Violence Intervention Program

About VIP

The Violence Intervention Program (VIP) has been a one-stop shop for coordinated care of children and youth with experiences of trauma and abuse since the 1980s. We pioneered the medical hub model in the United States in 2004. VIP Community Mental Health Center (VIP-CMHC) is a community partner of the USC Chan Division and an LA County Department of Mental Health-contracted site serving diverse children and youth ranging from 0-25 years old with varying mental health diagnoses. It is the only clinic in Southern California providing specialized, evidence-based programs designed for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and their families.

Our occupational therapy team draws from various models and frames of reference to provide individual rehabilitation services, spearhead innovative group rehabilitation programs, lead psychoeducational activities and participate in the FASD Screening Clinic.

Individual Treatment

We collaborate with interdisciplinary providers across six different clinical service lines to provide individualized treatment to families, including:

• Birth to Five
  Strengthens relationships between young children and their caregivers, through addressing developmental and relational factors impacting growth, learning, and play.
• Traditional
  Supports school-aged children and transitional age youth to develop, restore or maintain skills needed to participate in meaningful activities.
• Outpatient Client Services
  Intensive services to help school-aged children and transitional age youth labeled with serious mental illness and/or experiencing complex needs due to histories of trauma/abuse.
• School-Based
  Helps students to build and enhance the organizational, motor, and sensory skills needed to participate and thrive in a school environment.
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
  Offers specialized evidence-based programs designed for children with FASD and their families.
• Alexis Project for LGBTQIA+ clients
  Medical, mental health and support services focusing on the unique needs of transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse individuals.

Group Programs

Our innovative group rehabilitation programs include:

• FASD Storytelling Group
  This 8-week program is focused on disability processing and community-building among children with FASD and their caregivers.
• Teen Friendships & Dating Program (Adapted from the University of Alaska Anchorage Center for Human Development)
  This 10-week program promotes healthy relationship skills and provides accessible sexual health education, which has been adapted by our team for teens with neurodevelopmental disabilities, including FASD.
• Create Resilience: Teen Life Skills Group
  This 8-week program helps teens build adaptive life skills using the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 8 dimensions of wellness.
• Holistic Arts-Based Program (Adapted from Diana Coholic, PhD, RSW)
  This 10-week arts- and mindfulness-based program addresses social skills of school-aged children, and has been adapted by our team to include monitoring of sensory processing differences.

FASD Programs

Our team members serve as adjunct instructors teaching Session 3 (Sensory Processing and FASD) of the Triumph Parenting Class, a 6-week course designed to provide foundational psychoeducation to caregivers of children with FASD. We also collaborate with Families Moving Forward specialists to provide individualized collateral support to caregivers of children with FASD.

Assessment

Our occupational therapists are available during a weekly FASD Screening Clinic to support the assessment and diagnostic processes for children and youth with suspected FASD.

USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy

1540 Alcazar Street, CHP 133, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9003

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) degree program (cost of attendance) is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE®) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The USC entry-level master’s degree program (cost of attendance) is in Accreditation–Inactive status by ACOTE®. View our program’s ACOTE® standards public data. ACOTE® c/o the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org.

Professional program graduates are eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®), nbcot.org. Program results from the NBCOT can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.