Raphael Travis, Dr.P.H., L.C.S.W.
Texas
State University - San Marcos
Junior Investigator, Vulnerable Populations
Project Title: Positive Youth Development and Re-entry project
"The experiences affiliated with this award have positively impacted my confidence in developing meaningful projects, carrying out projects and pursuing other funding opportunities. The award has also been favorably viewed within my university community and bodes well as I continue forward in the tenure process."
Project Description
Travis' research investigates the relationship between the positive youth development concept of "thriving" and adolescent recidivism. He is examining data collected in the 1997-2002 evaluation of the Health Link Program, which used case management services to help reduce substance abuse among individuals returning from Riker's Island Jail in New York City.
The sample includes more than 500 adolescent males of African-American and Latino ethnicity. Travis is using these data to determine whether case management outcomes (i.e., recidivism, substance use and well-being) might be better explained by their relationship with underlying developmental processes of "thriving" as represented by adolescent competence, character and connections.
Biography
Raphael Travis, Dr.P.H., L.C.S.W., an assistant professor at the University of Texas - San Marcos, blends practice and research experience in his current empirical work across fields of positive youth development and out - of - school time programs, juvenile justice and reentry, and Hip-Hop and youth development.
Prior to his concentration on research, Travis provided direct social work practice and supervision in residential programs serving court-adjudicated youth and adolescents with mental health needs. He eschewed models focused solely on deficit-reduction and behavior-maintenance in favor of approaches emphasizing positive growth and development. Travis sought greater attention to the long-term developmental well-being of youth.
He received his doctoral degree in public health from the University of California at Los Angeles' School of Public Health.
