Pitt's Office of Child Development Receives Funds to Evaluate Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Project for Female Adolescents

PITTSBURGH—James Eisenhower, chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, today presented representatives of Pitt's Office of Child Development (OCD) with a $199,998 grant to evaluate a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) project for female adolescents.

The evaluation is part of a statewide intervention program designed by Alternative Rehabilitative Communities Inc. of Harrisburg. Over a two-year period, female offenders ages 12-18 at six facilities across the state will be screened for possible symptoms of PTSD, including such intrusive memories of the trauma as nightmares or flashbacks, excessive "jumpiness," and emotional numbness. Girls meeting the criteria will participate for 15 weeks in small-group sessions with a trained facilitator. As many as 500 female offenders are expected to participate.

Pitt's OCD will evaluate the implementation of the treatment across sites and the response of the participants to treatment.

"One of our major goals at the commission is to improve the quality of the juvenile and criminal justice system," said Eisenhower, an experienced prosecutor who served in the Clinton Administration White House as an aide to the National Security Advisor. "This project will help to ensure that young female offenders receive the help they need to become productive members of society."

"The intervention is meant to impact the girls' attitudes around the trauma they have suffered and to help them integrate it into their lives in such a way that it directs them away from delinquent behaviors," added OCD Evaluation Manager Jennifer Pelkowski, who was on hand to accept the grant.

Many juvenile offenders have experienced or witnessed violence at some point in their lives. This evaluation will determine for what types of adolescents and under what circumstances PTSD intervention is most effective.

A second grant of $107,030 from the commission was presented today to representatives of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business. It will be used to analyze video preliminary arraignment systems across Pennsylvania.

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9/15/03/tmw