Director
Mark D. Weist received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Virginia Tech in 1991 after completing his internship at Duke University, and is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina (USC). In 1995, with colleagues from the University of Maryland, he established the National Center for School Mental Health, now in its 26th year of supporting this field (see www.schoolmentalhealth.org). He is also a partner on the National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (see www.pbis.org). He has edited or developed 15 books and has published and presented widely in areas of mental health-education system partnerships, school behavioral health (SBH), trauma, violence and youth, evidence-based practice, cognitive behavioral therapy, supporting military families, and advancing policies that support children and youth at local, state, regional, national, and international levels of scale. With colleagues, he currently leads the Southeastern School Behavioral Health Community (see www.schoolbehavioralhealth.org), and is leading or co-leading a number of federally funded studies on strategies to improve SBH effectiveness, impact and scaling up. Mark recently received the Faculty Achievement Award from the Southeastern Conference (campus winner from the USC).
Staff
Susan Barrett, MA, serves as a Co-Director, Technical Assistance School Behavioral
Health Team
University of South Carolina and Implementer Partner with the Center on Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports (PBIS). She assists with large-scale implementation of
PBIS; partners with researchers to evaluate the impact of PBIS on students, school
staff, and school communities. She also co-leads the development of the Interconnected
Systems Framework, a mental health and PBIS expansion effort. Susan has been published
in the areas of large-scale adoption of PBIS, mental health, cost-benefit analysis,
advanced tier system development, and adoption of evidence-based practices in schools.
Vittoria is a Research Associate, School District Coach, and Legislative Lead for the School Behavioral Health Team (SBHT) at USC. She earned her Ph.D. (2013) and M.A. (2011) in School Psychology from USC, and her B.A. in Psychology (2007) from Florida Gulf Coast University. After practicing school psychology in South Carolina K-12 public schools, Vittoria began working with SBHT in 2023. With 10 years of experience in public education, Vittoria is adapting that expertise into translational research to support students, families, and educators across the state. As SBHT Legislative Lead, Vittoria monitors and discusses policy on education and related sectors with federal and state legislators. Outside of work, Vittoria enjoys good coffee, books, running, and spending time with her husband, son, and cat (Howard).
Courtnie completed her Doctorate of Psychology at the Georgia School of Professional Psychology in September 2016 and her Bachelor
of Arts in Psychology at the University of South Carolina in 2010. She completed an
APA accredited internship in health psychology at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and
a post-doctoral fellowship in developmental-behavioral pediatrics with Greenville
Health System. Dr. Smith became a part of the School Behavioral Health Team in October
2017 and has since co-managed SBHT and managed multiple grants and contracts aimed at improving the quality of school
mental health services in South Carolina. Dr. Smith works closely with the South Carolina
Department of Mental Health and also works with the USC Institute for Families in Society. Most recently, Dr. Smith received funding for
Enhancing Capacity in School Mental Health from BlueCross® BlueShield® of South Carolina
Foundation to create an undergraduate internship and graduate school mental health
enhancement to help close the gaps in school mental health services and increase the
recruitment of a well-trained school mental health workforce.
Distinguished research professor emerita at the University of South Carolina, earned
her undergraduate degree in psychology from South Carolina State University and her
doctoral degree in clinical-community psychology from the University of South Carolina.
Currently she serves as program consultant with the School Behavioral Heath Team.
As a leader in South Carolina, Dr. Motes has facilitated partnerships among mental health, juvenile justice, schools,
and community organizations for the translation of research evidence into programs
and services supporting youth and their families, including children enrolled in Medicaid
and adults who are uninsured. With a primary focus on positive youth development,
Dr. Motes has led a range of projects including systems of care to promote positive
mental health outcomes for children, youth, and their families, statewide policy studies
on the overrepresentation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system, a volunteer
community-based program of support to families in crisis or with acute needs, a mentoring
initiative for children and families affected by incarceration, and efforts to prevent
bullying in schools. She joined the School Behavioral Health Team in August 2018.
Prior to joining the SBHT, Dr. Motes was research professor in the Institute for Families
in Society, University of South Carolina.
