Workforce Development:
Graduate Certificate in Children's Mental Health

Systems of Care organize a network of mental health and support services to serve the growing numbers of children whose emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs are not being met. However, implementation of effective systems of care that allow children to participate fully in their own communities is a complex endeavor. This requires a great number of qualified professionals to develop, establish, and evaluate effective systems of care.

The Certificate’s course content provides current knowledge about effective service delivery to graduate students seeking specialized training in children’s mental health, and professionals in need of retooling in order to keep pace with the fundamental changes that have taken place in the field.

A variety of distance learning methods will enrich students' learning experiences as they encounter diverse perspectives of faculty, both within USF and external to the university, as well as those of national experts recruited to address special topics through seminars and electronic discussions. This will be particularly useful to rural areas, where the recruitment and retention of child welfare workers is especially problematic.

The graduate certificate is sponsored by the Department of Child and Family Studies, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, USF, home to the Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health. The Certificate program was conceived by the faculty of the Center, who participate in the Systems of Care Professional Training Consortium, an inter-university initiative designed to bridge the gap between University Education and practice in children's mental health.

The System of Care Professional Training Consortium is a training program designed by the Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health designed to bridge the gap between University Education and current and future systems-of-care professionals. The Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health at the Louis de la Pa rte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida was initiated in 1984 to address the need for improved services and outcomes for children with serious emotional/behavioral disabilities and their families. The Center is jointly funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S Department of Education and the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under grant number H133B040024.

Contact

Carol MacKinnon-Lewis, Ph.D.
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute - MHC2328
13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33612
813-974-2075

 

About the Center

Resources

Other Links


"One of the most vexing challenges facing the children’s mental health field has been how to prepare future generations of professionals to develop, establish, and evaluate effective systems of care. Through combining the expertise of our faculty with the contributions of other universities, and using distance learning technologies, we hope that we can help produce the children’s mental health leaders of the future.”

–– Robert Friedman, Ph.D., Director, Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health