The Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has an extensive cross-disciplinary research program. The school serves students with interests in social work and criminal justice and offers the only criminal justice PhD program in the state of Wisconsin.
Research conducted by faculty often involves multidisciplinary collaboration through partnerships with researchers on campus and nationwide. The Department of Social Work includes 13 faculty and eight clinical faculty members. The Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology includes eight faculty and one lecturer.
Extramural funding at the school is close to $7 million annually; the school brings in the most research dollars among professional schools at UW-Milwaukee. All faculty have access to the Shared Office for the Administration of Research (SOAR). SOAR assists faculty with applying for and managing sponsored funding. Helen Bader School of Social Welfare provides this administrative infrastructure to support faculty in their pursuit of interdisciplinary, scientifically rigorous social and behavioral research.
Active Funded Projects
| Investigators | Project Title | Funding Agency | Project Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ai Bo, Co-Investigator Trenette Clark Goings, Principal Investigator | Substance Use among Biracial Adolescents and Emerging Adults: The Double Jeopardy Hypothesis | National Institute on Drug Abuse | Aug. 1, 2021 to July 31, 2025 |
| Lisa Berger (Co-Principal Investigator), James Topitzes (Co-PI), Ai Bo, Linda Britz, Amy Kirby, Jeanne Wagner | The Youth-Oriented Substance Abuse and Trauma Counseling Program (YOSAT Counseling II) | Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) | July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023 |
| Julie Brown | Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention | State of Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect, Wisconsin Department of Children and Families | July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023 |
| Julie Brown | Home Visiting Skill Development in Serving Families Post-COVID | Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (from federal American Rescue Plan funds) | Sept. 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2023 |
| Julie Brown | Training and Professional Development for Child Welfare Workforce, Foster and Adoptive Parents and Congregate Care Staff | Wisconsin Department of Children and Families | Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 30, 2022 |
| Julie Brown | Training and Professional Development for Home Visiting | Wisconsin Department of Children and Families | Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2022 |
| Tina Freiburger, Alyssa Sheeran | Assessment of Performance Measures for MCADTC | Milwaukee County, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) | May 31, 2019 to May 30, 2024 |
| Tina Freiburger Co-Investigator Melinda S. Kavanaugh | System of Care (SOC) Expansion and Sustainability Evaluation and Infrastructure Development: Milwaukee Wraparound | Milwaukee County, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) | Aug. 31, 2019 to Aug. 30, 2023 |
| Tina Freiburger | The Impact of Covid-19 | JusticePoint, Inc. | July 1, 2022 to Jan. 31, 2023 |
| Tina Freiburger, Alyssa Sheeran | Process Outcome and Evaluation | Milwaukee County Courts, Department of Justice-Bureau of Justice Administration | Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2024 |
| Colleen Galambos | Impact of an Educational Intervention on Knowledge and Attitudes about Memory Loss and Related Care Issues Among College Students | Bader Philanthropies, Inc. | July 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2022 |
| Colleen Galambos, Co-Investigator | Integrating Advocates Within a Healthcare Setting to Strengthen Intimate Partner Violence Screening | Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment | July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024 |
| Colleen Galambos | Enabling Access to Support: Exploring Virtual Interventions and other Resources for African American Caregivers of Older Adults | Bader Philanthropies, Inc. | Aug. 1, 2021 to Aug. 31, 2023 |
| Ke’Andra Hagans | 22-23 HBSSW School Social Work Training Program | Department of Public Instruction/US Department of Education | Aug. 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023 |
| Jane Hereth | Using the Life History Calendar to examine young transgender women’s trajectories of violence, mental health, and protective processes | National Institutes of Health | July 29, 2021 to April 30, 2023 |
| Jane Hereth | 2022 Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) Program | Center for Adoption Support and Education (CASE) | Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2022 |
| Jane Hereth | Exploring the acceptability, feasibility, and benefits of a mentoring program for transgender youth and adult mentors | Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experiment | March 1, 2022 to Feb. 29, 2024 |
| Melinda S. Kavanaugh | Redesign of the Psychiatric Crisis Service System of Care (SOC) for Youth and Young Adults in Milwaukee County | The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) | 2018 to 2022 |
| Melinda S. Kavanaugh | YCare South Africa: Building community based ALS/MND caregiver interventions in South Africa | The ALS Association | Oct. 1, 2019 to Oct. 31, 2023 |
| Melinda S. Kavanaugh | Building a Healthy Family Caregiver System Through Early Identification and Right-time Support | Eras Senior Network | Nov. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2023 |
| Melinda S. Kavanaugh | The Latino Dementia Health Regional Consortium | Wisconsin Partnership Program | Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2026 |
| Theodore S. Lentz | A Landscape Analysis of Milwaukee | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Foundation/Public Welfare Foundation | Sept. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2023 |
| Joshua Mersky (PI) | Hope and Healing for Children Who Experience Family Violence | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration | Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2027 |
| Joshua Mersky (PI) | Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Grant Program | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration | Sept. 30, 2021 to Sept. 29, 2025 |
| Joshua Mersky (PI) and James Topitzes (Co-PI) | Developing an Evidence-Informed Postnatal Home Visiting Program | Racine County Public Health Division and Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services | Oct. 1, 2022 to March 31, 2025 |
| Joshua Mersky, Co-Investigator; Baumer-Mouradian, Principal Investigator | Promoting Equity in COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccination through Emergency Department-based programs: Identifying Informational Needs and Practical Implementation Strategies | Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin | Apr. 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 |
| Joshua Mersky (PI) and Colleen Janczewski (Co-PI) | Strong and Stable Families | Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board | July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023 |
| Joshua Mersky (PI) and Colleen Janczewski (Co-PI) | Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Coordinated State Evaluation of Family Engagement and Health Equity | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration | Sept. 30, 2021 to Sept. 29, 2023 |
| David J. Pate Jr. | Sullivan Spaights Endowment Fund | UWM Foundation | Sept. 1, 2014 to present |
| David J. Pate Jr. | Employ Milwaukee | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Jan. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2023 |
| James Topitzes | Trauma-Informed Employment | UW-Milwaukee Foundation / Bader Foundation | Jan. 1, 2019 to present |
| James Topitzes | Integrating Trauma Screening | Workforce Resource, Inc. | Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2023 |
| James Topitzes (PI) and Joshua Mersky (Co-PI) | Milwaukee Equity Action Plan | Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation | March 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2023 |
| James Topitzes | Healing Adversity and Trauma | Wisconsin Community Services | Jan. 6, 2022 to Jan. 5, 2023 |
| James Topitzes | Addressing Unresolved Trauma | JobsWork Milwaukee, Inc. | Aug. 22, 2022 to Aug. 21, 2023 |
| James Topitzes | Mont County ADAMHS T-SBI #1 | Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug, Mental Health | Oct. 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 |
| Trina Salm Ward | Dev & Refinement of GA DPH SSE | Georgia Department of Public Health | Sept. 1, 2021 to Feb. 28, 2023 |
| Amy Watson | National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) | June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023 | |
| Amy Watson | What is a Mental Health Crisis | Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene | June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023 |
| Amy Watson | Sozosei Foundation | June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2024 |