Laura Kern, Research Assistant Professor, Child & Family Studies/FCIC
Enhancing family engagement in positive behavior interventions and supports (EFE-PBIS)
Enhancing Family Engagement in Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (EFE-PBIS) seeks to increase family engagement in Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS). PBIS is a multi-tiered framework that allows schools to address discipline preventively. Prior attempts to engage families in PBIS in schools have largely focused on passive family input. EFE-PBIS aims to increase family engagement and enhance cultural responsiveness by working with families collaboratively. Using a community-based participatory research approach, a virtual Learning Lab will be formed with PBIS school team and family members to adapt an existing Expectations Matrix, a key component of Tier One PBIS practices. Pre- and post- test surveys, examination of work product (e.g., expectations matrix), student disciplinary data, and focus group themes will be used to measure effectiveness. The results of the study will strengthen a grant proposal for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Development and Innovative Grant or Early Career Development Grant.

Linda Callejas, Research Assistant Professor, Child & Family Studies
Understanding the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on foster care services in the Florida panhandle
Child welfare systems in Florida have adapted policies and service delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is limited knowledge of the effects of these changes on families and on the system's ability to provide services that meet legal guidelines, ensure child safety and protect family rights. To understand the impact of these changes on families and on the system, we propose a rapid ethnographic assessment of child welfare services in Northwest Florida. The proposed mixed methods study will include interviews and focus groups to gain insights from families involved in reunification, child welfare providers and stakeholders, and foster parents who provide out-of-home care. The study will also include a comparative outcomes analysis to understand changes in child protection outcomes before and after the pandemic, and a policy review to assess formal guidance to child welfare agencies to understand the system's response to the pandemic throughout its evolution.

Lyndsay Boggess, Associate Professor, Criminology
Assessing the "stickiness" of involvement with the criminal justice system, pilot study
The American criminal justice system (CJS) is often described as a "revolving door," with individuals repeatedly cycling through it. Requirements imposed by the system itself (e.g., conditions of supervision, fines/fees) can perpetuate involvement with it. As part of a larger research project on the accumulation and duration of CJS contact, we propose a pilot study to interview justice-involved individuals on aspects of the CJS that hinder or facilitate efforts to end their justice-involvement. Pilot testing can assess the feasibility of our proposed recruitment and interview strategies and evaluate the efficacy and validity of our interview instrument. Ultimately, these qualitative interviews will provide richer details on where and how the CJS becomes sticky and will help develop a more nuanced understanding of how the CJS traps some individuals and not others and how this varies across race/ethnicity, gender, and the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender.

Mateus Santos, Assistant Professor, Criminology
Increasing employers' willingness to hire individuals with a criminal history
The United States has the world's highest incarceration rate, which has resulted in wide reaching detrimental effects on society. These effects are particularly burdensome for disadvantaged minorities who experience disproportionately high rates of incarceration, in addition to several negative consequences when they return to their communities with a criminal record. One such consequence is difficulty obtaining quality employment; a barrier to reentry which is exacerbated by the intersectionality of race and a criminal record (Pager, 2003). While these disadvantages are well-known, social scientists are largely unaware of the reasons prospective employers are unwilling to hire individuals with a criminal record, much less of the ways to circumvent that hesitation. We propose a survey which addresses these questions directly to employers, which estimates employers' perceptions about characteristics of job applicants, and about prison programs purported to increase employability. This study would serve as a pilot for subsequent grant applications focused on improving reentry.

Randy Otto, PhD, ABPP was named the 2021 recipient of the Russell J. Bent Award for Distinguished Service and Contributions to the American Board of Professional Psychology. This award recognizes a certified specialist who has made significant contributions to the development and operation of ABPP by way of publications about or advocacy for board certification, involvement in ABPP administration or policy development, or other service to ABPP and its affiliated boards.

Doctoral student, Cassandra Dodge, has been selected as a recipient of the Association of Doctoral Programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice 2020 Fall Student Research Award. The ADPCCJ Student Professional Development/Research Award supports doctoral students by funding professional development or data collection expenses for a dissertation project. Monetary awards of up to $3,000 are made to one or more applicants.

Research Associate Professor Svetlana Yampolskaya gave an invited presentation at the Evaluation Group for the Analysis of Data on December 3, 2020. The group meets virtually every week to further research, education, and training in the general areas of program evaluation, research methodology and data analysis. Her presentation, When Time Matters: Event History Analysis for Evaluators, focused on the statistical method used in longitudinal research that examines the duration of time until one or more events happen.

This event was made possible through the USF Office of Research Innovations Grants for Understanding Blackness and Anti-Black Racism, which awarded $30,000 to the project.

You can register for these events at thisismybrave.org/events and can join the Facebook events for the January 18 show and the February 1 show to stay updated.

The Center for Autism & Related Disabilities at the University of South Florida (CARD-USF) was established by state statute in 1993 to serve individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and related disabilities at no charge. For 28 years, CARD has delivered on the promise to provide resources and direct support to individuals and their families, offered in person, virtually, and within the community. CARD delivers trainings and outreach for teachers, professionals, and businesses across 14 counties in southwest Florida. Now, we need YOUR help to continue the mission. To continue to deliver programs that educate and empower. To innovate and reflect community needs. To ensure that ALL voices are included and valued.

Why does CARD need your help NOW? As a state funded program, CARD was directed to significantly cut our operating budget. After reducing our expenses, we will still have to rely heavily on our USF Foundation Funds and donors like you.

Faculty/staff can make a payroll deduction gift AND still show as participating on the USF HerdFunder:

You can make a payroll deduction gift using the FSC contribution form and email it to fscampaign@usf.edu. Once we receive your form and see that it is to a HerdFunder fund, we can add your name to the HerdFunder donor wall on the back end so that your gift will show on the HerdFunder project. Please share how you would like your HerdFunder Donation listed on the Wall.

Questions about the Faculty Staff Campaign, USF HerdFunder, or CBCS Funds? Please contact Holly hbehrend@usf.edu in the CBCS Dean's Office or Ashanti aharrigan@usf.edu in the FacStaff Campaign office. You may also request the Faculty & Staff Campaign Contribution Editable Form by emailing fscampaign@usf.edu.

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.