Social Welfare/Social Work Faculty   

 Office: Building 03, Room 2203
Phone: (904) 620-1640   
j.spaulding-givens@unf.edu

  Ph.D., MSW, Social Work, Florida State UniversityMental Health Policy, Program Evaluation, and Social Work Education  

I earned my Ph.D. in Social Work from Florida State University, where I also received my Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Social Policy and Administration.  My primary interests include mental health policy and program evaluation and the history and political economy of psychiatry.  I am also interested in social work education. 

My current research agenda is devoted to an examination of the self-directed care service delivery model.  In particular I am studying the Florida Self-Directed Care (FloridaSDC) Program, which is a state-funded mental health program for indigent individuals diagnosed with a severe and persistent mental illness.  In 2005 FloridaSDC was identified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as the only fully operational SDC program in the United States.  Given that FloridaSDC is currently the largest and most established SDC program in the country, it presents a unique research opportunity.  My dissertation research entailed a review of the records of a sample of FloridaSDC participants, allowing me to explore a number of research questions regarding participants' characteristics, histories, goals, service utilization, and outcomes.  These data, which are largely missing from the existing literature, have important implications for program planning, implementation, and evaluation. 

My teaching interests range from the history and analysis of social welfare policy to social work practice, administration, and program evaluation.  I routinely teach Social Welfare Institutions, Social Work Practice with Organizations and Community, the Community Agency Practicum and Practicum Seminar, and Inside the Asylum: A History of American Psychiatry. 

Vitae
 

Ross McDonough, Instructor and Fieldwork Director                                                                                                                                                                                          

Office: Building 03, Room 2206 

Phone: (904) 620-1653   

ross.mcdonough@unf.edu   

I earned my MSW from New York University in the Clinical Social Work Program.  I hold a license credential (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) in the State of Florida to practice psychotherapy and Clinical Social Work.  I also hold a certification credential (Certified Addiction Professional) to provide substance abuse treatment and evaluations in the State of Florida.

I have over ten years of Clinical Social Work practice experience.  I have worked with many populations including children, teens, adults, couples, families and groups.  I have worked in several different practice settings including hospitals, non-profit organizations, residential treatment facilities, outpatient clinics and in private practice.  I have had the opportunity to practice Clinical Social Work at the micro, mezzo, and macro level.

I am the Fieldwork Director for the Bachelor of Social Work program at the University of North Florida.  I have been a full-time Instructor at UNF since 2011 and lectured as an Adjunct Instructor for the two years prior.  I typically teach Social Welfare Institutions, Social Work Practice with Individuals and Families, and Social Welfare Practicum and Seminar.  I incorporate my experience from clinical work into lectures to create realistic examples for students.  One of my clinical interests is holistic family intervention with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.  I have also specialized in family conflict and loyalty binds in divorced families.     

I am the Immediate Past Chairperson of the Northeast Unit of the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and just completed a two-year term on the Florida Chapter’s State Board of Directors.