The George Warren Brown School of Social Work seeks continued funding for its predoctoral Mental Health Services Research Training Program (years 6-11) and initial support for post-doctoral training. Objectives are to train researchers who are knowledgeable about the history and trends in specialty and non-specialty, public and private service delivery; sources of variation in service use and quality; sources and patterns of funding; and the design, measurement and analysis issues in studying mental health services. We focus especially on mental health needs and services within the human service sectors of care. We seek support for 9 pre-doctoral students (three first-year, three second-year, and three dissertation-stage) for each of five years and for two-post-doctoral fellows each year. Our NIMH funded Center for Mental Health Services Research provides an excellent training environment. The Center is the nucleus for thirteen independently funded studies, five completed studies, several development projects, research enhancement tools, and interdisciplinary collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry and mental health services researchers nationally. Structured mentoring and guided experiences in grant writing and manuscript preparation further strengthen the training. The predoctoral training program requires (1) a course and seminars in mental health services research, three research design courses, four statistics courses including one specific to services research, two data management courses, courses in theory; plus a minimum of 15 credits taken outside of social work in the disciplines, particularly economics and psychiatry; (2) specialized advising and mentoring in grant proposal preparation; (3) three semesters of supervised, sequential research practicum, affording opportunity to learn directly from social work and psychiatry faculty across phases of the research process; and (4) consultation with nationally renowned Senior Scientist Collaborators. Postdoctoral training will draw on selected course work; faculty-supervised work on funded research, and structured mentoring. Recruitment efforts are directed toward individuals with prior training in social work or other behavioral or social sciences who demonstrate specialized interest in mental health services research and a strong aptitude for research. We will strengthen the nation's supply of mental health service researchers by preparing a core of scholars who are ready to launch a research career in tenure-track faculty positions or post-doctoral fellowships with the requisite skills for scholarly publication, conference presentations, and grant proposal development.
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