Awards Announced, Social Justice Training for Undergrads

YOUTH-NEX FUNDS FOUR NEW PROJECTS
Youth-Nex has awarded seed grants to support the development of studies with translational and community-engaged focus in the Center's three new areas of focus 1) middle school, 2) out-of-school time, and 3) youth engagement. The following projects are being funded:

“Evaluating the Impact of Youth-Police Dialogues on Police: A Seed Funding Proposal for Survey Development”
PIs: Rachel Wahl, Jessika Bottiani
This project will lead to the development of a new survey measure to assess police officers’ attitudes and behaviors towards youth of color, which will be used to investigate officers’ responses to police-youth dialogue.
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“Roots and Wings: Promoting Positive Youth Development and Educational Equity in Charlottesville Middle Schools through Integrated Music Programming”
PIs: Emily Morrison, Jessika Bottiani
The Front Porch is a non-profit roots music school located in downtown Charlottesville whose mission is to make music inclusive, affordable, and accessible to all. The overarching purpose of this translational research project is to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability of music arts-integrated core subject instruction as a strategy for promoting positive youth development and educational equity for middle school youth in Charlottesville.
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“Engaging Conflict-affected Youth in Thailand’s Deep South for the Promotion of Peace
and Wellbeing”
PI: Amanda Nguyen, Co-PI: Jenny Roe
Youth in Thailand’s Deep South have grown up in the midst of a protracted armed conflict that has resulted in a highly militarized and economically depressed environment. This needs assessment will inform what type of intervention may be suitable to promote wellbeing in Thai youth, and engage youth in peace making processes to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of violence.
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“The Voice Project: Facilitating Youth Voice & Critical Social Analysis Among Black Boys in their Transition to High School”
PIs: Chauncey Smith, Daniel Fairley
The goal of this study is to examine the school and community experiences of Black boys in Charlottesville. Researchers hope this study will: 1) highlight the diversity and describe shared patterns in narratives about Black boys’ school and community experiences, 2) describe some helpful practices for facilitating youth programs for Black boys, and 3) center Black boys’ voices in the translation of research to practice.
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YOUTH-NEX ONE OF “2018’S MOST INFLUENTIAL” IN RESEARCH & EVALUATION
Youth-Nex was recognized by the National Afterschool Association (NAA) as one of 2018’s most influential research and evaluation organizations. The honor recognizes “individuals and organizations whose contributions to research and evaluation on afterschool and youth and adolescent development have resulted in stronger practices, higher quality programs and increased positive outcomes for children and youth.”
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INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM RECEIVES AWARD TO PROMOTE RACIAL JUSTICE
Youth-Nex, School of Law, and School of Architecture
Youth-Nex is part of a team of University of Virginia investigators that received a $25,000 Lumina Foundation grant to train UVA undergraduates and develop a curriculum to empower youth to promote racial justice. The Lumina Foundation’s Fund for Racial Justice and Equity will help fund one of UVA’s pan-University institutes, the Initiative for the Study of Equity Through Community Engaged Scholarship.

The team of researchers includes Dayna Bowen Matthew, the William L. Matheson and Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law and the F. Palmer Weber Research Professor of Civil Liberties and Human Rights at the UVA School of Law; Nancy Deutsch, Professor and Youth-Nex Director; and Barbara Brown Wilson, assistant professor, Urban and Environmental Planning, UVA School of Architecture. (pictured above: l to r: Dayna Bowen Matthew, Nancy Deutsch, Barbara Brown Wilson)

Deutsch is a leader on the pan-UVA institute initiative and said she is thrilled to see Lumina directing money towards racial justice on college campuses and extremely pleased to see the energy and initiative around this issue at UVA.

“It is time for colleges and universities to take racial climate on their campuses seriously,” Deutsch said. “What happened in Charlottesville last summer peeled the Band-Aid off of wounds that run deep. It is the responsibility of all institutions of higher education to dedicate resources to making our campuses not just positive climates where all students feel welcome, but also campuses where students are learning how to promote equity and social justice as change agents in their own communities.”
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MARK YU AWARDED NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP
"Exploring High-Quality and Culturally Responsive Math Afterschool Program Practices for Under-Represented Minority Youth"

Youth-Nex affiliated graduate student Mark Yu received an National Science Foundation (NSF) award in August 2018 as part of the Foundation's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Yu has been working under the mentorship of Professor Nancy Deutsch and completed his Ph.D. in May 2018.

Under the sponsorship of Sandra D. Simpkins at the University of California, Irvine, the NSF postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist exploring high-quality and culturally responsive math afterschool program practices for under-represented minority youth.

