# Penn State University's Translational Center for Child Maltreatment Studies (TCCMS)

> **NIH NIH P50** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2024 · $1,771,000

## Abstract

OVERALL - SPECIFIC AIMS
 Child maltreatment (CM) (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and child neglect) is a pervasive public health
problem with ~600,000 substantiated incidents annually, 12.5% of US children experiencing CM by age 18,
and an annual incident economic burden of $428B. More than 32% of US children will have a Child Protective
Service (CPS) report by age 12 and 3.5M children are 'screened in' for CPS investigations each year, with a
growing body of research showing that even an investigation can have deleterious impacts on child
development. CM investigations are especially ubiquitous for racially minoritized youth. Survivors are at high
risk myriad deleterious psychosocial and health outcomes thus perpetuating racial disparities. Despite major
policy initiatives, CM rates have not appreciably fluctuated in over two decades and there are recent increases
in CM referrals, investigations, and infant deaths attributed to CM. The proposed Translational Center for Child
Maltreatment Studies (TCCMS) renewal (Phase 2) will capitalize on the successes of Phase 1 by providing
continuity in the cutting-edge, observational cohort study (Project 1) to, in turn, fill a critical gap in CM
research—namely, variable pathways into and through the transition to adulthood (T2A). A new project
extends promising models of practice to expand access to high-quality forensic evaluations for suspected CM
(Project 2). The Dissemination and Outreach Core (DOC) will continue practice and policy-relevant community-
engaged research with established county, state, and federal partners, translate TCCMS products into
workable, scalable solutions, and disseminate these products—through a comprehensive communications plan
designed by the Resource Core—to the world. The Admin Core will elevate the TCCMS-developed primary
prevention efforts and its Research to Policy Collaboration (RPC) model to national prominence, facilitating
high-level exposure of TCCMS products and solutions to mobilize larger public investment in prevention and
intervention. The TCCMS has three broad Aims: Aim A—continue high quality, translational research that
directly impacts youth who encounter the protective service system; Aim B—continue hallmark community-
engaged partnerships and, through state-of-the-art communications, disseminate knowledge, strategies, and
solutions that reduce disparities and better-protect children; Aim C—continue to serve as a national resource
for scaffolding science to impact policy, for the primary prevention of CM, and for nurturing the next generation
in cutting-edge science and translation. Through these Aims, the TCCMS will continue to operate as THE
premier center where transdisciplinary scientists work in conjunction with practitioners and policy makers to
resource, conduct, and disseminate impactful new science that can change health and developmental
trajectories for survivors, mobilize public investment in CM prevention and access to intervention, accelerat...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10857248
- **Project number:** 5P50HD089922-07
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTIAN M CONNELL
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,771,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-04-20 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10857248

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10857248, Penn State University's Translational Center for Child Maltreatment Studies (TCCMS) (5P50HD089922-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10857248. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*