The goals of the proposed project are as follows:

• to improve the health and well-being of sexually abused children (and their non-offending caregivers) residing in the 8-county northeastern region of North Carolina and,
• to increase the number and proficiency of mental health clinicians providing evidence-based treatment to sexually abused children (and their non-offending caregivers) in the 25-county northeastern region of North Carolina.

This is a pilot project in the Guilford, Wilson, Caldwell, Halifax, Vance and Roberson county domestic violence shelters. Its aim is to train staff in identifying child traumatic symptoms and managing child behaviors.

Identifying and Responding to the Needs of Children in Domestic Violence Shelters: Final Report June 1, 2008; The Domestic Violence Shelter Screening Project (DVSP) was a collaborative effort between the Center for Child and Family Health, the Center for Child and Family Policy of Duke University, and six North Carolina domestic violence shelters which served as pilot sites. The project was funded jointly by The Duke Endowment and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The pilot project took place between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2006. The purpose of the pilot project was to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a training protocol that improves the capacities of domestic violence shelter staff to screen, intervene, and refer child shelter residents experiencing distress related to their exposure to violence and other adverse events, go to http://www.childandfamilypolicy.duke.edu/~Final_Report.pdf