Ginevra Courtade, chair of the Department of Special 成人直播, Early Childhood, and Prevention Science in the College of 成人直播 and Human Development, received the grant, along with colleagues from the University of North Florida and the University of Oklahoma. While the entire grant totals $3.5 million, UofL will support six scholars with $1.25 million.

鈥淭he part-time program is meant to allow administrators to stay within their respective districts, while building their skills to advance the field,鈥� Courtade explained. 鈥淭his could be individuals who are already working in administration, or those who are currently special education teachers who show potential to move into leadership roles.鈥� 聽聽

Doctoral students will be supported through three existing degree programs at the University of Louisville, University of North Florida and University of Oklahoma that prepare special education personnel for rural school systems. These schools will work together to accomplish the project objectives of recruitment of diverse students, implementation of high-quality programming, preparation of scholars and support for communities through an enhanced network of special education leadership. 聽

The project will leverage the combined strengths of the faculties at all three schools to prepare and increase the number of personnel needed to address shortages of leadership personnel in high-need, rural areas.

鈥淓ach school presents unique strengths,鈥� Courtade explained. 鈥淭he University of North Florida is strong in special education policy, the University of Oklahoma is strong in research, and we here at UofL bring strength with our community partnerships.鈥�

The curriculum of Project SPIDERS scholars will be enhanced through shared access and mentorship across faculty; joint seminars and coursework; and collaborative applied and disseminated scholar projects.

The need for increased leadership and support for special educators in rural districts is high.

鈥淭he SPIDERS grant affords the opportunity to address the personnel deficit in rural districts,鈥� sad Larry Taylor, executive director of the Kentucky Autism Training Center.听鈥淗aving worked in the rural areas of the Commonwealth, I know firsthand of the challenges for the recruitment and retention of qualified personnel, and it is critical that efforts are made to increase the availability of qualified personnel.听SPIDERS is a great step toward addressing this personnel challenge.鈥�

鈥淟eadership skills afforded by an earned doctorate make a difference for those working in rural areas,鈥� Taylor said.听

To learn more about the College of 成人直播 and Human Development and the Department of Special 成人直播, Early Childhood, and Prevention Science,

鈥淎bout 50% of adults with severe mental illness have a co-occurring substance abuse disorder,鈥� said Wellspring CEO and Kent alumna Katharine Dobbins.

The goal is to help people become free of homelessness, engage in recovery and improve their quality of life through a community-based approach.

The nearly $2 million project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It is designed to boost specialized training to serve 180 Louisville adults via Wellspring, a behavioral health agency with a 38-year history of providing mental health services.

鈥淥bviously the issue of people having both mental health and physical problems is a major concern in Louisville,鈥� said Bibhuti Sar, UofL social work professor and the grant鈥檚 lead investigator, who pointed to the efforts of Wellspring and other local groups working together to address homelessness. 鈥淭he Kent School of Social Work and the University of Louisville strongly support the well-being of the community. We welcome the partnership of Wellspring to enhance their efforts and experience to do that work.鈥�

Working with other community partners such as the Coalition for the Homeless and Louisville Metro Housing Authority, the project will identify some of Louisville鈥檚 most vulnerable adults living on the streets with both disorders and will seek to provide them with housing and services designed to stabilize their lives.

鈥淭his will be a life-changing program,鈥� Dobbins said. 鈥淚t helps move a person along the path of recovery toward the goals they want to achieve. We will take a harm-reduction approach, but critical life experiences serve as opportunities to help individuals make positive changes.鈥�

Participants will have a support team that includes a therapist, case manager, nurse practitioner and a peer support professional. This team, in conjunction with the Kent School, will develop skills in using evidence-based methods that help integrate 鈥渢rauma-informed鈥� care for participants. UofL will bring in national experts for training in evidence-based interventions. Sar said he hoped the training will occur this summer with services to begin in early fall.

鈥淭his grant will help our staff hone and improve their skills in evidence-based practices,鈥� Dobbins said.

