Since 2004, CCR's mission has evolved alongside a growing national understanding of children's mental health. I'm so proud that CCR has played a pivotal role in raising awareness and developing solutions to address the mental health needs of children in every community and lifting up the vital role schools play, while acknowledging that schools alone cannot solve this complex problem. 

Twenty years ago, the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Act called for schools to be part of addressing the mental health of students. In response, CCR started as a modest, grant-funded research project to explore the most effective models for supporting students' mental well-being within the school system.

In the early days of CCR, we worked exclusively with Chicago Public Schools (CPS). We tested two approaches: intensive, school-embedded intervention and a consultation model to build school capacity and leverage community partnership. This early work, funded by the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation, focused on crucial questions: how to effectively train teachers in social-emotional learning (SEL) and classroom management techniques, how to identify students needing support, and how to deliver effective small-group interventions in schools. 

Both models proved successful, enhancing teacher confidence and improving student outcomes. However, building school capacity and partnering with community organizations proved more sustainable and scalable. Based on that finding, we have focused on developing sustainable and scalable models of evidence-based interventions that are implemented by school and community clinicians and educators.

After ten years of impact, and thanks to a generous grant by the Steans Family Foundation, we expanded our reach into suburban and rural communities and grew our team from six to more than 25 professionals. We also expanded our focus beyond K-12 school, reaching into early childhood centers and out-of-school time settings. This evolution has enabled us to reach a more diverse work force and continue our goal of enhancing the number of adults in each child or young person’s life who can support them through stress and adversity; and encourage them to build on their strengths to thrive.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In this time of chaos, high stress and uncertainty, we were well-positioned to scale CCR’s evidence-informed, trauma responsive models and programs to educators and school clinicians across the state. Using federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) dollars initially, and now advocating for State dollars, we created REACH (Resilience Education to Advance Community Healing) in partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education, Partnership for Resilience, Stress and Trauma Treatment Center, and regional SEL Hubs. REACH is now in more than 900 schools across the state and next year will expand further in scope and scale.

Our sustainable model has made a substantial impact in Illinois and is now influencing national approaches, including federal grants and partnerships with the National Center for Safe Supportive Schools and National Office of Head Start to share our best practices, evaluate approaches, and contribute to a more comprehensive, innovative, and equitable system of care for all children. Locally, our advocacy efforts have resulted in enhanced investment and alignment of policies across state departments to support an ecosystem which centers the wellness of children and communities.

The last 20 years have been an incredible journey of learnings, wonderings and impact. I am grateful to the donors and partners who make our work possible. I am in awe every day of the CCR team who bring passion, expertise, curiosity and kindness to our cause.

I’m excited for what the next 20 years bring. At CCR, we will continue our team’s self-reflection, investigation and research into innovative and emerging best practices including shifting our models to reflect healing-centered principles. We will deepen our commitment to building a diverse workforce of practitioners, researchers, consultants and others who can build on the best practices of today, while charting new ways to respond to the mental health needs of our young people. Our commitment to building thriving children, families and communities is strong.

Wishing everyone a healthy 2025.

All the Best,

Colleen Cicchetti, PhD

Executive Director, Center for Childhood Resilience