Pacific Oaks faculty were featured in a recent New York Times article for their outstanding work in creating the CHAMP (Community Health Action Mental Perseverance) program. The article is part of the New York Times’ ongoing special report about the pandemic’s continued impact on how society approaches education.
CHAMP was created by Camille Huggins, Ph.D., and Cassandra Peel, Ph.D., professors of social work, and Giovanni Hortua, adjunct professor of history and Latin American studies. The program consists of a series of workshops intended to provide parents with a toolkit for coping with grief and loss for themselves and their children.
According to the article, feelings of grief and loss, as well as resulting sadness and hopelessness, have drastically increased in students within the past two years—a trend that has been rising for a decade but accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. CHAMP is one of many innovative programs and strategies schools nationwide have put in place to help students process the effects of the last two-and-a-half years on their mental health.
The article features CHAMP along with similar programs and research focused on improving student mental health across the U.S., including TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students), the Rural Behavioral Health Institute, and True North. Pacific Oaks is proud to have the work of its faculty recognized among the important initiatives addressing this issue.
Read the full New York Times article here: Meeting the Mental Health Challenge in School and at Home
Learn more about Dr. Huggins, Dr. Peel, and social work at Pacific Oaks here: The next generation social worker
