Active, funded research grants
Bear Project
Jon Singletary & Carrie Arroyo
The BEAR Project (Be Emotionally Aware and Responsive) is a collaboration between Waco ISD, Transformation Waco (the in-district charter of Waco ISD), and the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work to place Advanced Practice MSW interns into schools with the purpose of working with students affected by trauma. Interns work with students on behavioral and social-emotional regulation skills to eliminate barriers to success in schools and partner with teachers and staff to help create a trauma-informed care environment.
Dr. Singletary and Lecturer Carrie Arroyo received support from Waco ISD for this campus based project. GSSW Research Assistants will aid in providing evidence-based interventions to improve social emotional literacy of WISD students at targeted campuses. Cultural dissonance exists between Baylor, the District and community members and leads to misunderstandings and misperceptions that impede the success of our schools. Through the use of cultural responsiveness trainings, building positive school climates, and implementing evidence based interventions for school-wide, family and individual needs, WISD students can spend more time in the classroom ready to learn.
Congregational Study for Discernment
Gaynor Yancey & Helen Harris
Across the United States, congregations are struggling with their response to persons in the congregation who identify both as Christian and as LGBTQ. This study explores these issues with congregations including ministers and congregants to assess the position of the congregation, the processes for conversation and decision making, and the impact of decisions on membership and ministry.
SEARCH: Evaluating Homeless Programs
Danielle Parrish
Partnering with SEARCH Homeless Services in Houston, the project seeks to develop a programmatic evaluation template for annual reporting purposes and to work on research/evaluation projects that are designed to improve programming and disseminate research findings to share lessons learned and programmatic/intervention outcomes. As a contracted research scientist and evaluator, Dr. Parrish provides evaluation expertise and conducts research and program evaluation with SEARCH Homeless Services’ early childhood education program (House of Tiny Treasures); a restorative community empowerment program (Coming Home) that brings congregations, volunteers, SEARCH staff and formerly chronically homeless individuals together in community; and the Family First program that serves families dealing with homelessness; among other projects. This work allows Dr. Parrish to continue to be involved in community-based practice in the local community.
Dr. Parrish will work closely with Cathy Crouch, LCSW and Executive Vice President of SEARCH Homeless Services to develop a programmatic evaluation template for annual reporting purposes, and work on the following research/evaluation projects that are designed to improve programming and disseminate research findings to share lessons learned and programmatic/intervention outcomes. Dr. Danielle Parrish is the PI for the project.
Behavioral Health in Developing and Growing Health Education (BRIDGE) Training and Certificate Program
Becky Scott, Elissa Madden and Danielle Parrish
Drs. Becky Scott, Elissa Madden and Danielle Parrish have created the Baylor BRIDGE,(Behavioral health professionals Ready to Integrate Diverse and Gold standard practice Effectively), Training and Certificate Program, titled “Behavioral Health in Developing and Growing Health Education Training and Certificate Program, is to recruit, train and support a diverse group of social work emerging professionals in evidence-based, interdisciplinary behavioral health practices with youth and emerging adults. This program provides stipend support for advanced year MSW students at the Garland School of Social Work (GSSW) at Baylor University to engage in courses, internship training, and didactic workshops focused on the best practices and established models in integrated behavioral health with an emphasis on delivery in community health primary care and consideration of pediatric patient needs.
Klaras Center for Families' Homeless Youth Safety net Project: Basic Center Program in the Heart of Texas Region
Cheryl Pooler
Dr. Cheryl Pooler will collect data using an admixture of already-developed measures, e.g., RHY-HMIS, PPR, The Comprehensive Human Trafficking Assessment, the VI-SPDAT (Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool}, the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS}, the Child & Adolescent Needs & Strengths Assessment (CANS) as well as additional measures created by Baylor's research team. New measures will be constructed to collect and report performance measures as required by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families per the RHYA.
Fellowship Southwest - C3I Collaboration
Gaynor Yancey
The Center for Church and Community Impact is in complete alignment with Fellowship Southwest’s aim to help congregations strengthen their ministries, deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other and contribute to the flourishing of their communities and world. Through this collaboration, the C3I gains capacity and support to launch and pilot the collaboration of the C3I, the FSW and CBF congregations committed to experiencing transformation as they engage their changing communities and aims to accomplish this pilot.
