This episode highlights the intersection of school-based mental health, community well-being, immigration, and the integration of decolonized and culturally grounded approaches to social work practice and mental health service provision.

Podcast Guests:

Arlene Bjugstad (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Arlene has more than fifteen years of social work practice experience in non-profit organizations, county social service agencies, PK-12 schools, and communities. Arlene's practice and research interests are at the intersection of school-based mental health, community well-being, and immigration. She is particularly interested in decolonized and culturally grounded approaches to social work practice and mental health service provision.

Dr. Jodi Berger Cardoso has over 15 years of clinical experience working with immigrant populations. Dr. Cardoso’s research examines how exposure to trauma and psychosocial stress before, during and post-migration affects the mental health of Latino immigrants and their children. Recently, she received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to examine the effects of immigration enforcement on the mental health outcomes of Latino youth. Dr. Cardoso works with several humanitarian organizations that focus on providing legal and mental health services to immigrants, unaccompanied minor youth, and refugees who have experienced trauma.

Learn more: www.uh.edu/socialwork

"Charge Up!"—a team-based intervention aimed at bolstering mental health and housing stability for youth transitioning from homelessness to housing. It's crucial to note that a significant portion of young adults facing housing instability also grapple with mental health issues. However, existing Rapid Rehousing programs often lack dedicated mental health services. Through the Charge Up intervention, we've integrated a mental health role, focusing on a person-centered approach to delivering crucial mental health services to young adults in transitional and rapid rehousing programs. To ensure its effectiveness, we actively sought input from various stakeholders, including the youth advisory board, case managers, and other relevant parties involved in the development of Charge Up.

Charge Up Team Members:

Sarah Carter Narendorf, LCSW, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development Graduate College of Social Work focuses on ensuring a successful transition to adulthood for marginalized young people. She is particularly interested in the transition to young adulthood for youth with mental disorders who face additional challenges including homelessness and involvement in foster care or the juvenile justice system. This interest has led me to investigate where, when, and what type of services can most effectively support these young people as they navigate both developmental and institutional transitions.

Her interest in mental health services stems from a decade of practice experience working with children, youth, and adults across the continuum of care from school outreach to the maximum security unit of a state mental hospital. Her interest in adolescent mental health began in Houston through her work doing street outreach with Youth Advocates, Inc. and Communities in Schools. Her practice experience informs both her teaching and research and has fueled her desire to ensure that her research is relevant to social work practitioners.

Marcus Brown, MSW, LCSW is a fourth-year PhD social work student, a twelve-year mental health practitioner, and a licensed clinical social worker. Marcus has over ten years of experience in the social work profession, where he served in various social work roles in inpatient and outpatient mental health settings. Marcus is an upcoming social worker scholar and educator whose research focuses on Black adults with serious mental illness and their help-seeking for formal care, informal care, or both.

Justin “Prince” Hayward is a young adult advocate whose friends call him Prince. His positive and negative experiences in CPS and being homeless have made him into the man he is today. Currently, Mr. Hayward is an active leader in the Houston area and not only a member of two other formal young adult advocacy boards, including Travis County Child Welfare Re-Imagined Family Preservation Leadership Council (FPLC) and National Youth Forum on Homelessness, He is also an appointed member of DFPS Public Private Partnership Council (PPP). Prince has led several trainings such as preventing runways and has been very effective at using his story to advocate for policy changes & budget increases at the state capitol.

Learn more at uh.edu/socialwork/actionresearch

In this episode, we will explore the coping style among middle school youth and also assess how that is related to symptoms of depression and anxiety over time to develop preventive interventions for schools.

Caitlyn Mytelka is a recent Ph.D. graduate from the GCSW and is a licensed social worker in Texas. She has a bachelor’s degree from NYU and a Master’s in social work from UT Austin. Caitlyn’s research focuses on positive youth development in diverse school settings. Caitlyn’s dissertation examined the reciprocal relationship between coping style and symptoms of depression and anxiety in early adolescents over time. Her long-term research goals are to inform and develop equitable preventive school interventions to improve youth well-being and development.