School Behavioral Health Interconnecting Comprehensive School Mental Health and Positive Behavior Support

Mark D. Weist, Ph.D., received a doctorate in clinical psychology from Virginia Tech in 1991 and is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina. He was on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSM) for 19 years, where he helped found and direct the Center for School Mental Health, one of two national centers providing leadership to the advancement of school mental health (SMH) policies and programs in the United States. He has led several federally funded research grants, advised national research and policy oriented committees, and testified before Congress and presented to the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. He helped found the School Mental Health International Leadership Exchange. Dr. Weist has edited 12 books and published and presented widely in the SMH field and in the areas of positive behavior support, trauma, violence and youth, evidence-based practice, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Kathleen Franke, Ph.D., BCBA, is a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She currently serves as the Director of Psychological Services at The Unumb Center for Neurodevelopment. Dr. Franke obtained her doctorate in school psychology at the University of South Carolina in 2018, and she completed her doctoral internship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Autism Academy of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina. At the University of South Carolina, she served as a member of the School Behavioral Health Team, where she conducted and disseminated research regarding the provision of school behavioral health services. 

Robert N. Stevens, Ph.D., received his doctorate from Florida State University with an emphasis in behavioral statistics. He has 40 years of experience in education as a teacher, coach, principal, college administrator, and professor. He has been Vice President at Charleston Southern University as well as Vice President of Marketing and Research at Benefitfocus.com (providing technology solutions to health insurers). His current initiatives include Creation of a SC’s At-Risk Alert Reporting System (ARAS) to prevent student dropout and improve evidence based interventions; Ccair for the Carolina’s Collaborative Patient Perspectives Group to the Mid-South CDRN; co-PI for the School Mental Health Eugene Washington Dissemination Grant (PCORI); co-chair of the SC School Behavioral Health Conference; and Coordinator of the South Carolina Association of Positive Behavior Support. Previous initiatives include: steering committee chair for the SC-DOE School Climate Initiative and Index (US-DOE); and co-principal Investigator for Boeing Wellness/MUSC Center School Wellness Index (SC Translational Research Institute).