Funded Project – Page 3 – School Mental Health Collaborative

Madeline Wadington, PhD
SMHC Post-Doctoral Fellow

Dr. Garbacz is a Professor in the School Psychology Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research emphasizes building, testing, and scaling programs that interconnect school, home, and community systems to promote mental health and reduce the risk of later mental health concerns. Dr. Garbacz focuses on universal, school- and community-wide programs to support all children and youth as well as programs and practices for children and youth who need additional support. Dr. Garbacz is actively engaged in research examining the Teachers and Parents as Partners intervention, the Family Check-Up model, as well as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

Development and Validation of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener for Early Childhood
The primary purpose of this project is to develop and validate a social, emotional, and behavioral risk screener for early childhood. The assessment will be an online and application-based universal screening system available in both English and Spanish. It will be aligned with the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS), a universal screener for K–12 settings that has been adopted in all 50 states, with the aim of supporting transition planning between early childhood and K–12 settings as well as informing intervention.

$10 million grant establishes a new national center to train more school based mental health professionals
University of South Florida (USF) article from June 2024 about METRICS, a nationwide hub for school mental health grants. The School Mental Health Collaborative received a $10 million grant to coordinate this center.

Utilizing discrete event simulation to improve the use of evidence and inform school mental health services
We are developing software to help MTSS teams find the best strategies for improving behavior and mental health in their schools. Our ADVICE software compares the impact and costs of Tier I/II interventions based on school size, need, and resources.

UW-Madison researchers lead national hub on school mental health grants
Spectrum News 1 article from May 2024 about METRICS, a nationwide hub for school mental health grants. The School Mental Health Collaborative received a $10.4 million grant to coordinate this center.

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Green Bay Press Gazette article from October 2023 about METRICS, a nationwide hub for school mental health grants. The School Mental Health Collaborative received a $10.4 million grant to coordinate this center.

Expanding mental health treatment for schoolchildren focus of national grant award to Gevirtz School and partner universities
University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) article from October 2023 about METRICS, a nationwide hub for school mental health grants. The School Mental Health Collaborative received a $10.4 million grant to coordinate this center.

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UC Santa Barbara Gevirtz School partners with three universities to launch national center expanding school mental health workforce
News Channel 3-12 article from October 2023 about METRICS, a nationwide hub for school mental health grants. The School Mental Health Collaborative received a $10.4 million grant to coordinate this center.

UW-Madison awarded a $10.4M federal contract to help school mental health workers
Spectrum News 1 article from October 2023 about METRICS, a nationwide hub for school mental health grants. The School Mental Health Collaborative received a $10.4 million grant to coordinate this center.

Category: Funded Project