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Department of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry

Pilot Funding Opportunities

The ImplementatioN Science and Team Effectiveness in Practice (IN STEP) Children’s Mental Health Research Center offers funding to support pilot feasibility studies that leverage IN STEP Center resources. These studies will position investigators to address cross-cutting gaps and critical targets in community systems caring for children with mental health concerns. Projects will foster opportunities for early career investigators to benefit from the substantive and methodological expertise of IN STEP Center investigators.

2026 - 2027 Application Cycle Now Open

Applications due May 4th, 2026

Previous Awardees

Henry Joel Crume, Ph.D. MSW - UCSD

Team Effectiveness Processes in Child Welfare Services Child and Family Team Meetings

Awardee: Henry Joel Crume, Ph.D., MSW - UCSD

Co-Investigator(s): Danielle Fettes, Ph.D., Marisa Sklar, Ph.D.

Specific Aims

  1. Evaluate whether CFT members’ views of team mechanisms (goal specification, goal formulation,
    communication, coordination, trust, cohesion, and a sense of collective efficacy) are associated with how
    they understand the CFT meeting’s ability to connect youth and families to appropriate mental and behavioral health services.
  2. Compare how CFT members’ views of team mechanisms differ by meeting platforms (i.e., in-person,
    phone-based, video-based, or hybrid), platform preferences, and team characteristics (e.g., service
    providers, youth, families, or social workers).
  3. Explore responses to open-ended survey items wherein CFT members identified opportunities for improving mental and behavioral health service linkages for youth and families through the team decision-making process.

Alison Jobin, Ph.D. - CSUSM

Team Effectiveness Factors in the Implementation of Autism Evidence-Based Practices

Awardee: Alison Jobin, Ph.D. - CSUSM

Co-Investigator(s): Patricia Schetter, Ph.D., Aubyn Stahmer, Ph.D., Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Ph.D., Elizabeth Rangel, MA

Specific Aims

  1. Identify team inputs associated with implementation outcomes (Implementation Support Strategies, Provider EBP training completion, EBP Fidelity).  
  2. Identify team processes associated with implementation outcomes.

Prerna Martin, Ph.D. - UCLA

Building Effective Crisis Teams in School-based Mental Health to Reduce Youth Suicide ​

Awardee: Prerna Martin, Ph.D. - UCLA

Co-Investigator(s): Anna Lau, Ph.D. 

Specific Aims 

  1. To measure and characterize team emergent states in school teams implementing SAFETY-A in districts serving low-income ethnic minority youth. We will employ mixed methods to measure team-level
    shared mental models, psychological safety, trust, cohesion, and collective efficacy within school teams delivering SAFETY-A in the R34 (N=160 providers, 99 schools). We will characterize differences in TES across diverse school implementation contexts and examine changes in TES over time. Data from this aim will serve to isolate 1-2 promising team mechanisms to enhance team-based implementation of SAFETY-A in Schools.
  2. To explore if team emergent states within school teams are associated with SAFETY-A implementation outcomes, such as provider perceptions of acceptability, feasibility, adherence, and intentions to sustain SAFETY-A delivery. This exploratory aim allows us to test the application of the Team Effectiveness for Implementation Science model in this school-based implementation context.
  3. To examine if implementation leadership is associated with convergence of team shared mental models and psychological safety. Leadership across the inner school context and outer district-level context exert varying levels of influence on EBP implementation in schools. We hypothesize that higher implementation leadership will be associated with greater convergence of shared mental models of SAFETY-A implementation and enhanced psychological safety within school-based implementation teams.

Melina Melgarejo, Ph.D. - SDSU

Preparing Educators to Support Dual Language Learners with Autism: A Teaming Intervention

Awardee: Melina Melgarejo, Ph.D. - SDSU

Co-Investigator(s): Jessica Suhrheinrich, Ph.D. - SDSU

Specific Aims:

  1. Develop the ECHO-DLL program and form Hub team of experts.
  2. Provide ECHO-DLL program to school-based teams.
  3. Evaluate relationships between team inputs, team mechanisms, and implementation outcomes.

Rachel Schuck, Ph.D. - SDSU 

Exploring Team Implementation Factors of Vocational Training for Autistic Transition-Age Youth 

Awardee: Rachel Schuck, Ph.D. - SDSU 

Co-Investigator(s): Mary Baker-Ericzen, Ph.D. 