According to NSF, the project "seeks to understand how participating in a math enrichment afterschool program (ASP) supports both youth participants' and UG mentors' motivational beliefs in math; to describe high-quality and culturally responsive practices; and to understand how to support the effectiveness of youth-staff relationships. The invaluable insight garnered from this study will be disseminated to traditional academic audiences to advance knowledge, as well as to local, state, and national organizations to inform the larger landscape of practice in STEM ASPs.”

Yu received the following additional honors in 2018:

Award for Excellence in Graduate Diversity, University of Virginia
The award, sponsored by the Graduate and Postdoctoral Diversity Programs at UVA, recognizes the service of a student who has gone above and beyond the requirements of their graduate program, in an effort to promote excellence in diversity in their community, field and society.

Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, UVA Curry School of Education

Edgar F. Shannon Award, University of Virginia
“Since 1974, the University of Virginia’s Z Society has presented Edgar F. Shannon Awards to the ‘best’ graduating students from each of the university’s schools…. The definition of best student is intentionally left ambiguous because each of us pursues greatness in very different ways; however, the best student is an individual who has pursued academic greatness with fervent ardor and keen insight while never forgetting the importance of those priorities aside from school." Winners are determined based upon the recommendations of deans and students.

Recent publications include:
Yu, M. V. B. & Deutsch, N. L. (under review). Aligning social support to youth’s developmental needs: The role of non-parental youth-adult relationships in early and late adolescence. Applied Developmental Science.

Yu, M. V. B., Deutsch, N. L., Arbeit, M., Futch-Ehrlich, V. F., Johnson, H. E., & Melton, T. (under review). “It’s like all of his attention is on you”: A mixed-methods exploration of adolescent attachment, supportive non-parental youth-adult relationships, and self-esteem. Journal of Community Psychology.
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NEW SERIES ANNOUNCED for YN Faculty, Post-Docs, and Grad Students
This year Youth-Nex will be hosting two series of monthly works-in-progress meetings, both to be held on Thursdays from 12:30-1:45. The first set will be the traditional YN Works In Progress meetings (dates below). As in the past, a Youth-Nex affiliated faculty will present on-going work allowing time for discussion. Lunch will be provided. The second set of meetings is a new, more informal Brown Bag Lunch series. More details follow:

Fall 2018 Works in Progress
Thursdays, 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
September 20, 2018 - Details to come
October 18, 2018 - Joanna Lee Williams, Ph.D.
November 15, 2018 - Valerie Adams Bass, Ph.D.

Fall 2018 Brown Bag Series
Youth-Nex affiliated faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate students are invited to informally discuss their ongoing work. There will be no presentations or sign-ups for spaces. Rather this is a time to informally discuss developing or on-going projects and ideas and to get feedback on a paper or grant being written. It is also a time to network with potential collaborators for projects. We hope that it will provide for connections to be made across scholars in Youth-Nex and serve as a low-stakes way to receive quick feedback on ideas or work through project issues. If attendees do not have discussion items, participants will be encouraged to use the time for writing.

Thursdays, 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
September 6, 2018
October 4, 2018
November 1, 2018
November 29, 2018
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OUR DUTY TO CHILDREN SEPARATED AT THE BORDER: DEUTSCH AND GRABOWSKA PEN OP-ED
The Richmond Times-Dispatch published Professor Nancy Deutsch and Curry master's candidate Anita Grabowska's piece on the urgency for implementing trauma-informed practices. An excerpt follows.

“The harmful effects of the childhood trauma these kinds of experiences can occasion are well-documented. In the short term, effects manifest in the form of disproportionate emotional reactions, low self-esteem, self-destructive thoughts, and impulsive behaviors. And they have long-term consequences for our youth, potentially leading to depression, occupational impairment, drug use, obesity, diabetes, and a higher probability of future arrest.

Experiencing childhood trauma does not guarantee that these youth will suffer such long-term negative effects. In fact, children can show remarkable strength.

This is especially true when they are supported not only by warm, inviting settings and people who approach them, and their families, with compassion — but also, and even more significantly, by trauma-informed practices (TIPs) that can foster resiliency and promote positive long-term outcomes.”
The full piece, "Grabowska and Deutsch Column: Healing the wounds of trauma: Our duty to children separated at the border" is here.
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A BIG YN WELCOME!
Youth-Nex welcomes Abby, Heather, Johari, Latisha, and Edward.

