FAQ - The Consultation Center

The Consultation Center is a university-based, community organization that conducts community-based research and offers a range of services and training to individuals, organizations, schools, companies, and governmental agencies throughout Connecticut, the U.S. and internationally. The Center’s mission is to promote health and wellness, prevent mental health and substance abuse problems, and enhance equity and social justice. Since its inception in 1976, the Center has been a collaborative endeavor of the Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, the Connecticut Mental Health Center and The Consultation Center, Inc. (a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization).

Center staff includes a combination of Yale faculty and staff, as well as staff from The Consultation Center, Inc. We have expertise in a wide array of areas including training, consultation, program and service system evaluation, research, professional development, community education, child and youth development, parenting, workplace wellness and targeted programming for adults, elder supports and services, substance abuse and its prevention, trauma, family and community violence, child maltreatment, community programs for formerly incarcerated youth and adults, and community and systems development. Our work draws upon multiple perspectives from the disciplines of psychology, social work, public health, psychiatry, education, sociology, management, and administration.

Our work takes place in a variety of settings, including community organizations, schools, government agencies, health care settings, companies, universities, childcare agencies, senior centers, and neighborhood organizations.

Below are examples of several current projects:

• Program and System Service Evaluation
  Over the past 25 years, a team at The Consultation Center has partnered with states to evaluate their systems of care for children and adults with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties. These evaluation efforts have included the establishment of state-wide performance indicator systems, longitudinal outcome studies, community-based participatory research efforts in which Center faculty have partnered with service recipients to provide guidance to decision makers, and evaluations of specific program components. Center faculty and staff have received recognition from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for their work in this area.
• The Yale-Bridgeport GEAR UP Partnership
  This program can often be the deciding factor that keeps students from dropping out of high school. GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a national initiative that began in 1999 with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Our program focuses on helping more than 2,800 students in Bridgeport, providing them with the skills and aspirations they need to graduate from high school and succeed in a productive, post-secondary educational option of their choice. The funding for this project targets students who are in the graduating classes of 2014 and 2017 and will follow those students from seventh grade through their freshman year in college.
• Youth Development Training & Resource Center (YDTRC)
  YDTRC is a youth services organization that will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2014. The organization primarily serves as a capacity building intermediary for individuals, programs, organizations, networks and funders. YDTRC offers special projects that focus on youth engagement and youth leadership development related to serious issues impacting young people such as police relations, alcohol and drugs and violence prevention.
• The Rhode Island Data Analytic Center
  This program involves a public-academic partnership between the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families and Yale University, and focuses on the evaluation of services for children, adolescents, and families. The Data Analytic Center faculty also conduct field research and administrative studies to answer critical questions about services that help inform best practices, service enhancement, and policy development. A number of reports and documents produced through the Data Analytic Center can be found here: http://www.dcyf.ri.gov/data_evaluation.php.
• Family Violence Program
  For nearly three decades, the Center has been a statewide leader in offering violence prevention services to adult offenders and victims of domestic violence. The Center focuses on understanding how women’s daily lives are impacted by the traumas they have been through, which can result in PTSD and/or substance abuse. By working collaboratively with The Greater New Haven Domestic Violence Task Force, Center staff aim to tackle these issues as a community. Each year, they also lead ongoing groups for male and female offenders, including individuals who are monolingual Spanish speaking. The Center’s research will ultimately lead to the development of programs for victims in the community.

The Consultation Center was established in 1976 as part of the West Haven Mental Health Clinic at the Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC). The Consultation Center, Inc. was incorporated in 1978. In 1980, the Center became a collaborative endeavor of Yale, CMHC, and TCC, Inc.

The Center receives funding from many sources – federal, state, private and fee for service. Funding support received over the past several years has come from the following sources:

Federal: Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Dept. of Education (DOE).

State and Regional: Agency on Aging of South Central CT (AASCC), Bridgeport Board of Education, CT Dept. of Children and Families (DCF), CT Dept. of Higher Education (DHE), CT Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Services (DMHAS), CT Dept. of Public Health (DPH), CT Office of Policy & Management (OPM), City of New Haven, City of Philadelphia, Child Health and Development Institute of CT (CHDI), Connecticut Judicial Branch Court Support Services Div. (CSSD), Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), University of Connecticut.

Private: Carolyn Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children’s Foundation of Connecticut, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Connecticut Health Foundation, Fairfield County Community Foundation, Mural Arts Associates, New Alliance Foundation, Partnership for Strong Communities, Perrin Family Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Tauck Family Foundation, Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, United Illuminating Company, United Way of Greater New Haven, United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, W.C. Graustein Memorial Fund.