Hillsborough County's 13th Judicial Circuit Court received a SAMHSA drug court award of $972,300 for three years in partnership with the Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office (DACCO), the James A. Haley Veteran's Hospital, and the University of South Florida's Dept. of Mental Health Law and Policy. The new enhancement focuses specifically on Veteran's Treatment Court clients (males and females) who have substance abuse dependence requiring placement in residential treatment services, and who may have post-traumatic stress or another mental health disorder. Dr. Moore will oversee the evaluation component of the grant that will focus on both process measures and program outcomes and will include collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. Read more...

In 2007 the Florida Legislature created the Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Technical Assistance Center at USF (FMHI) within the Department of Mental Health, Law and Policy (Chapter 394.659). Mark Engelhardt, CJMHSA TA Center Director and PI is pleased to announce the expansion of the CJMHSA TA Center with an executed contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) Substance Abuse and Mental Health (SAMH) Office in the amount of $500,000 per year for the next five years. The Legislature appropriated $ 9 million in recurring funding for the CJMHSA Reinvestment Grant Program to expand services for persons with mental illness and substance use disorders involved in the criminal justice system. As a result, USF-FMHI (MHLP) provides Technical Assistance to county governments, managing entities, courts, law enforcement and SAMH providers to implement evidenced-based SAMH practices as a cross-systems approach. The TA Center has hired Karen Mann, MS as Program Director and Katelind Halldorsson, MA as a Social and Behavioral Researcher. Since July 1st, the Center has already provided TA to 12 counties in preparing applications for the new round of DCF CJMHSA Reinvestment Grant funding. USF works closely with DCF SAMH Program Office in Tallahassee to implement contemporary programs that have had a major impact on diverting Florida citizens from jail and assisting those for re-entry into the community who are in need of substance abuse and mental health treatment services. The Center is also responsible for submitting an annual Legislative Report on the progress of the Reinvestment Grant program.

Dr. Kyaien O. Conner from Mental Health Law and Policy was accepted as a 2016 Fellow in the highly competitive NIH funded GUMSHOE program. GUMSHOE (Grant writing Uncovered: Maximizing Strategies, Help, Opportunities, Experiences) is one of four professional development-training programs that is committed to increasing the number of people from diverse backgrounds successfully obtaining NIH grants. GUMSHOE links mentors from various disciplines who have highly successful track records in obtaining federal funding and grant writing coaches with early career faculty fellows who wish to prepare an application to National Institutes of Health to conduct research. GUMSHOE uses a model based on innovation, best practices, and convenes cohorts of exceptional junior faculty who have a track record of success to become successful in achieving that next level of federal funding. Dr. Conner will begin her training with this program during the last week of September in Detroit, Michigan.

Rosalyn Roker, a doctoral candidate in the School of Aging Studies, has been accepted into the Center for Research Education and Training Enhancement (CREATE) program at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU), College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, for Fall 2016-2018. CREATE is a national program, funded by the National Institutes of Health NIGMS Innovative Programs to Enhance Research Training (IPERT), for PhD students and early-career investigators seeking to increase the quality of their research education. CREATE's mission is to contribute in the creation of a robust and diverse workforce through effective and measurable career and professional development of its research fellows. Rosalyn's research focuses on disparities in mental health service utilization among community-residing older Blacks with serious mental illnesses. Drs. Victor Molinari (USF-School of Aging Studies) and Tamara Baker-Thomas (University of Kansas) are her co-major advisors

Congratulations to CBCS research administrators for being recognized at the 7th Annual TRAIN Award Luncheon on September 19, 2016.

USF TRAIN ambassadors are recognized for their exceptional contributions to the TRAIN mission:
CBCS Ambassadors: Julie Kuhn, Karen Mann, Elida Porro, Kimberly Read, Janet Reyes, Sheryl Stire

USF TRAIN Associates serving as course content specialists
CBCS Associates: Julie Kuhn, Karen Mann, Elida Porro (team leader), Kimberly Read, Janet Reyes (team leader), Sheryl Stire

USF TRAIN Associates serving as in-class resources, CRA-USF/Advanced Course
CBCS: Kimberly Read

USF TRAIN associates serving as lead instructors, CRA-USF/Advanced Course
CBCS: Julie Kuhn, Kimberly Read, Janet Reyes

TRAIN CRA-USF/Basic Inductees
CBCS: Raymond Budd, Karen Collier, Lorna Henley, Dana Stanley, Selecia Watson

TRAIN CRA-USF/Advanced Inductees
CBCS: Lorna Henley, Dana Stanley, Selecia Watson

Nominees for the Award for Excellence in Research Administration at USF
CBCS: Karen Mann, Janet Reyes

Khary Rigg, PhD, recently conducted a workshop at the National Prevention Network Conference with prevention specialists, policymakers, and clinicians about the drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly. This year's conference was held in Buffalo, NY and had as its theme "Advancing a Prevention Agenda in an Era of Health Systems Reform." His workshop included a brief history of MDMA, a discussion of what's driving MDMA's popularity, and an explanation of the link between MDMA and sexual risk taking. He also clarified some popular myths about MDMA, as well as provide attendees with information on what is currently being done to reduce MDMA use and the harm it causes to users. Dr. Rigg also shared some preliminary results from his recently completed project on MDMA use among African-Americans. His results show that initiation patterns, motivations, and use patterns contrast sharply with other groups of MDMA users suggesting interventions tailored specifically for African-Americans are needed. The workshop was profiled on the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids website.

As part of both Governor Scott's "Ready, Set, Work" Challenge and USF's "Fifty First Days", on September 14th the Department of Criminology hosted the "Criminology Career Cruise: Sailing the Seas of Success". Over 135 students (passengers) set sail on this exciting and educational adventure where they visited a variety of ports and participated in activities geared toward important steps in the career process. Passengers had their passports stamped as they visited each port, which included: choosing your destination (career exploration), what to pack (checklist of steps for career readiness/job search), message in a bottle (résumé tips), travel companions (networking), high roller casino - the high stakes of social media (considerations with social media and background checks), shore excursions (internships/volunteering), and captain's dinner (professional etiquette).

The USF School of Social Work is proud to celebrate its 40th Anniversary this year. This event will celebrate our 40 years of social work education at USF by honoring distinguished alumni that have impacted our School and communities we serve. There will be a panel of executive level community partners discussing trends in the future of social work. Funds raised at this event will be invested in the future of the USF School of Social Work by increasing the Social Work Student Scholarship Fund.
 

9:00am-10:30am
Sam and Martha Gibbons Alumni Center - Tampa Campus