Fellows

Anita P. Barbee, Professor and Distinguished University Scholar, Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville.  She and her colleagues have secured $48 million in extramural funding from numerous local, state and federal agencies such as the Children’s Bureau, Office of Family Assistance, Office of Adolescent Health, SAMHSA, and OJJDP in two major areas 1) interpersonal relationship formation and maintenance and the impact of relationship education on improving communication and parenting skills and reducing intimate partner violence and risky sexual behavior; 2) development, execution and evaluation of workforce and practice interventions, and capacity building in family and youth serving organizations such as child welfare, juvenile justice, and out of school time, youth serving agencies in order to improve policy, practice and outcomes for families, youth and children affected by trauma.  This work has led to hundreds of publications and presentations.

 Dr. Barbee is President-Elect of the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR) and is on the Executive Council of the National Staff Development and Training Association (NSDTA). She serves on the Editorial Boards of seven journals such as the Journal of Public Child Welfare and Personal Relationships.  She is a Fellow in Division 9 of American Psychological Association’s, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) and received the Dissertation Award in 1989 and the Miller Early Career Award in 1997 from IARR as well as the Lifetime Achievement and President’s Service Award from NSDTA in 2007 and 2014, respectively.  She has worked with numerous organizations such as the Brookings Institution, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Safe Place Network, and the Centers for Disease Control as well as 30 states and several countries to improve child welfare, education and pregnancy prevention services.