Center of Excellence | Centro de Excelencia
The Atrévete Center of Excellence for Latinx/Hispanic Social Work Practice is designed to build a pipeline of Latinx students from high schools and community colleges to the Accelerated B.S.W. to M.S.W. program, recruit and retain Latinx faculty, facilitate student-faculty research on cultural adaptations of evidence-based interventions, and build community partnerships to provide experiential learning for the clinical social work students.
Directly Combatting a State Inequity
Housed inside the School of Social Work at Rhode Island College, and funded through a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Center of Excellence (COE) was created to fill the void of racial and cultural diversity in Rhode Island's behavioral healthcare workforce. By 2027, the COE anticipates it will add as many as 55 trained bilingual providers to the state.
"Latinx/Hispanics in Rhode Island experience the highest rates of fair/poor health overall among all racial and ethnic groups in the state. Moreover, all these factors result in a greater risk of behavioral health problems for Hispanics in Rhode Island."
5 Major Goals
The mission of the center is multifaceted and it plans to address these goals:
A Pipeline
- create a pipeline of Latinx students from high schools and community colleges to Rhode Island College's B.S.W. and eventually M.S.W. programs (specializing in clinical social work)
Recruiting and Retaining
- recruit and retain Latinx faculty at the School of Social Work
Community Partnerships and Experiential Learning
- build community partnerships to provide experiential learning for clinical social work students
Revamping Curriculum
- strengthen curriculum to address issues regarding Hispanic and other minority populations
Culturally Responsive Research
- conduct research on culturally adapted evidence-based interventions for mental health issues that impact the Latinx and Hispanic community
Focus Areas for Success
Our lead staff members are responsible for necessary, varied, yet complimentary focus areas that will be pivotal in fulfilling our goals as a center. Our focus areas consist of:
- curriculum and training development, including interprofessional practice competencies
- student recruitment, mentoring, retention, and graduation
- student-faculty research
- faculty development
- community partnerships
Our Team
Principal Investigator: Jayashree Nimmagadda, Ph.D., MSW, LICSW; Co-Director of the Center: Joise Garzon, Ph.D., MSW, LICSW; Co-Director of the Center: Vilna Tejeda DSW, MSW, LICSW; Faculty Development Coordinator: Aswood Bousseau DSW, MSW, LICSW; Student Recruitment Coordinator: Mary Archibald Ph.D., MSW, LICSW; Evaluator: Dr. Daniel Weisman, Ph.D., MSW; Evaluation Coordinator: Amanda Monaghan, MSW, LICSW
Dr. Jayashree Nimmagadda
- Professor
Dr. Joise M. Garzon
- Assistant Professor
Dr. Vilna I. Tejeda
- Assistant Professor
Ms. Estrellita Y. Moronta
- Assistant Professor
Dr. Aswood Bousseau
- Associate Professor
Dr. Mary J. Archibald
- Assistant Professor
Dr. Daniel Weisman
- Professor Emeritus
Amanda Monaghan
- Project Evaluation Coordinator
Our Scholars
Our Funding
The Center is generously funded through a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
This project is supported by the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) in Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Making Change | Haciendo el Cambio
The Atrévete Center of Excellence for Latinx/Hispanic Social Work Practice plans to add up to 55 bilingual providers across Rhode Island by 2027.
Subsidio tiene como objetivo aumentar la atención de salud conductual de los latinos en Rhode Island
Este subsidio financiará la capacitación en servicios clínicos esenciales, referentes a la salud conductual, que buscan ayudar a las comunidades hispanas en todo el estado
Our Center in the News
Providence Business News
RIC social work student Julianna Alcantra, center, participates in the welcome event held by Atrévete Center of Excellence for Latinx/Hispanic Social Work Practice at the start of the fall semester. With her is, from the foreground, fellow students Vanessa Sanchez and Olivia Campos and Rhode Island Free Clinic Practicum Supervisor and Behavioral Health Clinician, Crissany Nazario.
12 Informa
Rhode Island College (RIC) abrio un centro nuevo para reclutar y entrenar estudiantes y profesores latinos para el programa de trabajo social.
Poder 1110 Entrevista Radial
Poder 1110 habla con la doctora Vilna Tejeda y Crissanny Nazario, supervisora clínica en la Clínica Libre de RI.