Culturally Responsive Trauma Informed Care: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Black Young Adult Military Connected Dependents with the Military's Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Service

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences of Black young adult military-connected dependents and their involvement with the military’s child and adolescent behavioral health service while growing up in the military. This study is steered by resiliency and understanding of culturally competent and trauma-informed care. In this study participants will be chosen by utilizing criterion sampling which will allow participants to be selected based on specified criteria of identifying as Black, growing up in the military lifestyle, having a parent in the military while they were under the age of 18, and having encounters with the military’s behavioral health system. The process of collecting data will consist of questionnaires, one-on-one interviews, and a focus group. Growing up in the military lifestyle may often be viewed as an experience unlike any other. These experiences are more accredited with the multiple moves, enrollment in multiple schools, the disruption of family and community, and the understanding of what it means to have a parent deploy to a war zone or must leave for a significant number of days at any given time. Such events can contribute to a child’s involvement with the military’s child and adolescent behavioral health service. Not only are these events significant to a child’s mental health but it could be a combination of other factors including genetics helping to exasperate a child’s experience with mental health. While the experience for all military children could be overwhelming, it is known that Black individuals continue to encounter health disparities in any healthcare system and the behavioral health system is no different. It is necessary to understand the past experiences of this population to aid in furthering research, address cultural competence, and identify trauma-informed care.