Following 9/11, both the Child Study Center and the Silver Shield Foundation recognized the need to address the mental health needs of the children bereaved by the loss of a parent on September 11th to ensure educational and other life success in the long-term. With initial funding from the Silver Shield Foundation received in February 2002, the Child Study Center developed a comprehensive outreach, assessment and intervention program to offer counseling services to approximately 500 children and adolescents and their families.
"In our research and work during the past 3 years it has become clear that the children in these families are often functioning much better than their caregivers," said Marylene Cloitre, Ph.D., Cathy and Stephen Graham Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Director of the Institute for Trauma and Stress at the NYU Child Study Center. "In fact, the mothers who are participating in the program are experiencing levels of distress two times higher than national norms." Cloitre added, "Studies show that symptom severity in children is strongly associated with maternal mental health problems. This September 11 recovery grant from the American Red Cross Liberty Disaster Relief Fund will allow the Child Study Center to help promote the mental health of the mothers which is critical to ensuring sustained recovery of the children in the long term."
With the support of this recovery grant the Child Study Center will be able to address persistent needs of children of uniformed personnel and their caregivers as well as provide surviving parents with tools to serve as active, responsive parents and to develop coping skills that allow them to manage their own grief and distress. The 8-week Life Enrichment Program is designed to help decrease distress, increase energy and confidence, improve parent-child relationships and decrease child distress. In addition, the program will increase the social support for surviving spouses as they manage their family members and, in many cases, introduce new family members.
"We know from experience that recovering from any kind of disaster is a lengthy journey that requires patience and perseverance," said Alan Goodman, September 11 Recovery Program Executive Director, "Through programs run by established community agencies such as the NYU Child Study Center, these grants allow us to support victims during a healing process that can continue even after the visible signs of this disaster are gone."
For more information about the September 11 Recovery Program, visit: www.redcross.org/september11/help
The Silver Shield Foundation has been instrumental in funding the education of almost 200 students since its founding in 1982. With 87 students still enrolled in its program, they added on 700 more as a result of the 405 uniformed officers who died on September 11, 2001. The Foundation assists in paying tuition for college, graduate school, trade school and pays for tutorial services for children of any age.
For more information, visit www.silvershieldfoundation.org.
The New York University Child Study Center is dedicated to improving the treatment of child psychiatric illnesses through scientific practice, research and education. Our mission is to bridge the gap between science and practice, integrating the finest research with patient care and state-of-the-art training supported by the resources of the world-class New York University School of Medicine.
The Institute for Trauma and Stress was established at the Child Study Center in September 2002 precipitated by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The Institute's work focuses on service to traumatized and bereaved children and the systematic study of assessment and interventions which are effective in reaching these goals. The broad missions of the Institute are: to develop effective treatments and interventions which ameliorate these effects and understand the role of individual resiliency and community support in the process of recovery; to advance the field of trauma studies by educating and training future clinicians and researchers; to enhance the awareness and understanding of trauma and its effects through public education and outreach to the community; to assess the psychological, social and biological impact of traumatic events on children across the developmental stages from the toddler years to young adulthood.
The NYU Child Study Center depends on private support for clinical care, research and education. If you would like to make a donation, please go to www.AboutOurKids.org/donate