Michael J. Leiber's (1956-2020) friends and colleagues are sad to announce his untimely passing. Mike should be best remembered for his desire to see the world become a better, fairer, and more equitable place. He believed in advancing knowledge to correct the many challenging social ills in society, and this concern for social justice guided his career. Mike grew up in and cherished his home town, Milwaukee. He earned his BA from Marquette University, and then entered the MA program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He transferred to The University at Albany, where he earned his MA and Ph.D. He held academic positions at the University of Northern Iowa (1989-2005), Virginia Commonwealth (2005-2010), and the University of South Florida (2010-2020), where he also served as Chair of the Department of Criminology (2011-2019). His research focused primarily on juvenile justice and disproportionate minority contact with the criminal justice system. He authored over 100 publications, including 76 articles and book chapters, and more than two-dozen government reports, and received more than $700k in grants and contracts. Mike was the recipient of several scholarly awards of which he was proud, including those from the Division of Minorities and Women (Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences), a lifetime achievement award from the Division on People of Color and Crime (American Society of Criminology), the W. E. B. Du Bois Award from the Western Society of Criminology, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University at Albany, among others. He served as editor of the Journal of Crime and Justice, and more recently, Justice Quarterly. He was often an invited speaker at programs and sessions sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC. Many knew Mike in a variety of capacities: distinguished scholar, colleague, mentor, and friend. In his personal life, he was a devoted animal lover to his multiple cats and "fidos." An avid sports fan, he loved his Green Bay Packers, along with the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks, and the Wisconsin Badgers. He maintained a pristine early 1970s Alfa Romeo Spider. He is survived by his beloved wife of eight years, Lana. Condolences may be sent to her at: 4946 Ebensburg Drive, Tampa, Florida 33647.

Debra Dobbs, PhD, attended the kick-off meeting in Brussels, Belgium on January 15, 2020 as a member of the Steering Committee for the Horizon 2020 EU funded project to develop methodologies and models for an active aging workforce. This 4 year project has 13 country partners and will provide opportunities for EU researchers and the School of Aging Studies faculty to collaborate on issues related to the aging workforce. For more information, check out this overview on Research and Innovation in the field of ICT for Health, Wellbeing & Ageing Well

The Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Technical Assistance Center (TAC) facilitated a Sequential Intercept Mapping (SIM) in Martin County on January 15 and 16, 2020. The SIM assessed Martin County's existing service systems and identified strengths and gaps for adults with mental health and substance use disorders in or at risk of entering the criminal justice system. More than twenty community partners ranging from judges, law enforcement, public defenders, treatment providers, and the school district participated in the SIM and identified several goals and recommendations for Martin County. The TAC will continue to provide assistance to Martin County as they work towards addressing priority areas related to development of a mobile crisis response team, enhancing case management services, expanding availability of treatment services, exploring development of behavioral health urgent care services, and increasing housing access for the SAMH target population. The mapping was facilitated by Abby Shockley, Katelind Halldorsson, and TAC consultant, Michele Saunders.

A newly created lab harnesses the strengths and skills of inter-professional teams at USF to study international and domestic issues related to gender-based violence and women's health. The lab emerged from the long-time involvement of Dr. Guitele Rahill and Dr. Manisha Joshi (School of Social Work) in Haiti's Cité Soleil and from outcomes of the Grand Challenges Explorations Round 20 Healthy Minds for Adolescent Mothers, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A recently discovered covert form of non-partner sexual violence against girls and women in Haiti's Cité Soleil slum that results in unplanned teen pregnancies, depression, anxiety, and trauma for teens experiencing such pregnancies, served as the current impetus for the lab. The inaugural meeting of the Lab was held on November 13, 2019. Click here to read the full story.

If you have news/events, or recent/upcoming publications you would like posted on the CBCS website and/or newsletter, please send the details and any attachments to CBCS Marketing. (CBCSMarketing@usf.edu)

Be sure to include all pertinent information in the format you would like to have posted (title, date, times, location, event description and contact information). Please provide your information in editable digital text format.

Articles included in the CBCS Communique may be disseminated to USF Media outlets and/or beyond.