Social Work Services in Schools Brochura - 2014

Paula Allen-Meares is currently Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Vice President of the University of Illinois, John Corbally Presidential, and Dean Emerita/Professor Emerita of Schools of Social Work and Education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests include school social work, the tasks and functions of social workers employed in educational settings and the organizational variables that influence service delivery; improving the mental health/health of poor children and adolescents of color; adolescent pregnancy, including repeat births among adolescents and young adults; health care utilization, and social integration factors which influence sexual behavior and parenthood; and maternal psychiatric disorders and their direct and indirect effects on parenting skills and developmental outcomes of offspring. In addition, she has published on such topics as conceptual frameworks for social work and re-search methodologies. She has served as Principal Investigator on a W. K. Kellogg Foundation Grant, entitled Global Program for Youth, was Co-Principal Investigator of the NIMH Center on Poverty, Risk, and Mental Health, Co-Principal Investigator on an R01 of the National Institute of Mental Health's Pathways for Youth, Risk and Resilience and is currently Co-Principle Investigator of the Skillman Good Neighborhoods Grant. Dr. Allen-Meares serves as a board member of the New York Academy of Medicine and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM).

Lauren Akers, M.P.P, is a research analyst at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Her research and public policy interests include early childhood intervention and education, as well as K-12 education.

Sally Atkins-Burnett, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Her research interests include assessment, early childhood development, dual language learners, and children with disabilities. Her background in teaching children with disabilities and in teacher preparation of special educators, as well as per personal experience as a parent to individuals with disabilities, informs her writing and research.

Ron Avi Astor, Ph.D., is the Richard M. and Ann L. Thor Professor in Urban Social Development. He holds appointments in the schools of Social Work and Education at the University of Southern California. His professional interests include children's understanding of violence, large-scale, city-wide youth empowerment monitoring systems, and school violence interventions, and he has authored over 100 scientific publications and has numerous research projects on school violence.

Rami Benbenishty, Ph.D., is a professor at Bar Ilan School of Social Work in Israel. His work focuses on child welfare and children at risk. He partners with the Israeli Ministry of Education to develop monitoring and intervention systems to improve school climate and prevent school violence in Israel.

Gary L. Bowen, Ph.D., MSW, is a William R. Kenan Distinguished Professor in the School of Social Work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He co-directs the School Success Profile project. Dr. Bowen is Past President (2009-2011) of the National Council on Family Relations.

Cynthia Franklin, Ph.D., LCSW, is Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health and Coordinator of the Clinical Concentration at The University of Texas at Austin, School of Social Work. Dr. Franklin is an imminent researcher and expert in school social work and school mental health practice, with over 125 publications. Some of her most notable contributions include re-search on school social work, the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy in schools, and dropout prevention.

Mary Beth Harris, Ph.D., LCSW, is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the San Die-go Academic Center Campus at the University of Southern California. She has conducted numerous clinical studies and authored a number of seminal publications on adolescent mothers in the school environment. Dr. Harris was a family therapist and administrator in family and school-based services for more than two decades.

Sandra Kopels, J.D., MSW, is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work, where her primary teaching assignment is teaching social work students about the law. Her research generally focuses on the law's impact on the rights of vulnerable clients and the responsibilities of social workers to practice ethically and legally. Her specific focus pertains to the confidentiality of client communications and the disclosure of information in child abuse and duty to warn situations.

Katherine L. Montgomery, Ph.D., MSSW, is an NIMH-funded (T32MH019960) postdoctoral fellow in the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in Saint Louis. Her re-search coalesces around dissemination and implementation of empirically supported school-based interventions and the treatment and prevention of juvenile delinquency.

Ronald O. Pitner, Ph.D., ACSW, is an Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work, and is in the Faculty Excellence Initiative (FEI) position for African American Health and Social Dis-parities. His current research examines the effects that community-based civic engagement has on residents' perceptions of community ownership, community safety, and positive community development. Dr. Pitner holds a Ph.D. in Social Work and Psychology from the University of Michigan.

Tara Powell, MSW, MPH, is a Ph.D. candidate at The University of Texas School of social work. Her concentration is in school-based mental health, policy, and long-term disaster response. Her research interests include school-based psycho-educational programs for children after disasters, violence prevention, and community mental health. John W. Sipple, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Development Sociology. His research focuses on the implementation of public policy and the interrelationship between school and community vitality. He directs the Community and Regional Development Institute at Cornell and the New York State Center for Rural Schools.

Danielle C. Swick, Ph.D, MSW, is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her areas of interest include evidence-based practice, school-based interventions, child and adolescent mental health, and community-engaged research.

Bruce Thyer, Ph.D., MSW, received his MSW from the University of Georgia in 1978 and his Ph.D. in social work and psychology from the University of Michigan in 1982. He is the founding and continuing Editor of the bimonthly journal "Research on Social Work Practice" is a member of the Social Work Academy of the National Academies of Practice. He is a current LCSW and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.