Breaking the Cycle of Behavioral Health Problems and Crime Project

The Congressionally Selected Awards Program, authorized by the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8), helps improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, prevent or combat juvenile delinquency, and/or assist victims of crime (other than compensation). Funds should be used for the projects selected by Congress, in the amounts specified in the joint explanatory statement incorporated by reference into Pub. L. 111-8, and generally consistent with one or more of the following statutory purposes: improving the functioning of the criminal justice system, preventing or combating juvenile delinquency, or assisting victims of crime (other than compensation). Each of these purposes is framed using language drawn, respectively, from the former Byrne discretionary statute, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, the Victims of Crime Act, and the Violence Against Women Act. This project is authorized and funded through a line item in the FY 09 Congressional Budget and by the joint explanatory statement that is incorporated by reference into the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations Act.

The University of Connecticut Health Center will use funds to conduct a study that will extend the Breaking the Cycle project's first three randomized clinical trial studies by testing the efficacy of an emotion regulation psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for military men returning from service in Afghanistan (Operation Emerging Freedom, OEF) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF) recruited from the Veteran Administration Connecticut Healthcare System and other community sites. Participants also must be at risk for aggression, mentally able to provide valid consent, not imminently suicidal or currently abusing alcohol, and not in inpatient psychiatric or substance abuse treatment in the past month. The goal is to reduce PTSD symptom severity to enhance OEF/OIF military returnees' overall adjustment, but may specifically reduce their risk of causing harm to others and incurring criminal charges or incarceration for those who are experiencing emotional dysregulation involving problematic anger or hostility.

NCA/NCF