Removing Roadblocks to
Trauma-Based Care
New DMV-based nonprofit focuses on children and families
seeking mental health services
H igh costs no longer need to be a
roadblock to families in search of
trauma-based care.

TRUE Center, a nonprofit providing inter-
vention and prevention services for children,
will offer affordable mental health services,
as well as education and training to commu-
nity members and professionals.

“It has felt like there’s such a dispar-
ity,” says Stephanie Wolf, a psychologist
who started the nonprofit with four other
mental health professionals she con-
nected with during clinical work at a child
advocacy center.

They noticed in their work that families
were discontinuing treatment because they
could not afford it, could not make sched-
uled appointment times or had needs that
went beyond one type of trauma.

“Many kids, especially underserved kids,
tend to have multiple traumas,” Wolf says.

“And the more traumas they have, and the
more—what we call adverse experiences
—they have, then the worse the outcomes
are. Not being able to address all of them
to avoid children slipping through the cracks
while also making the same services acces-
sible to all.

At one point, almost half of the chil-
dren in Washington, D.C. had experienced
trauma—47.1%, according to survey results
from the National Survey of Children’s
Health released in 2016.

Although the numbers have gone down
since then—they were at 38.8% in the 2019-
2020 survey results—they are still high.

The model used at TRUE involves
sliding-scale fees based on families’
current financial situations and gross house-
hold incomes.

Renee DeBoard-Lucas, a psychologist and
another founder of TRUE Center, encour-
ages families to pay a small amount—even
$5. Research shows that investment keeps
Stephanie Wolf
patients coming back.

But no one will be turned away if they
can’t pay anything—and no one will be
together is a real disadvantage.”
TRUE—which stands for Trauma, turned away for making too much either,
Resilience, Understanding and Education— she explains.

“The idea is that people who don’t have
will address trauma more broadly, seeking
2 Washington FAMILY SEPTEMBER 2022
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CO-FOUNDER PHOTOS: PROVIDED
BY LINDSAY C. VANASDALAN



the financial resources will be able to access
it as much as somebody who could pay out of
pocket,” DeBoard-Lucas says.

TRUE will have clinicians on hand who
specialize in time-limited treatments—
typically between 12 to 20 weeks—giving
families a good idea of treatment length.

“We want them to feel well as soon as they
can,” DeBoard-Lucas says, adding that those
treatment plans are also flexible to exten-
sions. No family needs to worry about not
finishing a treatment plan in a limited time.

One example, Wolf notes, is Child and
Family Traumatic Stress Intervention, cre-
ated in Yale University’s Child Study Center,
which focuses on identifying symptoms and
finding coping strategies within the first
three months after a trauma. If providers can
reduce the top two or three symptoms, it’s
less likely other symptoms will develop into
something more severe such as PTSD.

TRUE will also provide training to schools,
other providers who do not specialize in
treatment of trauma, families and commu-
nity members.

“We find that a lot of families will have
questions about ‘what’s typical?’ ‘My child
does not need treatment, or that other ways
exist to respond soon after the trauma that
will make treatment less likely, she explains.

The training can also equip mental health
professionals to treat more patients, increas-
ing accessibility at other treatment centers.

“We want to help the whole community be
advocates for kids,” DeBoard-Lucas says.

The center will be open for telehealth
appointments this fall. The team also hopes
to be able to offer trainings via Zoom and
community centers down the road. A phys-
ical location is slated for Washington, D.C.

Collectively, the five founders are licensed
to see patients in Maryland, Washington and
Virginia, and TRUE will also be accepting
professional volunteers who can donate a
few hours of service to the team. Last spring,
the founders were fundraising through
donations and planing to seek sponsorships
and grants to supplement operational costs
Renee DeBoard-Lucas
and hire employees.

No insurance is required for treatment at
is feeling more irritable. My child is having TRUE Center, but DeBoard-Lucas says she
a hard time sleeping. Is that typical after a plans to accept Medicaid and limited insur-
ance plans in the future.

trauma?’” DeBoard-Lucas says.

To donate, visit truetraumacenter.org. T
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