Reimagining Middle School Program Officer
Abby Gillespie recently joined Youth-Nex as a program officer leading the YN Reimagining Middle School Initiative. Before coming to Youth-Nex, Abby was the Director of Strategy and Operations at GO Public Schools Oakland (California), an education nonprofit that informs, develops, and mobilizes families and educators to advocate for policy and practice changes for high-quality schools. She has been working closely with Nancy Deutsch on this new program area, one of the three new focus areas for Youth-Nex. Abby has spent the majority of her career in education, often in the capacity of supporting organizations to launch something new, strategically grow, and deepen and strengthen impact for students. In addition to her experience with GO Public Schools her professional background includes teaching on the east and west coasts, Chief of Staff at Peer Health Exchange, Education Pioneers Analyst Fellow at Bellwether Education Partners, research at The Hunt Institute, and management consultant in the healthcare industry.

New Faculty
Heather McDaniel, Ph.D.
Heather is an Assistant Professor of Education on the research faculty at Curry and a faculty affiliate of Youth-Nex. She received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a concentration in Quantitative Psychology and her M.A. in School Psychology from the University of South Carolina. Her research interests are focused on promoting positive social, emotional, behavioral and academic outcomes for youth and families through the implementation of school mental health services and utilization of advanced quantitative methodologies. In school mental health, her interests specifically focus on the implementation of evidence-based practices and the promotion of family involvement. Her methodological interests focus on improving measurement, analysis of longitudinal data and research design as applicable to promoting positive outcomes for youth in school. She has authored 10 peer-reviewed papers, as well as book chapters, editorials and a national report. In addition, she has assisted with extramurally-funded randomized, controlled trials in the school setting, and has secured intramural and extramural funding for her research.

New Postdoctoral Fellows
Johari Harris and Latisha Ross
Johari Harris graduated from Georgia State University (GSU) in May 2018 with a doctorate in Educational Psychology. During her tenure at GSU, she was a College of Education and Human Development Doctoral Dean’s Fellow and a Georgia State University Provost’s Dissertation Fellow. Harris examines how social identities, specifically race and gender, along with cultural values systems, such as Afro-centric values, influence African American adolescents social-emotional competencies. Her research is grounded in intersectionality, developmental psychology, and social psychology theories. Her sequential, explanatory mixed method dissertation used an intersectional lens to examine if and how African American males’ race, gender, and cultural orientations influenced their pro-social behaviors. She has developed and implemented culturally responsive curriculums focused on healthy relationships to African American middle school students. Additionally, she has conducted qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies with African American and South African middle school and high school students.

Latisha Ross' bio was unavailable at the time of this newsletter, but will be posted on the YN website soon!

New Graduate Student
Edward Scott, Jr. joins Youth-Nex as a first-year doctoral student in Curry’s Educational Psychology and Applied Developmental Science program. Prior to doctoral study, Edward served students and families as a social worker in an urban school district, facilitating the expansion of trauma-informed care practices, and school culture improvement initiatives. His professional background includes clinical mental health services, youth program development, and organizational development consulting. Edward is interested in adolescent leadership identity and sociopolitical development research. Under the mentorship of Nancy Deutsch and Chauncey Smith, Edward will begin exploring the relational and organizational contexts that effectively promote youth leadership, civic engagement, and psycho-social wellbeing.

A Departure
Ellen Daniels will be leaving Youth-Nex after 8 years with the center. (Full disclosure, that is me, the author of this newsletter). It has been a pleasure and an honor to work with such dedicated, venerable, and all around good human beings at Youth-Nex and Curry. Many thanks to the esteemed Patrick Tolan for this amazing opportunity and for one of the most positive work experiences I've had. And to Nancy Deutsch for being such a great human, and for making this transition truly manageable. Thank you to the wonderful Audrey Breen for just everything. And thanks to Crystal Haislip, the best colleague (and co-conference planner!) one could hope for. And many more, you know who you are.

Nancy urged me to include part of her email to YN affiliates about this announcement, so I will abide and do that here: "Ellen Daniels will be leaving Youth-Nex for a full-time position at the Contemplative Sciences Center—she has been splitting her time between the two centers for a while now and this transition will allow her to focus her energies and stretch and grow her role. Friday, 8/3, was her last official day at Youth-Nex. Ellen has been part of the Youth-Nex team since its inception, and even helped name the center. From the beginning she worked with Patrick Tolan to develop a communications strategy for YN that helped position the center both at UVA and nationally. She was invaluable in planning the conferences, as well as other events, and promoting out the accomplishments of Youth-Nex affiliates. She worked with Patrick to develop a number of communications strategies, including the YN blog and YouthSpeak. In my own transition to Director Ellen has been an incredible asset. I know I speak for many of you when I say that we at Youth-Nex will truly miss her."

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