Specific Aims

  1. Elucidate team mechanisms (such as communication, leadership, shared mental models, etc.) that are functioning well in vocational transition programs and identify which may need additional support.  
  2. Ascertain team members’ perspectives on implementation outcomes (e.g acceptability) and identify variations in such outcomes based on team inputs (e.g., team member characteristics) and school site. 
  3. Understand strategies that transition team members feel would be helpful in enhancing team effectiveness within the context of implementing a program such as TAY SUCCESS. 

Ryan Singh, Ph.D. - Oregon Social Learning Center

The Impact of Partnerships and Team-Effectiveness in Supporting the Implementation of Preventive Interventions for Families in Community-Based Settings

Awardee: Ryan Singh, Ph.D. - Oregon Social Learning Center

Co-Investigator(s): Lisa Saladana, Ph.D. 

Specific Aims:  

  1. Conduct a rapid qualitative assessment of team processes and emergent states impacting
    active support for PRE-FAIR during the implementation period. Through semi-structured interviews of key SSP and CWS leadership, supervisors, and frontline staff (N = 18), an assessment will be employed to contextualize the mechanisms that lead to active support for PRE-FAIR implementation. Team process mechanisms (i.e., goal specification, communication, coordination) have been activated, whereas less is understood regarding emergent state mechanisms. Based on the potential of a shared mental model in improving coordination, a sub-aim is proposed: Work with partners to conceptualize a shared mental model of team tasks related to supporting PRE-FAIR.
  2. Synthesize findings from Aim 1 with PRE-FAIR outcome data from provider agencies to
    develop recommendations for a distrainment plan to share with partners. PRE-FAIR outcome data (e.g.,
    number of PRE-FAIR referrals over time) from two provider agencies, collected as part of routine performance monitoring, will be compiled with findings from Aim 1. With input from partners, a report will be developed and shared, first with local SSP and CWS leadership, and then with state DHS leadership to help make recommendation for the most effective ways that local systems can work synergistically with partners at the community level to implement and then sustain preventive interventions for the benefit of children and families.

Sara Chung, Ph.D. - UCSF, and Yesenia Mejia, Ph.D. - UCSD

Exploring Psychological Safety in Racially/Ethnically Diverse School Mental Health Teams 

Awardees: Sara Chung, Ph.D. - UCSF, and Yesenia Mejia, Ph.D. - UCSD

Co-Investigator(s): Lauren Haack, Ph.D., Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Ph.D., and Linda Pfiffner, Ph.D. 

Specific Aims 

  1. Measure observed team psychological safety in diverse school mental health (SMH) teams with Asian American (AA) and Latin caregiving team members. 
  2. Examine the convergent and predictive validity of the psychological safety observational measure (PSOM) in diverse SMH teams implementing an Evidence-based theory (EBT). 
  3. Examine qualitative data on caregiving team members’ perception of psychological safety in SMH teams to contextualize results. 

Christina Yuan, Ph.D., MPH - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Rheanna E. Platt, MD, MPH - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 

Bringing interpreters into the care team: identifying team-based implementation strategies to optimize the role of language access services in child mental health settings   

Awardees: Christina Yuan, Ph.D., MPH - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Rheanna E. Platt, MD, MPH - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 

Co-Investigator(s): Ligia Paina, Ph.D., MHS, Monica Guerrero Vazquez, MS, MPH, Ph.D., Takeru Igusa, Ph.D., and Lindsey Zimerman, Ph.D.

Specific Aims

  1. Engage community partners to develop a conceptual model of how health system teams form and function to provide mental health care to youth in Language Preference Other than English (LPOE) families.
  2. Use participatory modeling to identify team-based implementation strategies for increasing timely access to language services in youth mental health care. 

 

Katherine Pickard, PhD. - Emory University

A Comparison of Two School Based Interventions to Manage Anxiety in Autistic Students

Awardee: Katherine Pickard, PhD. - Emory University

Co-Investigator: Reaven, Judith PhD, JFK Partners, University of Colorado School of Medicine 

Specific Aims: 

  1. Examine the relationship between interdisciplinary school team processes, perceptions of team effectiveness, and the adoption and implementation of graded exposure when delivered to autistic students. 
  2. Evaluate the extent to which team processes predict the adoption and fidelity of graded exposure above and beyond individual school providers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards delivering graded exposure to autistic students.
  3. Explore the relevance of individual-, team-, and school-based implementation strategies to increase the adoption and use of graded exposure within public schools.