Brooke graduated from Christopher Newport University with a degree in Communication Studies
in 2004. Brooke worked for over a decade in nonprofit management and completed her
Master of Social Work degree at the University of South Carolina in 2015. She joined
the School Behavioral Health Team (SBHT) in 2019 and serves as the Lead Research Manager
across several grants including the Early Supports for Student Success (ESSS) project and the Partnering for Student Wellness (PSW) project. Both inside and outside of work,
Brooke excels at excellence and defies the odds. At 5’1”, starting at power forward,
she brings the heat! With all the charm of a chubby checkers champion, Chehoski chews up the competition. She puts the ZING in amazing and has been previously described
as a national treasure. Brooke has been unanimously voted the most interesting person in our lab.
Taylor graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.A. in Sociology in 2010 and an Education Specialist degree in 2015. She joined the School Behavioral Health Team (SBHT) in 2019 where she serves as a Research Associate. Taylor also serves as an instructor for University 101 Programs and is passionate about working with first-year students. She is a member of the State Advisory Committee on Mental Health in Schools and Communities and is a State Advisor on Social Emotional Learning in Schools with the Department of Education. Outside of her work in the SBHT, she works as a mental health practitioner specializing in the treatment of Trauma and Stressor related disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorders, Personality Disorders, and Suicidality. For self-care, Taylor loves spending time with her dog, Diesel.
Katie is a Research Assistant Professor at the Yvonne & Schuyler Moore Child Development Research Center in the College of Education at USC. She earned a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology with a quantitative concentration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served in the Education sector for 2 years with Peace Corps Ghana. She began collaborating with the School Behavioral Health Team (SBHT) in 2017 on the Project about School Safety, the first RCT to evaluate an implementation of the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) in elementary schools. A continuing member of the SBHT, she enjoys working with partner leaders to research, evaluate, develop, and support systems that honor and serve all children and families. In her downtime, Katie enjoys nature, movies, travel, and Disney!
Donna earned her graduate degree from the University of Texas at Dallas in Human Development and Childhood Disorders (HDCD) in 2008. After graduating, Donna worked as an Intervention Specialist and Assistant Director at the Warren Center, a non-profit agency that advocates, that serves and empowers the children and families impacted by developmental delays and disabilities. In 2016, Donna became Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Dallas in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences also serving as Clinical Advisor for the HDCD practicum and internship program, coordinating placements and providing reflective supervision. During the COVID-19 pandemic, because of an overwhelming need for identification of mental health needs in school aged children, Donna put her evaluation skills to good use conducting psychological assessments for students PK to 12th grade at a private neuropsychology consulting firm. Donna recently relocated to the Columbia area and joined the SBH team!
Lori joined the SBHT in August 2022 as program manager for the SC School Mental Health Academy. Lori joins SBHT after 20 years working with Waccamaw Center for Mental Health, a community mental health center with SC Department of Mental Health. Lori was Director of Children’s Services for 18 years overseeing treatment programs for children and families, including the second oldest school-based services program in the state.
Grad Students
Kris Figas is a doctoral student in the Clinical-Community Psychology Program. She
received her BA in Psychology from Miami University and EdS in School Psychology from
the University of Cincinnati. Kris is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist
(NCSP) with experience working with students aged 3-21 in diverse public and private
school settings. Kris’s research interests center on improving the dissemination
and implementation of evidence-based school behavioral health practices, with a focus
on the systems change process. She is also interested in program evaluation and the
intersection of research, practice, and policy.
Darien Collins, B.A. completed her undergraduate studies at the University of SC in
May 2019. After graduating, she worked as a Research Specialist on the School Behavioral
Health Team (SBHT) led by Dr. Mark Weist, where she managed undergraduate students
as they completed the 498/598 coursework within the research lab. Additionally, she
was an advanced research coordinator across several grants, including the Pee Dee
Resiliency Project (PDRP), the Project About School Safety (PASS), and evaluation
of the NAMI Ending the Silence program, as well as assisting with other SBHT tasks.
Darien is currently a Doctoral student in School Psychology at the University of SC.
Her research interests include mindfulness interventions and promotion of emotional
and behavioral wellness for positive youth development.
- Samantha Martinez
- Josh Bradley
- Carrissa Orlando
- Alex Roberts
- Cameron Massey
- Sami Hartley
- Tristan Collier