Those practices include integrated dual disorder treatment, which addresses both problems (mental health and substance use) simultaneously with the same team; motivational interviewing, which guides people toward change; and a 鈥渉ousing first鈥� model, which uses supportive services to help chronically homeless people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders.

The Kent School team includes Martin Hall, an associate professor with experience in researching substance use issues, who will lead the evaluation part of the grant to ascertain the program鈥檚 effectiveness. Jim Guinn will be the project鈥檚 daily coordinator, and Sar said the team will hire a research assistant.

鈥淲e also want to understand the impact of services on consumers in the sense of improving their functioning and well-being,鈥� Sar said.

Partnering organizations also will measure outcomes including how many homeless people get housed and how quickly and whether they maintain housing for a year or more. Other measurements will assess improvement to their quality of life and whether their psychiatric conditions changed.

鈥淥ur goal is to get people into independent housing, their own apartments with their own amenities,鈥� Dobbins said. 鈥淲e provide supportive services. We hope to get people into treatment as well, using these evidence-based practices.鈥�

Continuing the UofL connections, Dobbins has a Kent social work degree and Wellspring program manager Paul Bliss has been a Kent adjunct faculty member; Sar hopes later to involve Kent students in the work as well.

鈥淚t鈥檚 rewarding to see our graduates making a difference in the community, and the chance to partner with them as alumni is fantastic,鈥� Sar said.

Photo provided by .听

But what if we paired young students, like Jas鈥檓eir, with behavior coaches? Would they learn proper behavior in the classroom and retain it for the rest of their school careers. The University of Louisville has received a first-of-its-kind federal grant to find out.

鈥淭he purpose of it is to understand whether or not the First Step Next early intervention is effective for young kids at risk for academic failure due to behavioral, social or emotional concerns鈥� said Andy Frey, a researcher in the Kent School of Social Work and principal investigator on the grant.

Forty 4-year-olds in Jefferson County Public Schools鈥� early childhood program are part of the study. Jas鈥檓eir鈥檚 behavior coach is Blake Skidmore who says 鈥渨e really focus on using positive reinforcement to teach kids what we want to see them doing versus what we tend to slip into which is negative attention when they鈥檙e misbehaving.鈥�

See more in the video below:聽

Engineering professor Dan Popa and his team recently received a federal grant to develop a robot that could serve as a nurses鈥� assistant. 聽

“I don’t think people realize that this technology is very close to being deployed. I believe that within聽five to 10 years you’ll be going to the store and buying the next appliance for your house and that’s going to be a robot,” Popa said. “And then you’re going to teach it certain things that interest you.”

Watch Popa further explain his research:聽

The 5-year 4 Your Child project, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services鈥� Administration for Children and Families, is led by a Kent School of Social Work team headed by Armon Perry, an associate professor who researches fathers鈥� involvement with children.

The group will work with the state Office of Child Support Enforcement to recruit participants from six Kentucky counties 鈥� Daviess, Elliott, Hardin, Jefferson, McCracken and Owen 鈥� beginning in July. Ultimately, the program is expected to help 1,560 fathers contribute to their children鈥檚 lives and also benefit practitioners, researchers and policymakers interested in responsible fatherhood.

鈥淩esearch tells us that when men don鈥檛 have access to their children, they have a tendency to disengage,鈥� Perry said. For children, the results can be poverty, juvenile delinquency, lower educational attainment, psychological issues and other negative effects. And the mothers tend to endure more child-raising stress, he said.听聽聽聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to offer people additional layers of support so they can do what society is expecting of them,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淔amily is the primary institution of society.鈥�

The project鈥檚 researchers will use the National Fatherhood Initiative鈥檚 24/7 Dad curriculum to help fathers work on issues such as health, emotions, fathers鈥� role, co-parenting techniques and work-life-family balance. Case managers will help the men connect with community resources, information and training to better position them for hiring and improved economic status.

A website for the project has been created and includes more information.听

Video from the press conference is below.听