Faculty & Staff
Faculty
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Cathy Sowell, MSW, LCSWAssociate in ResearchPhone: 813-974-3628 |
Research Interests:
Child, adolescent, and family mental health and wellbeing, child welfare and mental health system innovation and implementation, suicide prevention; transition age youth and young adult services; mental and physical health service integration; social justice and service equity
Cathy Sowell is a clinical social worker and faculty member in the Department of Child and Family Studies and co-director of the Child and Family Behavioral Health division. She directs the Children’s Mental Health Graduate Certificate Program and is a focus area lead for the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health master’s program.
Her experience at USF includes providing technical assistance, consultation and evaluation with child welfare, early childhood, mental health, public health, substance abuse and related social service systems and organizations nationally and locally to help design, implement, evaluate, improve and sustain services for individuals, children and families. Topically, this work has involved early childhood development, family preservation, suicide prevention, transition age youth and young adult services, substance abuse intervention, mental and physical health service integration, teen pregnancy prevention, social justice, and serious emotional and mental health challenges.
Her current and recent projects include Making Connections, a Movember Foundation funded initiative to promote mental health and wellbeing among men and boys by developing community-driven prevention efforts; the Personal Responsibility Education Innovative Strategies (PREIS), Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program; Florida Project LAUNCH, a SAMHSA funded initiative to promote the wellness of families with young children; Now Is The Time Technical Assistance Center, supporting SAMHSA funded Now is The Time Healthy Transitions programs to improve services for adolescents and young adults with and at-risk of developing serious mental health conditions; evaluation of Utah’s and Florida’s IV-E Waiver child welfare initiative, and Florida’s Medicaid managed care plan for children and youth in child welfare. Cathy has been a licensed clinical social worker and qualified clinical supervisor in Florida since 1998.
Recent Publications
Yampolskaya, S., Sowell, C., Walker-Egea, C., Hanak-Coulter, J., & Pecora, P. J. (2024). Family Intensive Treatment for child welfare involved caregivers with substance misuse issues: Safety, permanency and well-being outcomes. Clinical Social Work Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-023-00917-8
Yampolskaya, S., Sowell, C., & Walker, C. (2024). Family Intensive Treatment (FIT) outcomes report. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences.
McNeish Taormina, Massey, T., Walker-Egea, C., Sowell, C., Rigg, K. K., Simmons, C., & Tran, Q. (2023). Building capacity to create community change (BC4): A model to support successful program planning and implementation. Evaluation and Program Planning, 97, 102225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2023.102225
Yampolskaya, S., Sowell, C., Walker, C., & Pecora, P. (2023). Nurturing Parenting Program (NPP) outcomes report. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences.