LEAH JACOBS WILL EXPLORE POLICE PRACTICES AND DISPROPOTIONALITY

Assistant Professor Leah Jacob's National Institute of Justice-funded project Can Law Enforcement Training Address Racial and Ethnic Disproportionality? An Experimental Evaluation of Effective Youth Interactions will increase knowledge on policing practices and enhance efforts to promote racial equity by evaluating the impact of a unique law enforcement training program, Effective Youth Interactions, across 21 police departments in Contra Costa County, California. Effective Youth Interactions seeks to improve law enforcement officer-youth interactions, reduce youth entry into legal systems, and address racial and ethnic disproportionality in youth legal system involvement. Read more about her project here.

FACULTY WORK TO REDUCE DISPARITIES IN JUVENILE LEGAL SYSTEM

Professors Jeff Shook and & Sara Goodkind's National Institute of Justice-funded Caring Connections for Youth: Evaluation of a Countywide Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative to Reduce Racial/Ethnic Disparities will, in collaboration with Gwen’s Girls and the Black Girls Equity Alliance, evaluate the implementation and initial impact of a community-led, countywide pre-arrest juvenile diversion initiative - called Caring Connections for Youth (CC4Y) - intended to reduce disparities in referrals the juvenal legal system. CC4Y is a 24-hour centralized call center that provides triage and de-escalation guidance and connects young people and their families with community resources and support. Read more about their project here.

FACULTY TO PRESENT AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Drs. Moon, Jones, Wallace, and Durham will provide a half-day pre-training institute titled “Transformed by Renewing of Mind: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)-based and Spiritually Informed Strategies to Promote Mental Well-being” with Dr. Paula Powe in Psychiatry, senior pastors Rev. Dr. William R. Glaze and Rev. Dr. Jonathan Counts, along with doctoral student C. Bailey Nichols at the North American Association of Christians in Social Work (NACSW)’s 73rd Annual Convention. The Convention is being held in Pittsburgh, PA on November 9, 2023. The training was developed through the CHURCH (Congregations as Healers Uniting to Restore Community Health) project, a CBPR project focused on developing, implementing, and evaluating culturally tailored and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) based mental health training targeting Black faith leaders. NACSW is a non-profit Christian social work organization with a mission to equip its members to integrate Christian faith and professional social work practice. Members of NACSW represent a rich diversity of Christian denominations and traditions.  Read more about their session and register here.

NEV JONES TO EVALUATE AOT IMPACT

Assistant Professor Nev Jones is the co-PI with Bevin Croft of the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) of a recently awarded ($1 million) contract from the State of New York to evaluate the implementation and impact of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) in New York State. AOT refers to the involuntary commitment of individuals with serious mental illness to treatment in the community.  Among the explicit requirement of the contract are a careful investigation of the role of social and structural racism in the genesis of the racial disparities that have already been documented in prior evaluations. The project will commence January 1st, 2024.

MARLO PERRY TO HELP EVALUATE CHILD WELFARE WORKFORCE

Research Associate Professor in the Child Welfare Education and Research Programs Marlo Perry is PI on a new Administration on Children, Youth, and Families - Children's Bureau grant led by the University of California, Los Angeles to to establish, by cooperative agreement, a Quality Improvement Center on Workforce Analytics (QIC-WA). The QIC-WA will emphasize the development and evaluation of workforce analytics that inform worker recruitment, performance, and well-being and support workforce innovation and retention. Read more.

MOON RECEIVES K01 AWARD

Assistant Professor, Dr. Deborah Moon, has received a new investigator award (K01) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct the study titled: Connected through Coaching for Flourishing Families (CCFF) [Official title: Caregiver Relational Responsiveness (RR): An Understudied Fidelity Construct as a Mechanism to Increase Protective Factors Against Maltreatment]. The study is based on the larger Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) that Dr. Moon has been collaborating on with researchers at the Oho State University and Case Western Reserve University. In this study, Dr. Moon will examine the effects of parents’ relational engagement with family coaches on family protective outcomes for parents participating in a community-based maltreatment prevention program called the Family Success Network (FSN), which is being piloted in 3 rural counties in Ohio. 

• October 18, 2023: Supports for Part-Time Students. 12-1pm. RSVP here.

• October 24, 2023: Supports for LGBTQIA+ Students. 12:0-1:30pm. RSVP here.

• October 27, 2023: RISE-MH Works in Progress: Charles Jonassaint. 12-1pm. Please email kgreeno@pitt.edu for Zoom link.

• October 31, 2023: Supports for Religious/Spiritual Students. 12-1:30pm. RSVP here.

• November 1, 2023: MSW Virtual Information Session. 6-7:15pm. RSVP here.

• November 4, 2023: In-Person MSW Information Session and Open House. 9am-2pm. RSVP here.



For a complete listing of upcoming events please visit the

Pitt School of Social Work website