Assistant Professor Nev Jones will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming Washington Behavioral Health Conference on June 16th. This virtual event will highlight 35 workshops, with tracks focusing on recovery & resiliency, race and equity in behavioral health, housing & housing supports, corrections & mental health, services and partnerships, and more. Register here.

Professor Valire Copeland spoke to the New Pittsburgh Courier about autism in the Black community-from recognizing the early signs to being an advocate for your child. Dr Copeland adds, "One of the simplest and most profound things you can do is to be accepting of people in the Black community who have autism - and their family members/caregivers. We all want to be accepted and loved, starting with where we live."

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Even hallucination, an ostensibly simpler category, may cover multiple distinct experiences. Nev Jones, a Pitt assistant professor of social work who herself has direct experience of psychosis, has found in her research that “auditory” hallucinations aren’t necessarily as auditory as people assume. In a 2015 paper, she and her colleagues reported that under half of people with auditory hallucinations actually experience them as voices. For others, they more closely resemble thoughts than sounds. The mistaken assumption that these hallucinations involve sound, Jones says, could lead neuroscience awry. Read more in WIRED.

Pitt’s Center for Race and Social Problems (CRSP) once again collaborated with the African American Strategic Partnership (AASP) last Tuesday for their ongoing speaker series. The latest webinar event focused on the history and power behind the African American vote and voice in the fight for racial justice and featured Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina state representative, current lawyer and political analyst. Read more in The Pitt News and the University Times.

MSW alumna Anette Nance started a new role as the District Office Director for the 24th Legislative District for State Representative Martell Covington.

Beginning in July, many Somerset County Children & Youth Services caseworkers will be able to earn up to $24,000 in tuition reimbursement for their service. The program is part of a broader, ongoing effort by Somerset County officials to retain and recruit more workers in the field, which has been among the hardest-hit nationwide by retirements and departures while caseloads have spiked. The county stakeholders group, which will also include a member of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work, is also exploring workforce development programs that could allow employees to bolster their resumes to enable them to climb the CYS ladder as new jobs come available. Read more in the Tribune-Democrat.