The Behavioral Research and Training Institute

The Behavioral Research and Training Institute is a non-profit, interdisciplinary research, training, and consulting service of University Behavioral HealthCare of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The Institute has a dual mission. First, the Institute conducts clinical and community research designed to improve access, quality, and outcomes of clinical mental health treatment with children and adults, and in addressing a variety of community mental health issues including prevention and treatment of trauma. The Division of Research coordinates the participation of multi-disciplinary investigators in research projects at University Behavioral HealthCare and in communities within the state of New Jersey. Many of our research programs are integrated with the training mission of the Institute. Participating investigators include faculty of UMDNJ, Rutgers University, and other institutionally and non-institutionally related researchers. The ongoing research program is both extramurally and intramurally supported.

Second, the Institute helps schools, community groups, businesses, healthcare institutions, human service agencies, and others develop and implement research-validated interventions for a range of behavioral problems ranging from trauma to violence prevention. This is done through training, technical assistance, and direct service provision. Programs range from the Social Decision Making/Problem solving curriculum provided in schools throughout the state to the SANKOFA anti-violence program provided in a variety of contexts, from schools to juvenile justice facilities. Other programs at the Institute include the Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth project which coordinates twenty countywide coalitions that provide a collaborative and coordinated mental health response to a global or community crisis affecting school-aged youth. The Institute's Technical Assistance Center provides an array of training and technical assistance offerings to mental health clinicians throughout the state designed to translate science into practice. The Institute also conducts training for New Jersey's Division of Child Behavioral Health Services project. The Institute's Training and Consultation Resources conducts an ambitious in-service training program for staff throughout University Behavioral HealthCare.