CHOICES-TEEN: Efficacy of a Bundled Risk Reduction Intervention for Juvenile Justice Females
Danielle Parrish
This project studies the efficacy of risk reduction intervention efforts for young women age 14-17 in the juvenile justice system. The grant, entitled CHOICES-TEEN: Efficacy of a Bundled Risk Reduction Intervention for Juvenile Justice Females, is an effort to fill gaps in care for at-risk young women in the juvenile justice system. This randomized controlled trial (N=435) will test the efficacy of the CHOICES-TEEN intervention, which was developed to reduce the risks of pregnancy, HIV/STIs, alcohol use, marijuana use and the overlapping risk of substance-exposed pregnancy among young women involved in community based probation or diversion programming. If efficacious, CHOICES-TEEN is readily scalable and has the potential for dissemination not only to juvenile justice settings but to a wealth of settings that serve young adolescent women at risk of substance-exposed pregnancies and HIV/STIs.
Singing History: Reclaiming Spirituals and the Beloved Community
Stephanie Boddie
In an era of steady news cycles of police brutality and rising racial tensions, this research project aims to: Establish worship practices to help young people (15-25 years old) in Black churches to reconnect their spirituality with the social justice legacy of the African American church, and examine the degree to which these worship practices help young people in Black churches discover new ways to integrate their spirituality, spiritual practices, and their experience of systemic injustices. As Pew Research shows, Black millennials remain the most spiritual among their peers. This grant targets ways Black churches can establish innovative worship practices for millennials to experience church in ways that connect their daily lives to their shared history. Dr. Boddie is working with Black churches to discover ways African American millennials can reclaim traditional Negro Spirituals and practices of the Black church to bolster the Black churches’ effort to bring the energy of the 1960s Civil Rights movement to today’s pursuits of social change.
Transformation Waco-BEAR (Be Emotionally Aware and Responsive) Project
Jon Singletary and Carrie Arroyo
Dr. Singletary and Lecturer Carrie Arroyo received support from Transformation Waco for this campus based project based similarly to the project led on Waco ISD campuses. This project seeks to conduct mental health intake screening and assessments for students who are placed at the Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) to identify, plan, treat, and appropriately refer these students for mental health services with the hopes of reducing recidivism to DAEP.
Catalyzing a cultural shift toward integrating religious and spiritual competencies in mental health competencies in mental health through training and systems-level change
Holly Oxhandler and Clay Polson
This project seeks to better understand faculty views, behaviors, and needs regarding training in religious and spiritual competencies. The project is funded by the John Templeton Foundation and is a subaward from the University of Southern Alabama. To date, no study has simultaneously examined the views, behaviors, and experiences of all graduate faculty across the four major mental health disciplines with respect to training students to ethically and effectively integrate their clients’ R/S into mental health treatment. The research team will obtain a national, baseline assessment of interdisciplinary graduate faculty views, behaviors, and experiences with training students on this area of practice.
Qualitative Study On The Effectiveness of CASA Advocacy in McLennan County
Elissa Madden
This is a study in collaboration with CASA of McLennan County. Qualitative methods will be used to provide an in-depth examination of the impact of the Court Appointed Special Advocate program model on different aspects of wellbeing for foster children in McLennan County. The goal of this study is to identify and assess some of the more intangible aspects of the CASA volunteer model not easily evaluated through secondary data analysis.
Waco Family Medicine Integrated Behavioral Health System Program Evaluation
Becky Scott
Dr. Becky Scott will provide program implementation (of the larger IBH program) and consultation and program evaluation supervision (related to pediatric behavioral programming). Some of the research questions explored include the following: Does the participation training in CARE trauma-sensitive, pediatric interactional model result in skill gain for family medicine residents, nursing staff, and front desk staff? Do pediatric patients’ scores on the Eyberg Childhood Behavioral Inventory decrease after participating in IntegratedCARE? Do parents who participate in PriCARE and/or PCIT rate the treatment at 50% or higher on the Treatment Attitude Inventory?
