MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Department of Mental Health is preparing to launch a pilot program to better train providers in addressing child trauma, with hopes down the road of expanding the initiative to every provider that works with adolescents in the state.
“We know the degree to which we can address childhood trauma of any origin determines the child’s future mental health or overall educational success,” said ADMH Commissioner Kim Boswell, speaking Friday at an ADMH Board meeting.
“A lot of times we hear about children and their behavior, and that’s the problem in the classroom; well, part of the answer to that is to understand when a child is being triggered because of trauma, and where that behavior is coming from.”
The pilot project will see the ADMH work in tandem with Gateway, a Birmingham-based family and child services nonprofit, to provide training in what is known as Trauma Systems Therapy to ADMH leadership, which Boswell said would begin in a matter of weeks. Also a foster care provider for the Alabama Department of Human Resources, Gateway received a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to train its own staff in Trauma Systems Therapy.
“The model really is both a clinical model and an organizational model, and really where you have to start is having your leadership understanding trauma and how that impacts the behavior of kids,” Boswell said.
Under the pilot project, the ADMH will not only train its leadership in Trauma Systems Therapy, but infant and early childhood mental health consultants in First Class Pre-K, school-based mental health therapists, and public school mental health service coordinators.
While the agency had asked for $1 million from the state to fund the pilot project in the 2026 budget, Gov. Kay Ivey’s recommended budget did not include the request. Boswell told Alabama Daily News that despite the budget request not being included in Ivey’s budget, her agency would still move forward with the initiative.
“We didn’t get the $1 million in Education Trust Fund dollars; it is a one-time investment, and we feel strong enough about it that we’re just going to find the money to do it,” she told ADN. “Of all the things in this budget, the best investment that you could make in kids is that.”
To measure the success of the pilot project, Boswell told ADN that her agency would hope to see a decrease in relinquishments, which have placed a strain on Alabama’s child welfare system, an increase in the number of families willing to foster children, and an overall improvement in child mental wellbeing.
If successful, Boswell said she would ultimately like to see the initiative expanded to where every provider that interacts with children is trained in Trauma Systems Therapy.