Project Overview

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Department of Psychiatry is pleased to have a Category II site funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) known as the Terrorism and Disaster Coalition for Child and Family Resilience (TDC4), a center in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).  The center is actively working with partners across the nation to develop materials and provide training on interventions to support the behavioral health, wellbeing and resilience of children, families, and communities impacted by natural and man-made disasters as well as acts of terror. TCD4 is directed by and collaborates with trauma-informed experts with extensive experience using developmentally-sensitive, evidence-based practices to train and support children, families, teachers, first responders, and community members impacted by traumatic events.

 

Project Goals

BUILD.  Build coalitions of stakeholders in terrorism-vulnerable or disaster-prone areas to evaluate the needs of their specific communities to devise developmentally, and culturally-sensitive resources.

DEVELOP. Develop and/or adapt training materials and interventions using the expertise of coalition members. Resources developed and used are evidence-based, culturally relevant, and take into consideration the unique needs and diversity of communities served. 

TRAIN. Train community members and providers working with children and families with emphasis placed on developing trauma-informed expertise and skills related to supporting prevention, response, recovery and resilience following disasters or acts of terror.

CREATE. Create resources that aid providers, caregivers and youth in every stage of an incident of terrorism or disaster from preparedness, timely response, and recovery. Toolkits, fact sheets,  and/or other materials developed reflect the values of cultural relevance and diversity of each coalition.

SUPPORT. Support coalition members in their efforts to implement and sustain evidence -based practices and adapt them to the needs of regions, cultures, specific disasters, and vulnerabilities as a result of terrorist incidents.

 

Meet the TDC4 Team

Howard J. Osofsky, M.D., Ph.D., TDC4 Project Director - Dr. Howard Osofsky, has proven expertise in mental health treatment, leadership and administration of mental health services, as well as behavioral health responses to terrorism and technological and natural disasters. Dr. H. Osofsky has extensive experience in the administration of major research and grant programs following mass trauma, serving as co-Director of the services grants LRTSC and MBHCP. His work following Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill is widely recognized and has demonstrated his ability to establish connections and to build coalitions locally, regionally, and nationally. He served as Chair of an International Consortium to meet the psychosocial needs of children and families following disasters, terrorism and warfare, as co-chair of the NCTSN Disaster and Terrorism Committee from its inception, and as Clinical Director for Crisis Response Behavioral Health Services for the Louisiana Office of Mental Health. He has collaborated with the co-Director and local school systems since Hurricane Katrina to provide long-term mental health monitoring and intervention for school children in heavily impacted parishes. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the American Psychiatric Association Services Division Gold Medal for community and university collaboration, and has been widely published and presented in peer-reviewed outlets.

 

Joy Osofsky, Ph.D., TDC4 Project Co-Director Investigator - (1969, Clinical Psychology, Syracuse University; 1976‑1978, Postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical Psychology, The Menninger Foundation; 1976‑1985, Psychoanalytic Training, The Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis): Dr. Joy Osofsky is a psychologist and psychoanalyst and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She is Head of the Division of Pediatric Mental Health. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of New Orleans.  Dr. Osofsky has been Co-Director of the Louisiana Rural Trauma Services Center, a center in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, a member of the Early Trauma Treatment Network of NCTSN, and Director of the LSUHSC Harris Center for Infant Mental Health in New Orleans.  She is editor of Children in a Violent Society (Guilford, 1997; paper, 1998), two editions of the Handbook of Infant Development (Wiley, 1979; 1987), and co-editor of the four volume WAIMH Handbook of Infant Mental Health. Dr. Osofsky's 2004 (paperback 2007) edited book, Young Children and Trauma: Intervention and Treatment, includes contributions related to mental health, child welfare, the judiciary, and law enforcement. In 1995, she published an article, The Effects of Violence Exposure in Young Children (American Psychologist, 1995) that was chosen by the American Psychological Association as one of the top articles published in this journal in the past 50 years. Dr. Osofsky is also a previous editor of the Infant Mental Health Journal.  Dr. Osofsky is Past-President of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families and Past-President of the World Association for Infant Mental Health. She served on the Pew Commission for Children in Foster Care.  For several years, she consulted with Judge Cindy Lederman, Administrative Judge of the Juvenile Court in Miami/Dade County related to the development and evaluation of programs to benefit high-risk young children and families in court. In May 2006, Dr. Osofsky was honored by the Juvenile Court Judges of the 11th Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade, Florida with the Child's Heart Award in recognition of contributions to enhancing the health and well-being of children.

 

Richard Costa, Psy.D., M.P., TDC4 Project Coordinator - (2002, Georgia School of Professional Psychology, Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology; 2003, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Clinical Psychology and Infant Mental Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Department of Psychiatry; 2011, Alliant International University, California School of Professional Psychology, Postgraduate Master of Science in Clinical Psychopharmacology): Interests: Trauma/rural trauma, HIV prevention, ADHD assessment and treatment, childhood trauma and resilience, parent/child psychotherapy, multicultural competence, Medical Psychology/Clinical Psychopharmacology, and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) issues.  Primary Clinical Settings: LSUHSC School of Medicine, Trauma and Disaster Coalition for Child and Family Resilience Project (TDC4CFR).