problems.

External validity of the child screen was established through findings that proved that as traumatic experiences, adverse behaviors and emotions and attachment/school problems increase, so does the level of PTSD symptoms.

Reliability and internal validity have been replicated in 2016 through screens completed on over a thousand children throughout the state of Michigan. The 2016 study utilized the 2nd edition of the CTAC screen, and was completed on both the young child screen (0-5) and the screen for children 6-18 years old. Reliability for both screens was solid (α=.851 for 0-5 screen; α=.831 for 6-18 screen). Internal validity is established on both versions of the screen as well.

Publications