Stepped CARE for Externalized Behaviors and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) 2021-2022
Becky Scott
Dr. Becky Scott and an MSW Research Assistant are working alongside the Family Health Center on the ACES project to better serve the patients and community. Scott’s research includes the FHC’s pediatric behavior management program development, training and referral system as well as direct service to clients. This project works with Waco Family Medicine to implement and evaluate a four-tiered primary care treatment program for children with disruptive behaviors. The stepped-care program allows parents and children to receive the treatment they and their child want, in their pediatric clinic. The tiers of treatment are based on symptom severity and stated need and are predicated on the well-established, trauma-informed behavioral intervention model, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT).
University of Houston's HRSA BHWET GLOBE
Danielle Parrish
Dr. Danielle Parrish is the program evaluator for the University of Houston's HRSA BHWET GLOBE- Global Leaders of Behavioral Health Education program. The Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston has been running a professional training grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) since 2012. GLOBE Team Training strives to increase the number of culturally competent social workers who deliver behavioral health services to underserved populations.
Engagement of Young Adolescent Women in Cell Phone Use for Adjunct mHealth Application & Telehealth: A Usability Study
Danielle Parrish
Dr. Danielle Parrish received funding for this 5-year research project from Grant Me the Wisdom Foundation. Results from this study will inform future technology research and practice with this population. As such, the aims for this study include:
Aim 1: Assess young women’s use of the CHOICES-TEEN mHealth application by measuring content engagement and time engaged within this mHealth application.
Aim 2: Assess usability and satisfaction with the CHOICES-TEEN mHealth application and Telehealth using the CSQ-8, standardized usability scales, the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire, and open-ended questions.
Building Resilient Congregations: Consultation in Accompaniment, Trauma Care & LGBTQ+ Discernment
Gaynor Yancey
Dr. Gaynor Yancey and C3I research staff will run the three-year project and consult with 15-20 diverse congregations. Additionally, they will build certificate programs for both future congregational learning and sustainable support for the C3I. The goal of each online certificate will be to improve pastoral and spiritual care for faith communities, increase resiliency amidst engaging difficult conversations and establish better connection and belonging with their communities. Not only will this allow for deeper learning experiences for the congregations involved in the initial consultation process but will also create a sustainable model for congregations to become better equipped around the topics of Trauma Care, Accompaniment, and LGBTQ+ Discernment for the years to come.
Broadcasting the Innovative Practices and Research Findings of C3I
Gaynor Yancey ad Mallory Herridge
Dr. Gaynor Yancey and Professor Mallory Herridge will run the one year project funded by the Duke Divinity Foundation.
State of Texas – Train CSEY Providers
David Pooler
Dr. David Pooler is PI and the research team aims to expand and bring to scale a statewide effort to enhance the capacity of Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth (CSEY) advocates to effectively engage and respond to CSEY survivors using Motivational Interviewing (MI) so that victim participation and satisfaction with their provider is improved. Law enforcement, medical and social service providers to victims of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) sometimes lack the skills to effectively dialogue with victims in ways that encourage changed behavior.
Evaluation of Pre-Petition Legal Representation Pilot - McLennan County
Elissa Madden
Dr. Elissa Madden will lead data collection and evaluation efforts will be conducted by the GSSW. The evaluation team will conduct 35 semi-structured interviews with parents and stakeholders (e.g., attorneys and staff hired for the project; judges and court personnel, pilot project implementation team members, CPI personnel making referrals, etc.). At the end of the evaluation period, the team led by Dr. Madden will provide a description of clients served by the program to date, services provided, and a summary of short-term outcomes for the program and for families served by the program.
Calvin Theological Seminary and ATS
Stephanie Boddie
Dr. Stephanie Boddie is as a co-investigator in the Lamentation as Pedagogy: 12-month Immersion Experience grant project funded by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) Luce Innovative Research Pilot Project awarded to the Calvin Theological Seminary. The multi phase project includes plans to familiarize project participants with the history of black pain, suffering, and disparities and the legacy of lamentation in black church tradition and culture as part of an independent study. Additionally, the project will create embodied pedagogical spaces to learn about lamentation by physically visiting sites that commemorate atrocities committed against black life: