Describes the results of a study of a school-based mental health program for Latino students who have experienced violence and developed trauma-related mental health problems, such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Students in third through eighth grades from nine schools who had trauma-related disorders were evaluated after receiving an intervention or placement on a waitlist. The intervention was the Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) administered by master’s-level school psychiatric social workers and employees of the school district. The CBITS intervention demonstrated some reduction of depression and PTSD and suggested that mental health programs can be used by school clinicians to treat children. The application of guideline-based trauma care in community settings may provide a method for meeting the high need for mental health services in underserved populations. (IP)
