Child and adolescent psychiatry experts at UConn Health will use a $3 million federal grant to strengthen the network of care for Connecticut’s foster and adoptive families.
The five-year award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will position UConn Health to leverage its Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic to expand access to trauma-informed mental health services for children and families involved in foster care, adoption, and kinship care.
“Nearly all children in foster and adoptive care have experienced maltreatment, family separation, or both, and many have faced multiple forms of trauma over the course of their lives,” says UConn Health clinical psychologist Damion Grasso. “These experiences can affect emotional, behavioral, social, academic, and developmental functioning and, when left unaddressed, increase the risk for lifelong mental health and substance use problems.”
The funding will help establish the UConn Health Foster-Adoptive Clinical and Enrichment Services (FACES) Center. Grasso will co-direct the program with faculty colleagues Carolyn Greene, Rocio Chang, David FitzGerald, and Julian Ford, all clinical psychologists of national renown.
“With this grant, SAMHSA has recognized the tremendous expertise of Dr. Grasso and others in our child psychology group in assessing and treating childhood trauma,” says Dr. David Steffens, chair of UConn Health’s Department of Psychiatry. “This funding will enable the team to expand trauma-based care we provide to include services for those children and families involved in foster care and adoption not only in our area but across Connecticut.”
Grasso says Connecticut had nearly 2,900 children in foster care and more than 5,000 families raising children adopted through the child welfare system in fiscal 2025, and altogether more than 8,000 children across the state are living in foster, kinship, adoptive, or pre- and post-adoptive families, demonstrating a true need.
It’s a population shown to be more vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health concerns compared to peers in the general population, and trauma-related challenges can contribute to placement instability. Grasso says more than one in four children experience three or more placements in their first year in care, and those disruptions can make an already difficult situation more difficult, undermining healthy relationships, development, and long-term well-being.
“FACES will provide evidence-based screening, assessment, and treatment, caregiver support and training, and workforce development to address the effects of trauma, loss, and related mental health and substance use challenges,” Grasso says. “Over the five-year project, FACES aims to serve more than 4,100 foster and adoptive children and their caregivers, train 900 foster and adoptive parents, and strengthen the trauma-informed competencies of more than 600 behavioral health and community providers across Connecticut.”
Grasso says waitlists, workforce shortages, and a relative scarcity of providers trained in trauma, attachment, and foster-adoptive issues cause barriers to care. While only a fraction of children in the child welfare system receives behavioral health support and the specialized care they need, caregivers face their own challenges related to stress and access to resources, training, and support. But outcomes improve for both caregiver and child when caregivers have access to trauma-informed services, peer support, and effective parenting interventions.
“By expanding access to effective services, supporting caregivers, and strengthening the workforce that serves these families, we hope to help more children heal, thrive, and remain connected to the people who care about them,” Grasso says. “While we will be tracking numbers and measuring outcomes over this five-year period, true success would mean that a Connecticut foster or adoptive family that is struggling is aware of and can engage with our services to support child and parent mental health and family stability.”
This project is especially meaningful to Grasso, who has experienced the child welfare system both professionally and personally, as a foster and adoptive parent himself.
“What many people do not fully appreciate is how profoundly instability, neglect, abuse, loss, and disrupted attachments shape children’s lives,” he says. “These experiences do not simply contribute to mental health difficulties; they shape the way children come to see themselves, other people, and the world around them.
“Research consistently shows that even one stable, supportive adult relationship can be among the most powerful protective factors in a child’s life. Yet the systems we rely on to keep children safe often struggle to preserve the very relationships children need most. My hope for FACES is to help change that by bringing together the resources needed not only to keep families together, but to strengthen attachments, support caregivers, and ensure that children have caring adults they can count on for years to come.”
Learn more about child and adolescent psychiatry services at UConn Health.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA’s mission is to lead public health and service delivery efforts that promote mental health, prevent substance misuse, and provide treatments and supports to foster recovery while ensuring access and better outcomes for all.
