Projects & Research

Topic: Systems Planning and Policy

26th Annual Children’s Mental Health Research and Policy Conference

The 26th Annual Children’s Mental Health Research and Policy Conference seeks to enhance the effectiveness of services and systems for children and youth with mental health challenges and their families. The conference will be held March 3rd – 6th, 2013.

Actualizing Empowerment: Developing a Framework for Partnering with Families in System Level Service Planning and Delivery

The purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding of the roles of families in service planning and delivery. Th e project also seeks to develop a framework for systems of care attempting to implement family driven care at the system level.

Child Welfare Prepaid Mental Health Plan (CW-PMHP) Study

This Study examines various outcomes (e.g., foster care outcomes, mental health functioning, justice system involvement) for children enrolled in the Florida Child Welfare Prepaid Mental Health Plan (CW-PMHP. The study also examines the needs and experiences of youth served under the CW-PMHP that are transitioning to adulthood and the strategies utilized by providers to address those needs.

Children’s Home Society Case Management Baseline Assessment Study

This Study is assessing the child welfare case management services provided by Children’s Home Society (CHS) of Florida through their statewide program.

Effectiveness of a Parent Support Program: Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)

This four year study conducted a random controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a parent-to-parent support program for families who have a child with serious emotional disturbances and served in a special education setting.

Families and Children Together In Seminole (FACTS)

The FACTS system transformation is being implemented in order to ensure that services and supports for children, youth, young adults and families are integrated across human service systems and implemented consistent with System of Care and Trauma-informed Care values and principles.

Florida Center for Inclusive Communities-UCEDD

The Florida Center for Inclusive Communities - University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (FCIC-UCEDD) is part of a federally-funded network of 67 Centers across the United States and territories. UCEDDs have four broad tasks: conduct interdisciplinary training, promote community service programs, provide technical assistance at all levels (from local service delivery to community and state governments), and conduct research and dissemination activities.

Florida’s Center for the Advancement of Child Welfare Practice

Florida’s Center for the Advancement of Child Welfare Practice provides information, collaboration and program support to Florida’s professional child welfare stakeholders. The Center functions under the guidance of a public/private statewide Steering Committee of public/private stakeholders. Services include a fully searchable on-line knowledge base, a comprehensive video training component for professionals, and a collaboration component that serves as an interactive on-line information-sharing portal where peers and experts can interact with each other and develop on-line learning communities.

Florida's Positive Behavior Support Project (PBS)

PBS provides training and technical assistance to Florida school districts to increase their capacity to provide positive behavior support to students. Training and technical assistance are provided to implement PBS at the school, classroom, targeted group and individual student levels.

HIPPY AmeriCorps Evaluation

CFS staff provide consultation to HIPPY USA and HIPPYCorps sites concerning design and implementation of the HIPPYCorp evaluation, including selection and development of assessment instruments, training on evaluation procedures and test administration, and analysis of the data.

Office of Special Education Programs - Training and Technical Assistance Program for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (OSEP-TAC)

OSEP-TAC provides training and technical assistance to state and district leadership teamsto increase their capacity to provide positive behavior support to students. Training and TA are provided to implement PBS at the school, classroom, targeted group and individual student levels.

One Stop Service Center Initiative (OSSCI)

The purpose of this initiative is to address barriers to servicing individuals with disabilities at the One Stop Service Centers in Florida through research, collaboration, and education.

Online Learning in Children’s Mental Health

Cutting-edge research is presented by nationally known subject experts in policy and practice in children’s behavioral health. Three series including building effective systems of care in children’s mental health, creating effective child and family teams, and reducing mental health disparities are currently being disseminated. Online courses will be utilized by University faculty and community partners to develop their workforce at both the pre-service and in-service levels.

Parent Connectors

A parent support program to improve outcomes for students who have emotional disturbances.

Profile of Youth in Out-of-Home Care Residential Programs (2010-2011)

The goal of this study is to describe profiles of youth placed in residential out-of-home care settings and identify risk factors for less desirable outcomes associated with each subgroup.

Profiles of Children with High Utilization of State Inpatient Psychiatric Program

Excessive utilization of institutional mental health services has been of longstanding public concern because of the high cost of such care and its questionable efficacy. Although previous studies provided some information about child characteristics or factors associated with utilization of residential or inpatient mental health services, currently, little is known about predictors of longer length of stays and multiple re-admissions to the State Inpatient Psychiatric Program (SIPP) and appropriateness of SIPP care for children placed in this program.

RAICES: Resources, Advocacy, Integration, Collaboration, Empowerment, and Services

The RAICES project was funded to develop a training curriculum that integrates the promotora outreach model with the local school-based case management program, known as the Family and School Support Team (FASST) to support families. This project is complete but being disseminated.

Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health

Funding for the Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health ended September, 2009. For 25 years, the Center supported the development of systems of care that provide access to effective care for children with mental health challenges and their families through an integrated set of research, training, consultation, and dissemination activities.

System of Care Practice Review

SOCPR provides a tool for assessing whether system of care principles are operationalized at the level of practice. It also provides a measure of how well the overall service delivery system is meeting the needs of children with serious emotional disturbances (SED) and their families.

System of Care Practice Review Training (SOCPR)

The SOCPR will support the mandate of Coordinated Access to bring mental health and developmental agencies together in the provision of case resolution and referral services through a focus on community-based, individualized and culturally competent care for children and families. This training will occur over the course of one year and will be conducted in five phases.  

Teaching Pyramid Research Project

This project is funded by the Institute for Education Science, and is a collaborative research study conducted by investigators at Vanderbilt University, the University of South Florida, and the University of Florida.

The Relationship of Suicide Death to Baker Act Examination, Client Characteristics and Service Use Patterns: Veteran’s Acute Mental Health Care

This study idescribes the volume and patterns of Baker Act exams (involuntary assessments) of veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF and OIF).

Theory-based Logic Models Technical Assistance and Training/CMHI National Evaluation

The USF Logic Model Team provides technical assistance to funded system of care communities. The USF Logic Model Team has worked with many communities to craft logic models that reflect their unique contexts and theories of change.

Theory-driven Evaluation for the Children’s Mental Health Initiative – Phases VI and VII

The purpose of this component of the National Evaluation is to build community capacity for system development by supporting community-driven planning, data-driven decision making, and evidence-based technical assistance through the use of theory-driven logic model development. This effort builds upon more than 10 years of established work on theory of change and logic model development in funded system of care communities.