Tara G. Mehta PhD
- Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology
- Director of Psychology Training
- tmehta [at] uic.edu
- (312) 996-3910
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Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR)
1747 W. Roosevelt Rd.
Chicago IL 60612 - Room #:213
Dr. Mehta is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Psychology Training in the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois Chicago. The central theme of Dr. Mehta’s work is to reduce the persistent disparities in access to mental health services for ethnic minority children and families. Dr. Mehta’s community-engaged work is based on an ecological public health framework and she aims to develop culturally responsive, alternative models of mental health services for children and youth. Utilizing dissemination and implementation sciences she examines organizational factors, such as supervision and support, to enhance the capacity of community organizations to promote children’s and youth's well-being and mental health. A second line of research explores the role of peer support specialists (e.g., lay professionals, community health workers, patient navigators) and care extenders (e.g., school personnel, out-of-school time staff) to promote and enhance mental health across the prevention to intervention continuum in community mental health and non-specialty settings [e.g., school, out-of-school time].
Dr. Mehta has collaborated with multiple partners in Chicago, including the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Park District, community mental health centers, and non-profit organizations.
In addition to research, Dr. Mehta maintains a caseload in the Colbeth Clinic, is a core faculty member of the Community Engagement and Collaboration core in the UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science and is an Affiliate of the UIC Clinical Psychology Program.
- Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology (ABCT)
- ABCT Dissemination and Implementation Special Interest Group (DIS SIG)
- Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA)
- Division on Asian Americans with Multiple Heritages (DAAMH)
- Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA)
- SCRA Immigrant Justice Interest Group
- UIC Chancellor’s Committee on the status of Asian Americans
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psychiatry
Child and youth mental health
Disparities in children and youth access to mental health services
Community-based collaborative research
Mental health services research
Workforce development
Asian American mental health and well-being
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Mehta, T., Mahoney, J., Leppin, A., Stevens, K., Yousefi-Nooraie, R., Pollock, B., . . . Moore, J. (2021). Integrating dissemination and implementation sciences within Clinical and Translational Science Award Programs to advance translational research: Recommendations to national and local leaders. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 1-22. doi:10.1017/cts.2021.815
Buckingham, S. L., Langhout, R. D., Rusch, D., Mehta, T., Rubén Chávez, N., Ferreira van Leer, K., Oberoi, A., Indart, M., Paloma, V., King, V. E., & Olson, B. (2021). The Roles of Settings in Supporting Immigrants’ Resistance to Injustice and Oppression: A Policy Position Statement by the Society for Community Research and Action: A policy Statement by the Society for Community Research and Action: Division 27 of the American Psychological Association. American Journal of Community Psychology, ajcp.12515. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12515
Towfighi, A., Orechwa, A. Z., Aragón, T. J., Atkins, M., Brown, A. F., Brown, J., ... & Herman, D. K. (2020). Bridging the gap between research, policy, and practice: Lessons learned from academic–public partnerships in the CTSA network. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 1-8.
Mehta, T.G., Lakind, D., Rusch, D., Walden, A., & Atkins, M. (2019). Collaboration with Urban Community Stakeholders: Refining Paraprofessional-led Services to Promote Positive Parenting. American Journal of Community Psychology.
Lakind, D., Cua, G., Mehta, T. G., Rusch, D., & Atkins, M. S. (2019). Trajectories of parent participation in early intervention/prevention services: the case for flexible paraprofessional-led services. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 1-15.
Bustamante, E. E., Mehta, T.G., Cua, G., Frazier, S.L. (2018). After-School Program Utilization Patterns among Children with ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders. Pediatric exercise science, 30(S1), S6.
Mehta, T.G., Atkins, M., Neal, J., & Walden, A.L. (2018). Supporting mental health providers: The feasibility and promise of a virtual professional learning community. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/23794925.2018.1486687
Affrunti, N., Mehta, T.G., Rusch, D., & Frazier, S., (2018). Job demands, resources, and stress among staff in after school programs: Neighborhood characteristics influence the association between job demands and job stress. Children and Youth Services Review 88 (2018): 366-374.
