Nora Charles, PhD, awarded grant funding for mental health services program - ACCESS

Dr. Charles, a former T32 trainee, recently was awarded grant funding for the mental health services program: Advancing Community Connections to Enhance Services and Success (ACCESS). The aim of ACCESS is to expand behavioral health graduate student training opportunities involving underserved communities, such as those from racial/ethnic minority, rural, and low-income backgrounds, and to increase access to behavioral healthcare in the southern Mississippi area. ACCESS has been funded by the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration as a 4-year project for $699,788.00 in total. 

This is a collaboration between the Clinical Psychology PhD program, the University of Sourthern Mississippi Behavioral Health Clinic and the MSW program with PI, Dr. Nora Charles (Clinical Psychology) and Co-Is Dr. Kristy McRaney (Behavioral Health Clinic Director) and Dr. Michelle Brazeal (Social Work) leading the project. The team will study the implementation and effectiveness of evidence-based behavioral health services at 3 partner sites: Hattiesburg Clinic Pediatrics, Kids Hub Child Advocacy Center, and Forrest County Juvenile Detention Center. These are nontraditional settings for behavioral healthcare but locations where many underserved families can be reached and high-quality behavioral health services can have a significant impact. Read more on Southern Miss Psychology's Facebook page!