Index: » About the Harrell Center » Research Directions » Education and Training » Policy and Advocacy » The Community » Harrell Center Leadership » Director and Associate Director » Senior Research Scientists » Executive Committee » Harrell Center Staff

ABOUT THE HARRELL CENTER


The mission of the Harrell Center is to develop and integrate knowledge with best practices to strengthen community responses to family violence. In addition to its director, associate director, and advisory board members, the Center has six senior research scientists who provide consultation in carrying out the goals of the Center.

The Harrell Center was created through a private endowment by James and Jennifer Harrell. Located at the University of South Florida’s (USF) College of Public Health, the Center collaborates extensively with the USF Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute as well as local, state, national and international agencies and other universities.

The Harrell Center is designed to conduct and translate research into usable information for practitioners, to provide education and training, and to serve as a resource and advocacy center for the public and professionals. The Center provides an education site for students and involves an interdisciplinary faculty from public health, social work, mental health, aging, and other fields.

Research Directions

The Harrell Center's current research explores such issues as the prevention of violence including workplace violence and elder mistreatment, the prevalence of family violence in South and Central America, evaluation of local programs that provide legal and social services to family violence victims and their children, and the effectiveness of court and offender treatment programs. The Harrell Center is involved in research on the local, national and international level.

Education and Training


The Center provides support for the educational mission of the Department of Community and Family Health in the College of Public Health. Faculty located at the Center offer graduate level courses in various aspects of family violence. This educational mission is further extended through the offering of the Certificate in Violence and Injury: Prevention and Intervention.

The certificate is for students, professionals and service providers who seek a specialization in Violence and Injury but who do not necessarily want to complete a Master of Public Health program. The certificate involves a 13-15 credit hour course of study, and the Center is in the process of making the courses for this certificate available online.

The Center also provides continuing education with particular focus on training for law enforcement, health, mental health and social service providers. The Center provides web-based training courses for health professionals and family mediators. The comprehensive content includes types of family violence, prevalence, risk factors, causes, consequences, as well as information on abusers, victims and interventions. It is available through the University of South Florida’s Department of Continuing Professional Education at:

http://www.cme.hsc.usf.edu/online/dvmediation

http://www.cme.hsc.usf.edu/online/dvhealth


Resource Center


The Center provides resource information including research information, references, videos, and literature. These materials are available to the public and professionals locally, nationally and internationally.

• Web site: http://harrellcenter.hsc.usf.edu
• Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute Library


Policy Analysis and Advocacy


Harrell Center Policy activities include:
• Monitoring family violence legislation.
• Examining the effectiveness of policy issues that influence all forms of family violence.
• Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs.


The Community


The Center builds upon successes in Florida, especially in Hillsborough County, by providing a wide variety of family violence services through the combined efforts of many agencies including the Spring of Tampa Bay, the Child Abuse Council, the newly developed Family Justice Center of Hillsborough County and many others.

Children’s Board, and the Pinellas County Juvenile Welfare Board. The Harrell Center was established by a gift from James and Jennifer Harrell to the College of Public Health through the University of South Florida Foundations, Inc.

Policy and Advocacy


Harrell Center Policy activities include:

» Monitoring family violence legislation.
» Examining the effectiveness of policy issues that influence all forms of family violence.
» Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs.


The Community


The Center builds upon successes in Florida, especially in Hillsborough county where the center is located, which, through the combined efforts of many agencies, has seen a decline in domestic violence homicides. As a community, the county collaborates to connect services in order to provide the most effective responses to family violence for victim's and perpetrators.

Almost 30 agencies provide these and other services:

» Community Education
» Health and Mental Health Services
» Job Services
» Legal Intervention
» Medical Services
» Offender Intervention Services
» Social Services
» Victim Services

Harrell Center Leadership

Director:
Martha L. Coulter, M.S.W., Dr.P.H.
813-974-7829
mcoulter@health.usf.edu

Professor, Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health
University of South Florida.

	View/Download Curriculum Vitæ

Dr. Coulter serves as Director of the James and Jennifer Harrell Center for the Study of Family Violence, and is Professor in the Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health at the University of South Florida. Dr. Coulter's various community relationships combined with her national and international academic and professional accomplishments provide strong leadership for The Harrell Center. She is a certified family mediator and is considered an expert in domestic violence and its impact on children and families. She has an extensive publication record in the area of domestic violence, and has taught various courses at the graduate level on violence and maternal and child health at the College of Public Health.

Associate Director:
Carla VandeWeerd, PhD
813-974-7773
cvandewe@health.usf.edu
Assistant Professor, Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health
University of South Florida

	View/Download Curriculum Vitæ

Dr. VandeWeerd is the Associate Director of the James and Jennifer Harrell Center for the Study of Family Violence, and is Assistant Professor in the Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health at the University of South Florida. She has extensive knowledge of domestic violence and its impact on families. She has strong methodological and statistical expertise, and teaches courses on applied research methods and statistics to doctoral students in the College of Public Health.

Katherine Kuehnle, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor Department of Mental Health Law and Policy Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute University of South Florida		Karen Liller, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Community and Family Health College of Public Health University of South Florida
Gregory Paveza, Ph.D. Professor School of Social Work University of Connecticut		Wayne Westhoff, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Global Health College of Public Health University of South Florida
Yiliang Zhu, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics College of Public Health University of South Florida		Randy Borum, Psy.D. Associate Professor Department of Mental Health Law and Policy Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute University of South Florida
Executive Committee Jean Amuso, M.S.W., Chair Martha L. Coulter, Dr.P.H., Director Paul D'Agostino, L.C.S.W., Development Nikki Daniels, L.C.S.W. Robert Friedman, Ph.D. Nell Gottlieb, Ph.D. James N. Harrell Jennifer M. Harrell Charles S. Mahan, M.D. M. N. Manougian, Ph.D. Jeannine Coreil, Ph.D. Sgt. William Rousseau		Paul D'Agostino,Martha L. Coulter and Jean Amuso
Harrell Center Staff
Nicole Bafford, B.A. Assistant to the Director 813-974-7832 nbafford@health.usf.edu		Erika Coles Office Assistant 813-974-7069 ecoles@health.usf.edu
Graduate Research Assistants
Swagata Majumdar, M.H.A. 813-396-9435 smajumda@health.usf.edu		Cara de la Cruz, M.P.H. 813-974-7838 cdelacru@health.usf.edu
Lianne Fuino Estefan, M.P.H. 813-974-7837 lestefan@health.usf.edu.		Harini Dantu, B. Tech 813-974-7835 hdantu@health.usf.edu
Sarah Smith, B.A. sasmith@health.usf.edu