In September 2013, CASCW received a grant from the National Science Foundation to increase the capacity of the Minn-LInK project to conduct data-intensive, interdisciplinary research to understand child well-being. The grant helped expand the infrastructure of the project, organize a community of researchers, and created a pilot Doctoral Fellowship program. This month, Minn-LInK welcomed the first cohort of doctoral Fellows to CASCW.

The Fellows went through a rigorous application process last spring, and once selected, worked closely with Minn-LInK staff to prepare for the Fellowship program. All five selected Fellows participated in a week-long institute to become more familiar with cross-systems data and to better understand the complexities of the research that lies ahead of them.

CASCW is very excited to welcome the five Fellows, who come from a variety of backgrounds at the University:

Minhae Cho, School of Social Work, will examine the trajectories of cross-over youth and timing of school disciplinary incidents and juvenile court involvement;

Sarah Cronin, Department of Educational Psychology – Counseling Psychology, will examine school resource and geographical differences in MCA scores for middle school students;

Adele Dimian, Department of Educational Psychology — Special Education, will be examining the effects of Medicaid-enrolled children receiving early intervention services for Autism Spectrum Disorder on special education placement in public schools;

Dylan Galos, School of Public Health, will examine the educational effects of intergenerational maltreatment for children whose parents were both victims and offenders in the child protection system; and

Aleksis Kincaid, Department of Educational Psychology – School Psychology, will examine the outcomes of students with disabilities in the juvenile court system.

The students will spend the 2015-2016 academic year carrying out these research projects using Minn-LInK data with mentorship from Minn-LInK staff and University of Minnesota faculty. Each student will complete a Minn-LInK Brief in the spring/summer of 2016, as well as prepare their work for conferences, peer-reviewed publications, and translation for the practice community. Check out our Minn-LInK Fellowship page for more information about the program, staff, and Fellows.