About

About Project ASSIST

Project ASSIST reimagines how to improve the child-serving workforce and increase service capacity by helping trainers upskill their skillset with advanced training approaches, mentorship, and community building among trauma-informed trainers. By using innovative pedagogies such as Problem Based Learning-Simulations (PBL-S) and best practices in implementation science and mentorship, Project ASSIST offers tangible opportunities for trainers to enhance their own training skills to ultimately not only improve the quality of services offered to children and families but also increase access to these services for vulnerable communities.

Values and Goals

Broaden access to trauma-informed care for youth by increasing child-serving professionals’ access to competent trauma-informed trainers

Improve training skills and resources for trainers so that the child-serving workforce will provide more skillful and sustained trauma-informed care

Support and sustain trainers to meet the child-serving system’s demand for trauma-informed training

Project ASSIST Impact and Outcomes

Over the course of the grant cycle (2021-2026), the Project ASSIST team will

Train 200 trainers via Trainer Enrichment Learning Communities focused on trainer confidence, competence, and authenticity
Equip 80 new FORECAST Problem-Based Learning Simulation facilitators nationally
Recruit at least 60 trainers from underrepresented minority groups and engage them in targeted mentorship
Support trainers by fostering connection and collaboration through four Communities of Practice: Evaluation, Engaging Adult Learners, Simulation Facilitation, and Equity within Training
Partner with subject matter experts and multidisciplinary teams to develop 10 new trauma-informed simulations for PBL-S learning via our Simulation Studio
Connect individuals and communities with trauma-informed trainers via our Trainer Directory
Curate a free trauma-informed Resource Repository for trainers and trainees alike
Project ASSIST trainers will reach 39,000 workforce trainees nationally!

Project ASSIST (Access, Skills and Support for Implementation Science in Trauma-informed Training) is a federally funded program of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMSHA). Awarded to the St. Louis Children’s Advocacy Center (STL CAC) and housed at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), Project ASSIST partners with experts in the child-serving field at the University of Illinois-Springfield (UIS) and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU).