Garcia, Joe A.

Asssociate Professor of Human Services

Interim Director for Graduate Studies

Human Services

Biography:

Joe Albert Garcia is an associate professor of human services (applied psychology). He received his B.A. in psychology from UC Berkeley and his M.A., C.Phil, and Ph.D. from UCLA in clinical psychology with a minor in statistics. He teaches in the areas of research methods for the social sciences, counseling methods, child abuse prevention and specialized treatment delivery to Hispanics. Dr. Garcia’s interests are focused on child and adolescent mental health delivery issues and the ways in which human service delivery goes from the university setting to actual practice. His interests include studying known best practices and how they can be delivered in actual practice -- otherwise known as translational research. His specific interests include the efficacy of treatments, therapist-client engagement and mental health economics, such as the cost-effectiveness of social services. His projects include studying why children leave treatment prematurely in real-world settings rather than completing treatment and uncovering what factors lead to increased participation in treatment by families, studying the cost-effectiveness treatments, such as medication interventions or behavioral interventions for children with ADHD, providing an evaluation of a social-emotional-based parenting paradigm being delivered to both already successful families and families at risk, and providing research and evaluation support to the Magnolia Place Initiative (MPI) in Los Angeles. The MPI is a large project aiming to improve the conditions of children in a 500-square-block neighborhood across multiple domains, including academic, health, economic and mental health outcomes.

Areas of Knowledge:

• ADHD and ODD in children
• Mental Health Economics
• Treatment Delivery Evaluations
• Best Practices in Children's Mental Health

Subject(s):

• Behavioral Disorders
• Children's Issues
• Psychology

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