Dr. Jamie Gajos, from the Department of Human Development & Family Studies, was recently awarded a K01 Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award from the NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The funding of this award will go towards a proposed project which will use a geographically-explicit ecological momentary assessment (GEMA) approach combined with EMA with GPS data to identify health-risk locations to test the distinct and interactive contributions of daily stressors, discrimination, and spatial contextual risk on substance use, mental health, and outcomes of drug treatment court (DTC) in a sample of young adults enrolled in the first month of DTC. We are so proud of Dr.Gajos and look forward to this upcoming project!

Dr. Cox and Dr. Kois have been awarded a grant from The Sozosei Foundation, a philanthropic organization aiming to help decriminalize mental illness. This award was a part of The Sozosei Foundation's $4 million dollar grant to aid 29 different organizations working to eliminate the inappropriate use of correctional facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. This grant will support endeavors such as establishing this SBHL initiative as well as the implementation of the 9-8-8 hotline for mental health crises and suicide prevention in Alabama. 

​Throughout the U.S., criminal justice and behavioral health stakeholders are allocating increasing attention, time, and resources to behavioral health crisis response and jail diversion. In January 2021, a team of stakeholders from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Police Department, Indian Rivers Behavioral Health, DCH North Harbor, and NorthStar EMS first joined with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to identify the Tuscaloosa community's barriers to much-needed crisis services, particularly for community members with serious behavioral health problems and contact with law enforcement, and to develop creative solutions to address these community-wide issues. Technical Assistance provided by SAMHSA has been invaluable and we are eager to further engage the community in this process. Complimentary parking and continental breakfast. The event will also be live streamed for those wishing to attend virtually. 
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UA's Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health Initiative (CJBHI) brings together researchers across the UA campus in areas related to criminal justice, policing, forensic mental health and health disparities, and public policy. With ALRI's support, the CJBHI is pleased to host this event for the Tuscaloosa community.