In a first for the nonprofit organization, Astor Services recently had a “soft” launch of its Trauma Recovery Center, which provides much-needed therapeutic and support services to victims of trauma and violence. Astor Services was awarded a grant of $473,000 to create a center and is one of just four organizations statewide selected for funding to do this work through the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The Trauma Recovery Center will serve as a community hub to support victims of violent crime in the Bronx, with clear referral pathways from local hospitals, legal defense services, law enforcement, and other critical support providers. For more information, or to access support, please contact Michele Conner-Shephard, Astor Services, Director of Outpatient Clinics/School Based Programs at (845) 464-3337 or mconnershephard@
“Through the comprehensive services offered by the Trauma Recovery Center, Astor aims to reduce the long-term effects of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms caused by individual events or compound trauma caused by intergenerational trauma impacted by social determinants of health or multiple traumatic events,” said Sarai Manuel, Bronx Administrator and Director of the Bronx Prevention Program. “We’re grateful to New York State and its grant program for giving us the opportunity to do this important work.”
The center provides trauma-informed approaches and treatment using evidenced based models such as Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) as well as Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Both models have shown to be effective for high-risk clients of all ages with trauma exposure and will be offered to clients who have experienced interpersonal violence or community violence regardless of citizenship or income level.
The center allows for help to be provided based on need, not location, so services can be provided at an Astor location, in home, or in the community. Program staff consists of four trauma-trained clinicians, three trauma-informed case managers, one trauma-informed family advocate as well as a director, supervisor and a Nurse Practitioner. Services provided will include individual and family therapeutic treatment, case management services to increase family stability and build connections to community resources, as well as client advocacy with medical providers, public assistance agents, and court systems. Treatment will consist of collaboration between members of the multidisciplinary team that will synthesize intake and interval assessments to prioritize treatment objectives, modality, utilization of adjunctive medication management, and other resources.
Outcomes will be realized by providing trauma-informed clinical interventions that improve the well-being of individuals and increase stability and mental health after a traumatic event via interpersonal violence or community violence. Positive clinical outcomes will be demonstrated by improvements/stabilization in clinical assessments, as well as successful linkages to needed community resources for referred clients.
About Trauma Recovery Centers
The first trauma recovery center was developed as a pilot program at the University of California, San Francisco at San Francisco General Hospital in 2001. Now, trauma recovery centers are spreading across the country. This evidence-based model is helping the hardest-to-reach survivors of violent crime heal and recover from the effects of trauma. Services offered by trauma recovery centers include trauma-informed clinical case management; evidence-based individual, group and family psychotherapy; crisis intervention; medication management; legal advocacy and assistance in filing police reports and accessing victim compensation funds; and are offered at no cost to the patient. These types of comprehensive services and assistance are intended to help people who have experienced violent crime, including patients who suffered gunshot wounds, as well as victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and hate crimes, and those who had a family member assaulted or killed. To provide this breadth of services, trauma recovery centers utilize multidisciplinary staff members that might include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and outreach workers.
Trauma recovery centers may be eligible for funding through federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and can be implemented by VOCA administrators and/or through legislation. They can be housed by community-based organizations, universities, hospitals and/or other clinical service providers, and collaborations among these agencies can help to ensure integrated and client-centered care when establishing trauma recovery centers.
About Astor Services
For 70 years, since 1953, Astor Services provides essential supports, tools and high quality, comprehensive behavioral health and educational services to engage, empower and strengthen children, adults and families in all communities. Astor serves more than 9,000 children and families annually in more than 70 locations in the Hudson Valley and the Bronx. Our services reach children and families living at or below the poverty line. Astor’s range of services include: Early Childhood Programs and Community-Based Behavioral Health and Prevention Services. To learn more about Astor’s programs and services, visit, www.astorservices.org.
