Training Programs for Community Providers – UCLA Division of Population Behavioral Health

The UCLA DPBH provides a continuum of trauma-informed resilience enhancing curricula to support a population-level implementation of evidence-based and community-supported prevention practices across services and ecosystems to meet children and families where they live.

The Training Institute, has extensive experience working with families and family systems and works collaboratively with agencies, professionals and clinicians to support strengths-based and family-centered approaches to care. In addition to training and professional development around creating trauma and resilience informed environments and working with children and families, the institute offers training in multiple evidence-based models.

Evidence-based Interventions

FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress)

FOCUS teaches key skills to support youth and family resilience. This training is highly interactive and prepares clinicians to deliver resilience practices in a variety of settings.

The FOCUS Resilience Curriculum provides group skill-building for preschool, elementary, middle, and high school-aged youth. The curriculum consists of nine interactive sessions to help youth learn new skills to overcome common challenges.

FOCUS for Families consists of eight skill-building modules that help families learn to apply resilience skills while managing the stressors related to their unique family challenges.

FOCUS for Early Childhood emphasizes positive parent-child interactions, caregiver reflective functioning, early development, learning, and self-expression through play and behavior management.

Learn more about FOCUS, its development and implementation with military families.

SEEDS Professional Development (SEEDS PD)

SEEDS (Strategies for Enhancing Early Developmental Success) PD is a trauma-informed professional development program designed for early childhood professionals (working with children ages 0-6). It includes six 3-hour sessions on strategies to build and nurture relationships with children, support children’s development of self-regulation skills, and strengthen relationships with parents and caregivers.

STRIVE

STRIVE (Support to Reunite, Involve and Value Each Other) is a family-based intervention intended to reduce sexual risk behaviors, substance use, and conduct behaviors. The intervention is designed to improve family functioning, reduce family conflict, and build problem solving, negotiation and coping skills. The intervention is grounded in cognitive-behavioral and family-systems theories and stresses the importance of establishing a positive family climate. STRIVE is delivered to each family individually through a series of five interactive, semi-structured sessions.

Train the Trainer, Technical Support and Coaching

Master Trainers are available to support ongoing capacity building for the FOCUS model through a train the trainer model which includes coaching through online learning communities and virtual technical support.

Training Community Members, Peer Navigators, and Providers

FOCUS Peer Resilience Skills Training

Provides peer navigators and other professionals with education and strategies for connecting with family members and nurturing a professional relationship with them. The training also provides instruction on how to teach simple skill-based strategies in the areas of emotion regulation, problem-solving, and goal setting. This training is designed to improve peers’ ability to build trust while providing simple-to-use tools to foster strong family bonds and build social support

Educational Workshops

The Division provides workshops for professionals and community members covering a specific topic, such as maintaining wellbeing, developing trauma and resilience informed systems, and creating inclusive and respectful environments. Providers are trained in the core components and best practices for a given topic, including relevant psychoeducation to apply the strategies to various audiences. Community members gain skills and strategies that they can incorporate into their routines.

Resources to Support Family and Youth Resilience

The Resilience Check-in

A web-based assessment tool that can score and interpret student results in real-time. It assesses students for a range of issues such as where they go for medical services, if they’ve sought counseling, protective behavioral symptoms, screen for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other questions regarding school climate and experience. Students complete the check-in on a tablet or computer in a classroom. If a student flags for safety issues or potential PTSD symptoms, the LAUSD SMH Psychiatric Social Worker is notified and the student is assessed further and screened using the WCU.

The Wellness Check-up

A web-based screening tool used by licensed clinicians to assess for specific student behavioral health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, trauma and more. A student is first identified for WCU eligibility via the RCI results or by referral from the clinician. Once a student received parental consent, they take the WCU and the results are scored and interpreted in real-time and immediately sent to the clinician. The Clinician then begins the check up nterview and can walk through the results with the student and set a plan for care services.

FOCUS Resilience Check-In (Family Assessment and Feedback Tool)

The FOCUS Resilience Check-in is an innovative assessment platform created by the UCLA Division of Population Behavioral Health. It offers patient-centric, web-based behavioral health assessment screening and tracking, using psychometrically validated behavioral health measures. Standardized measures are strategically chosen by the UCLA team to assess for areas of family or couple strength and potential areas of growth. Parents and children complete family assessment with ease on a tablet computer or other web-enabled device, and Providers offer real-time feedback.

FOCUS On the Go!

FOCUS On the Go! is an educational game app developed by the UCLA Nathanson Family Resilience Center that helps families manage when faced with common challenges. Parents, adolescents, and kids can play Bear Chill, Feeling Finder, Comic Creator, and Bear Necessities games to practice family skills, such as identifying emotions, solving problems, and improving communication. The most recent version of the application was developed as part of a collaboration between the UCLA Nathanson Family Resilience Center and UCLA Center for Child Anxiety Resilience Education and Support (CARES).

FOCUS on Foster Families

FOCUS on Foster Families is an interactive mobile app and web based portal designed to support foster youth and their caregivers. Through candid video interviews and online tools, FOCUS on Foster Families helps users improve their skills related to communication, emotional regulation, problem solving, and goal setting.

FOCUS Providers and Agencies

Access a list of certified providers and agencies implementing FOCUS.

Find a FOCUS Provider

Ongoing Research, Implementation and Adaptations

Division faculty have published articles on the efficacy, adaptation and implementation of FOCUS and related programming. Read more

UCLA Division of Population Behavioral Health Partner Organizations

Through ongoing partnerships with local, state, and national organizations the UCLA DPBH provides in-person and on-line education to state and national communities regarding military and veteran cultural competency, strategies for enhancing military family resilience, and key resources for military/veteran families. We have developed a robust on-line learning center, and provide curriculum development and training roll-outs for community providers and service agencies:

Learn more about ways the division supports an integrated health care model and access information about training programs for providers working with military and veteran families.