The Center's research activities are concentrated on six major research projects:
Voices of Youth and Families is designed to gain understanding of community integration from the perspectives of transition-age youth, young adults, and caregivers, and examine links between the concepts of community integration, youth and family participation in individualized planning, empowerment, the effects of stigma, and recovery and resilience.
Transition to Independence is evaluating a pilot school-based program that assists participants age 18-21 with mental health and developmental disabilities to successfully transition to employment and appropriate levels of independent living and use of adult social services. To achieve this goal, the project model combines mental health support with employment readiness and life skills training.
AMP: Achieve My Plan develops instruments to assess youth empowerment, youth participation in planning, and perceptions of the utility and feasibility of youth participation in planning. The project also develops and evaluates an intervention to increase the participation of youth and family members in the individualized planning and service process. Finally, the project develops a conceptual framework for understanding how the idea of recovery (as understood with respect to adult mental health) applies to children and adolescents. View the latest project's latest product, a "Youth Participation in Planning: Why it Matters" video.
Work Life Integration directly addresses the issue of community integration for the adult caregivers of children and youth with emotional disorders, specifically with regard to their ability to maintain employment. This project is designed to influence the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of human resource professionals, with a view to reducing stigma and increasing the family friendliness of their organizations.
Transforming Transitions to Kindergarten focuses on the families' experiences of the shift from preschool to kindergarten when children have emotional/behavioral challenges. We are developing and testing a training intervention to increase the capacity of early childhood and kindergarten settings to meet the needs of these children, and a family-driven team-based transition intervention to promote the success of children and their families as they move from pre-school to kindergarten. The project also includes a review of evidence-based practice in the field of mental health consultation.
Practice-Based Evidence is conducting a case study in partnership with a Native American youth organization and the National Indian Child Welfare Association. The project addresses the need to conduct effectiveness studies of practices that are believed to be helpful, but for which little evidence exists.
