Major Grant Empowers All Star Children’s Foundation to Collaborate
With John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in Groundbreaking Program
All Star Children’s Foundation takes a giant step closer to offering state-of the art therapeutic interventions for abused children as the result of a $1 million grant from Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.
(Sarasota, FL) All Star Children’s Foundation has taken a giant step closer to its goal of providing state-of-the-art treatment for childhood trauma based on the latest neural research. Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation recently awarded All Star a $1 million grant to help fund a partnership with Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (JHACH) in designing a groundbreaking new trauma-informed treatment program. This four-year grant will fund a director of pediatric psychological trauma and intervention at Johns Hopkins, train trauma-certified licensed therapists at All Star’s Sarasota campus, and support development, implementation and evaluation of therapeutic interventions for abused children.
Graci McGillicuddy, the co-founder and president of All Star, says that the importance of these interventions cannot be underestimated.
“Adverse childhood experiences are a major public health threat,” she says. “According to latest brain research, untreated early childhood trauma can have a lifetime impact. The good news is that early treatment gives traumatized children a chance to grow up into well-adjusted, high-functioning adults.”
Ideally, this treatment would be provided at a comprehensive center. That center would integrate trauma-sensitive principles (safety, trust, choice, empowerment and collaboration) throughout its physical environment, treatment programs and staff interactions.
That ideal is not a distant dream. Creating such a center is All Star’s goal.
All Star is building a “Campus of Caring,” which will include a center for trauma-focused clinical services. The facility will provide abused children, ages 0-18, with a nurturing, family-style home environment and comprehensive, trauma-sensitive treatment. Siblings will be kept together and parents and caregivers will also be offered a range of innovative services informed by the latest findings in neural research. The new campus will also be home to All Star’s community outreach program, which will serve children in the region’s child welfare system and their families on an outpatient basis. The campus is set for completion in late summer of 2018.
According to McGillicuddy, All Star will not only employ the latest research, it will help take that research forward. “We’ll be giving traumatized children the help they need,” she says. “But we’ll also be producing research on the most effective care for these children, while training the next generation of clinicians.” She adds that this program will differentiate All Star from any other foster care treatment program in the state of Florida.
The Barancik Foundation’s investment brings world-class talent from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital to Sarasota County to care for children in the community and begin to create a new medical model for treating trauma. McGillicuddy explains that a director of pediatric psychological trauma and intervention at the Mind Body Branch of the Institute of Brain Protective Services at Johns Hopkins will work with the All Star team. This combined effort will train trauma-certified licensed therapists and develop and evaluate trauma-based therapeutic interventions for abused children. These interventions will be available both on All Star’s Sarasota County campus and through All Star’s regional outreach program.
“This vital grant will allow our team to work in collaboration with the experts and researchers at Johns Hopkins,” says McGillicuddy. “We’ll join forces to design a program to heal childhood trauma employing the latest research in brain science and neuroplasticity.”
George Jallo, M.D., medical director of the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Institute for Brain Protection Sciences (IBPS) and clinical practice director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, says that the organization is “proud of our relationships with the All Star Children’s Foundation and the Barancik Foundation and the work we will do together for traumatized children.”
Teri A Hansen, Barancik Foundation’s president and CEO, adds that, “This program will set the gold standard in healing childhood trauma and developing children’s resiliency. We’ll be able to treat children and teens who would not have been helped otherwise. And that’s what really matters.”
For more information about All Star Children’s Foundation, visit www.allstarchildrensfoundation.org.
About the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation
The Charles and Margery Barancik family has long believed in the power of philanthropy to shape our world and enrich the lives of all people. It was the expression of this belief that led them in 2014 to establish the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation—a private, family foundation located in Sarasota, Florida. The Barancik Foundation creates initiatives and awards grants in Sarasota and beyond in the areas of education, humanitarian causes, arts and culture, the environment, and medical (research/resources).
About All Star Children’s Foundation
All Star Children’s Foundation, headquartered in Sarasota, FL, is building a state-of-the-art “Campus of Caring” that will include a center for trauma-focused clinical services and provide children, ages 0-18, who have been victimized by abuse, with a nurturing, family-style home environment and comprehensive, trauma-sensitive treatment. Developed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, this program will become the gold standard in healing childhood trauma and developing children’s skills necessary to build resiliency. For more information, visit www.allstarchildrensfoundation.org.
About Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg is a leader in children’s health care, combining a legacy of compassionate care focused solely on children since 1926 with the innovation and experience of one of the world’s leading health care systems. The 259-bed teaching hospital, ranked as a U.S. News & World Report Best Children’s Hospital, stands at the forefront of discovery, leading innovative research to cure and prevent childhood diseases while training the next generation of pediatric experts. With a network of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Outpatient Care centers and collaborative care provided by All Children’s Specialty Physicians at regional hospitals, Johns Hopkins All Children’s brings care closer to home. Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital consistently keeps the patient and family at the center of care while continuing to expand its mission in treatment, research, education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.HopkinsAllChildrens.org.
