OUR MISSION

The Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health supports and promotes the use of centralized standards and best practices to advance behavioral health services for individuals with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbances, and co-occurring conditions.

WHAT WE DO

The Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health provides training, technical assistance, and fidelity monitoring for entities responsible for developing and implementing evidence-based practices for individuals with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, and co-occurring conditions.

TRAINING
Whether you want to improve existing skills or expand your horizons, our multi-disciplinary team developed a variety of trainings for a variety of audiences.

FIDELITY AND EVALUATION
Our subject matter experts are dedicated to providing formal, external reviews through a collaborative hands-on approach.

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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Backed by a team of experienced professionals, our strategic technical assistance meets the needs of varying stakeholders and deliver lasting changes with measurable growth.

AREAS OF FOCUS

The Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health currently provides technical assistance to behavioral health service providers and stakeholders who provide the following four areas of focus.

ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT (ACT)
Assertive community treatment is an intensive and highly integrated approach for community mental health service delivery for individuals with serious mental illness.

INDIVIDUAL PLACEMENT & SUPPORT (IPS)
Individual placement and support is a model of supported employment for people with serious mental illness and helps people living with behavioral health conditions work at regular jobs of their choosing.

PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING (PSH)
Permanent supportive housing is an intervention that combines permanent, affordable housing with voluntary support services designed to help tenants stay housed.

multiple people sitting in a circle, support group

SUICIDE PREVENTION
Suicide is a serious public health problem in the United States. Suicide prevention includes strategies, approaches, programs, practices, and education that work to prevent suicide. Suicide prevention requires a comprehensive approach, and everyone has a role to play in suicide prevention.

Meet the Team

The Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health is a multidisciplinary team of experts with specialized skills and knowledge in supporting, developing, and leading behavioral health services.

Caitlin Owens, LMSW

Program Director, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health; Associate Director, Center for Disabilities and Development: University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

Torie Keith, LMSW

Program Manager, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health

Alaina Elliott-Wherry, MPH

Program Coordinator, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health

Falicia Beck, LMSW

Program Coordinator, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health

Darcey Sebolt

Individual Placement & Support (IPS) State Trainer/Fidelity Reviewer, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health

Mandy Hatten, CESP

Individual Placement & Support (IPS) State Trainer/Fidelity Reviewer, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health

Michelle Johnston

Program Coordinator, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health

Dr. Nancy Williams, MD

Senior Consultant, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health; Medical Director, IMPACT; Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine

Meredith Field, MFA

Communications Manager, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health; Communications & Information Dissemination Manager, Center for Disabilities and Development: University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

Crissy Caganelli, MA

Senior Consultant, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health; Executive Director, Shelter House

Erin Sullivan

PSH Subject Matter Expert, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health; Housing Services Director, Shelter House

Tammie Amsbaugh, BA

Senior Consultant, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health; Program Manager, University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the Center for Disabilities and Development

Brad Richardson, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation; Research Director, The University of Iowa School of Social Work: National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice

Additional Research Staff:

Elisa Childs, Assistant Research Scientist
Sherry Gao, Assistant Research Specialist

Address

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
Center for Disabilities and Development
100 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, IA 52242

Phone

319-467-6787

Email

iowa-cebh@uiowa.edu