MHLP professors Amber Gum and Larry Schonfeld were recently awarded a two-year grant from the Retirement Research Foundation. Working closely with the Senior Connection Center (SCC), the five-county Area Agency on Aging for the west-central Florida region, they will conduct data analyses and qualitative interviews to determine outcomes and risk factors for older adults screened by the SCC who receive aging services or are placed on waiting lists. Other collaborators include Co-Investigators Kyaien Conner (MHLP) and Kevin Kip (Public Health), consultant Ohad Green (Oxford University), MHLP's Policy and Services Research Data Center, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, and the National Association for Area Agencies on Aging. The team anticipates that findings will inform future research and policy related to screening, prioritizing, and intervening with older adults and family caregivers to prevent adverse outcomes and enhance well-being.

Jim Winarski M.S.W. of the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy has been awarded contracts through Florida's Department of Children and Families to provide training and technical assistance for the Recovery Oriented System of Care (ROSC) initiative. ROSC is designed for organizing and coordinating multiple services, supports and systems, and supports person centered, self-directed approaches to services as part of a process of system transformation.

Florida is using the Self-Assessment Planning Tool for Implementing Recovery-Oriented Services (SAPT): Version 2.0 as the framework to support ROSC implementation at all of its inpatient mental health facilities and in community behavioral health agencies working in the jurisdiction of three managing entities, with plans for eventual statewide implementation. Mr. Winarski developed the SAPT at the University of South Florida (USF) Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI) under contract to Florida's Medicaid authority, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). It includes a survey and implementation guide.

Michelle Bourgeois, PhD, CCC-SLP, was awarded fellow status by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) by unanimous approval by the GSA Council on May 8, 2019. Dr. Bourgeois will also be honored at the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting, November 13-17, 2019, in Austin, TX with special recognition at the GSA Fellows and International Reception.

Dr. Christina Dillahunt-Aspillaga (CFS-RMHC) and colleagues will be presenting November 7th at the 96th Annual ACRM Conference: Progress in Rehabilitation Research in Chicago for a special symposium focused on variations on patient-centered approaches to community reintegration for military populations. This presentation includes treatment implications and practice guidelines which may be beneficial to in-service provision and rehabilitation planning. More info...

The event gathers over 5,000 behavior analysts from all over the world; typically, more than 50 countries are represented. Read more...

Drs. Sarah Bloom and Andrew Samaha recently received notice of their top downloaded journal articles for Behavioral Interventions and Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Read more...

MHLP will be hosting its 2019 Continuing Education Forensic Training Series for Mental Health Professionals in early August. Instruction in forensic evaluation of adults and juveniles involved in the legal system is complemented with focused training on assessing and managing patients' risk for violence in acute long-term care settings. The Forensic Evaluation and Juvenile Justice training will take place from August 12 - 13, 2019. The Florida Adult Forensic Examiner Training will be held from August 15 - 17, 2019. Both training sessions will be held in the USF Gibbons Alumni Center- Traditions Hall. For more information, visit the website(s) above or email CBCSMarketing@usf.edu

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