For five years, SRI tested two case management models through the Community Service Demonstration Project. The results of this evaluation directed case management policy for the State's Division of Mental Health. A current project is studying optimal staffing ratios for community mental health centers across the nation. SRI has contracted with the Utah Department of Health to conduct a needs assessment and evaluation for programs funded under the Ryan White Care Act. The purpose of the study is to identify gaps in services and to evaluate the service network as a whole.
Evaluation focuses on client access to and satisfaction with four programs.
The School of Social Work has a long-standing commitment to provide training and research support to public child welfare agencies. In addition, ongoing research with the Division of Child and Family Services involves front line practice models, staff turnover and the effectiveness of the school's training partnerships. Multiple IV-E and U.S. Children's Bureau training grants promote new collaborative practices in the region addressing welfare reform, substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health, and child abuse and neglect. The U.S. Children's Bureau has also funded a two-year training and capacity building initiative to build child welfare systems in First Nations in the region. Barriers to self-sufficiency among long term welfare recipients are also being studied.