Ouellette, R. R., Frazier, S. L., Shernoff, E. S., Cappella, E., Mehta, T. G., Maríñez-Lora, A., … Atkins, M. S. (2018). Teacher Job Stress and Satisfaction in Urban Schools: Disentangling Individual-, Classroom-, and Organizational-Level Influences. Behavior Therapy, 49(4), 494–508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2017.11.011
Mehta, T. G., Atkins, M. S., & Frazier, S. L. (2013). The Organizational Health of Urban Elementary Schools: School Health and Teacher Functioning. School Mental Health, 1-11. DOI: 10.1007/s12310-012-9099-4
Schoenwald, S., Mehta, T.G., Frazier, S.L., & Shernoff, E. (2013). Clinical supervision in effectiveness and implementation research. Special Issue (Eds. M. A. Southam-Gerow & B. McLeod). Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice.
| Title | Description | Investigator(s) | Category | Status |
| Building multi-level support for recreational staff members to infuse mental health promotion into everyday practices | This project is a collaboration with Urban Initiatives, a citywide non-profit foundation that utilizes soccer and active play to promote youth physical and mental health in resource-scarce neighborhoods. The project employs an iterative collaborative approach to enhance the organizational capacity of UI to impact youth physical and mental health by strengthening their workforce dev |
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ACCESS for Mental Health | On-going |
| BUILT: Building Unstoppable families through Intergenerational Lifestyle Transformation | Project BUILT is a pilot intergenerational lifestyle intervention for children with ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders. |
|
ACCESS for Mental Health | On-going |
| Patient Navigators for Children's Community Mental Health Services in High Poverty Urban Communities | This study is a NIMH-funded R01 that examines the effectiveness of paraprofessionals as navigators for children’s mental health services, in contrast with case managers and waitlist without navigation. This study is in collaboration with three social service agencies serving children and families from high poverty Chicago neighborhoods. |
|
ACCESS for Mental Health | On-going |
| Leaders @ Play | Our team has been collaborating with the Chicago Park District for the past decade to develop and implement strategies that capitalize on the inherent opportunities present in recreation to support and promote children’s mental health. Leaders @ Play was a program designed to promote mental health for participating adolescents and support healthy behavioral, social, and emotional funct |
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Community Based Children and Family Mental Health Services Research Program | Completed |
| LINKS Center | The LINKS Center (P20 MH078458) was a virtual developing center created to advance research and practice on community-based models to promote the mental health needs of children living in urban poverty. |
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Community Based Children and Family Mental Health Services Research Program | Completed |
| Links to Learning | Links to Learning was funded by the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) to examine a school-based model for mental health consultation to urban, high poverty schools that focuses on the key empirical predictors of children’s learning and uses parent and teacher key informants to facilitate program utilization and sustainability. |
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Community Based Children and Family Mental Health Services Research Program | Completed |
| Partners Achieving School Success (PASS) | PASS was a school based mental health prevention and early intervention program for children in pre-kindergarten through third grade. Our team collaborated with four social service agencies on a school-based prevention and early intervention program for youth in K-3rd grade living in impoverished communities in Chicago (approximately n=700). |
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Community Based Children and Family Mental Health Services Research Program | Completed |
| Virtual Professional Learning Communities: A social network perspective (VPLC) | In collaboration with a large state entity, two virtual professional learning communities (VPLCs) were developed to support community mental health providers following a 12-month evidence-based practices (EBP) training. |
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Community Based Children and Family Mental Health Services Research Program | Completed |
*System-generated list from psychiatry research website.
| Date | Topic | Category | Status |
| 09/20/2023 | Evolving in Partnership: A Community-Academic Collaboration Promoting Urban Adolescents’ Well-being | Past Event |