The Center for Youth Advocacy and Well-Being (CYAW) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is celebrating its 10-year anniversary of working in collaboration with community partners to provide services to young people with mental health and trauma-related needs who are at risk of entering the justice or child welfare systems.
In recognition of its decade of service to the Memphis community and in celebration of Children’s Mental Health Action Week, May 4-10, the CYAW is hosting Trauma Summit 2025 on Wednesday, May 7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Breath of Life Christian Center, 3795 Frayser-Raleigh Road.
This major community summit includes discussions, panels, and networking opportunities focused on action needed to create a lasting system change for at-risk youth in Memphis. Themed “That’s a WRAP” (wellness, resilience, action, and purpose), the summit is free and open to the public. RSVP here.
A panel discussion featuring Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell and Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon will be facilitated by Altha Stewart, MD, founder and director of the CYAW. The panelists will discuss the progress made and the challenges ahead in youth mental health. The city and county mayors have been invited to deliver welcoming remarks and present proclamations to the CYAW for its 10 years of impactful work.
The keynote speaker, Jeffrey Futtrell, DBA, is chairman and founder of Young Man University, Inc. (YMU). A former gang member, Dr. Futtrell uses his past experiences to keep young men from making the mistakes he did by using an integrated system that develops each young man spiritually, intellectually, physically, and emotionally. His talk will describe the results of the collaborative efforts of the state-funded pilot for a youth re-entry program between YMU and CYAW.
The CYAW was established in 2015 under the leadership of Dr. Stewart, who also is the senior associate dean for Community Health Engagement and director of the Division of Public and Community Psychiatry in the College of Medicine. Dr. Stewart serves as the president of the American Association for Community Psychiatry and was the first Black president of the American Psychiatric Association.
The CYAW is designed to deliver supportive trauma-informed services focused on the mental health needs of young people and their families. Specifically, the center makes referrals for youth in need of behavioral health and trauma-informed services to community partners.
Currently housed in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Health Science Center, the CYAW focuses on young people who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), trauma, or violence early in life that negatively influences their mental health or behavior and contributes to a cycle of violence.
The goal of the CYAW is to improve the health and well-being of youth and their families by coordinating services, supports, and opportunities to help them achieve positive outcomes and thrive in their homes and communities. The innovative programs help children experiencing challenges, such as chronic school absences, disciplinary issues, gang involvement, trauma exposure, and challenges with mental disorders or chronic medical conditions.
According to the center, over the past 10 years, it has:
- Built collaborative relationships with city, county, and state agency partners, educational and pediatric health care systems, and community-based organizations involved in designing and supporting behavioral health and trauma-informed systems for youth and their families.
- Designed the first youth re-entry program for Shelby County using available data on gaps in the mental health system serving justice-involved youth. This was accomplished in collaboration with the Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court.
- Hosted community events to provide educational opportunities to become better informed and more involved in working on issues for youth-related mental health, trauma, justice involvement, and challenges in school.
- Expanded interprofessional collaborations across the six colleges at UT Health Science Center, as well as with the University of Memphis, LeMoyne-Owen College, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and Christian Brothers University.
Throughout May, the center will host events related to children’s mental health.
On Friday, May 16, the center is hosting the 2025 Psychiatric-Advocacy Collaborative Teams Summit (PACTS). Titled “Bringing the Village to the Children: Convening the Helpers,” PACTS is co-hosted by the Tennessee Society of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. It will be held from 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m., at the Crosstown Concourse Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave. (Breakfast and lunch will be provided.)
The free event, which offers 5 CME/CEU credits, is aimed at child psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, community health care providers, nurses, nurse practitioners, fellows, residents, medical students, social workers, and anyone who works with children and families. Registration is available here.
Alicia Barnes, DO, MPH, who joined the leadership team of the CYAW in 2023 as the associate director, is leading the event. She is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Preventive Medicine, is the president of the Tennessee Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and serves on the executive council of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The 2025 PACTS seeks to unite medical professionals, families, social workers, educators, and child-serving entities to enhance mental health and well-being. The summit will feature a keynote on the theme of collective efforts, a youth voice panel, a system of care approach, and an address on empowering incarcerated marginalized youth through mental health conversations. Lunch will include a poster session providing participants with the opportunity to gain insights into the latest research conducted in the field of children’s mental health.
The goal is for participants to recognize the importance of collaborating with various stakeholders to enhance the identification, intervention, and support of at-risk children’s mental health. Other goals include developing strong interpersonal skills to effectively engage with children, understand their needs, and provide compassionate and appropriate support, and to explore techniques to actively involve families in the care process.