The National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH) has selected Dr. Michael Furlong, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School, as the recipient of the 2022 School Mental Health Research Award. This award is given to an individual who has engaged in activities to promote the impact of school mental health research. The primary consideration was for the impact of research on individuals, organizations, and communities such as (1) innovations that improve the uptake of best practices and evidence-informed strategies, (2) strategies for building capacity of school mental health stakeholders to make data driven decisions that champion diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism, and (3) activities that influence the development of policies, practices, and programs that improve individual outcomes and/or population health. NCSMH also secondarily considered other typical research indices (e.g., publications, h-index, funding, quantity).
Dr. Furlong will be presenting his remarks titled, “Diminished Adolescent Social Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” during the Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health. Dr. Furlong’s talk will be held during the Symposia Breakout Sessions on Friday, October 14th from 12:45-3 pm PST. His session will be Symposia Session S.08 as part of the Education-Mental Health Integration and Collaboration Track.
This year’s School Mental Health Research Award recipient will cover his career and perspective on school mental health research in our larger cultural context, the ongoing pandemic, and broader socio-political turmoil. This presentation will highlight the importance of socioemotional well-being and global citizenship in creating a society that is better for all people. The role and responsibilities of researchers will be discussed as well as how school mental health research can adapt to and account for the complexities youth are facing in the 2020s.
The National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine is a technical assistance and training center with a focus on advancing research, training, policy, and practice in school mental health. School mental health has, at its foundation, strong family-school-community partnerships with a shared goal of promoting positive academic and social-emotional-behavioral outcomes for all students.
Michael Furlong is a distinguished professor emeritus & interim co-dean emeritus of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School. Furlong also served as Associate Dean for Research of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education (2016-18) and as a Professor and Chair in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. He taught in the GGSE from 1982-1985 and 1990-2018. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 16, School Psychology) and the American Educational Research Association. Between 2008-2015 he was the Editor of the Journal of School Violence and co-edited three volumes of the Handbook of Positive Psychology in the Schools (2009, 2014, 2021). He carries out his research with colleagues in the International Center for School-Based Youth Development. He earned his Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara.