Faculty & Staff

Faculty

Hewitt B. "Rusty" Clark, PhD, BCBA Professor Emeritus Director: National Network on Youth Transition (NNYT) Send an email View Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Hewitt B. Clark, best known as “Rusty,” is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Child & Family Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at the University of South Florida and is the Director of the National Network on Youth Transition.  Dr. Clark has developed and researched various innovative programs and has published extensively, with five books and more than 130 professional research publications to his credit.  He is the lead-editor of the book entitled: Transition of Youth and Young Adults with Emotional or Behavioral Difficulties: An Evidence-Supported Handbook.  His commitment to young people and their parents is reflected in his having invited them to serve as co-authors for each of the chapters. 

Dr. Clark developed and researched the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model to function as a community-based engagement and intervention program for working with youth and young adults (14-29 years of age) with severe mental health conditions and associated problems (e.g., substance use, chronic trauma, unemployment).  The TIP Model is an evidence-supported practice that is being implemented in communities, counties, and states across the nation and in regions of Canada and in a few areas internationally.  Dr. Clark continues to research and refine the program and its fidelity processes to ensure the implementation, effectiveness, and sustainability of the TIP Model.  He has also recently published another research article on the outcomes of the youth and young adults being served in a large-scale community collaborative (Bohs, Lawrence, & Clark, 2021).    

Dr. Clark has extensive experience in conduction competency-based training events, teaching courses, and presenting workshops and keynote addresses at conferences.  When he presents focuses on conveying the principles underlying a given topic, but also in providing clear examples, illustrations, and resources to assist participants in applying relevant strategies and tools.  

When Dr. Clark is not conducting research, writing, doing guest lectures or consulting, or walking with his wife in St Petersburg Florida -- he enjoys his avocations of sailing the Gulf of Mexico and other seas -- and photographing wildlife.  If fact, with his trip to the Antarctic where he observed the penguins and other wildlife of the region, he has now been on all seven continents of the world.