New York, NY – During their transition to adulthood, youth with serious mental health conditions can struggle to achieve education goals, secure stable housing, obtain employment, and form healthy relationships. This is particularly true for those in their mid-teens to late 20s from disadvantaged backgrounds, who face additional challenges, including poverty, discrimination and reliance on safety-net systems of care. To address this problem, NYU Silver Professor Michelle Munson is partnering with colleagues from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and Temple University on a five-year, $4.3 million federally funded rehabilitation research and training center for marginalized young adults focused on enhancing community participation and overall quality of life and wellbeing. Dr. Munson, who has studied mental health services and interventions for over two decades, leads NYU Silver’s Youth and Young Adult Mental Health Group.
The new project, called the Community Inclusion and Reflective Collaboration Center (CIRC Center), aims to generate new knowledge about developmentally appropriate interventions, while addressing system and policy issues affecting community living and participation. It will also provide training and other assistance activities to transition-age youth with serious mental health conditions.
Dr Munson shared, “We know from decades of research that young people living with mental health conditions often experience isolation and can have difficulty living communally and participating in collective activities, and the CIRC center is focused on developing and testing strategies to improve these aspects of young adulthood, which are critical to quality of life.”
The CIRC Center encompasses five research studies and three training projects. Dr. Munson is the Center’s Senior Advisor on Community Engaged and Participatory Research and a Co-Investigator on two of the studies. The center’s Principal Investigators are Dr. Kathryn Sabella, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UMass Chan, and Dr. Elizabeth Thomas, Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral sciences at Temple. The project is co-funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“I have collaborated with these leaders in psychiatric rehabilitation for young adults with serious mental health conditions for over a decade,” said Dr. Munson. “This opportunity to dig deeper into solutions for improving community living and participation is a true privilege, particularly during these times of increased social isolation. I am excited to see what we can do.”
About NYU Silver
Founded in 1960 and renowned for a strong tradition of excellence in direct social work practice and dedication to social justice, NYU Silver has provided rigorous training to more than 20,000 social work practitioners and leaders in every area of the field, making it the leading destination for students who want to become innovative practitioners at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work practice. The School has four campuses in the heart of New York City, Rockland County, Westchester County, and Shanghai.