Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at BU

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Improved Employment Outcomes for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities, 2009-2014

Marianne Farkas, Sc.D.
Co-Principal Investigator
mfarkas@bu.edu | see profile

E. Sally Rogers, Sc.D.
Co-Principal Investigator
erogers@bu.edu | see profile

The RRTC is divided into two components: the Research Program and the Training, Dissemination, and Technical Assistance Program.

Training, Dissemination, and Technical Assistance (TDTA) Program Mission

The mission of the TDTA program is to increase the use of new knowledge and technology in the areas of vocational recovery and vocational psychiatric rehabilitation by an increasing number of consumers, family members, practitioners, service providers, researchers, policy makers, and others and their organizations in order to better assist people with serious psychiatric disabilities in achieving their preferred employment outcomes.

Areas of Concentration

The three primary components of the TDTA Program include 1) delivering general training, dissemination, and short-term technical assistance activities on an ongoing basis over the five-year RRTC funding cycle; 2) implementing TDTA developmental projects; and 3) coordinating with other divisions of the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation to increase the utilization of the results of the RRTC. Based on the established Federal priorities as noted, Training, Dissemination, and Technical Assistance projects are organized into three main areas:

Training Priorities	Projects Related to Priorities
1) Employment Interventions and Accommodations	Vocational Illness Management and Recovery: Developing a training program for providers
1) Employment Interventions and Accommodations	Vocational Peer Support: Developing a training program for Vocational Peer Specialists
2) Employment Interventions for Traditionally Underserved Groups	Vocational Empowerment: Developing a culturally competent peer-run Photovoice
3) TDTA Activities to Support Partnerships and Use of Research Findings	Developing a Distance Learning Course: Job Development and Job Retention
	Improving the Use of Research on Job Accommodations: Using a Knowledge Translation Process
	A Modern-Day Learning Community focused on the vision of full employment

Research project information is also available.

1. Federal Register on July 28, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 143, Page 37202) promulgated by the Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation (NIDRR), in the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number 84.133B-1.

The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation has been jointly funded as a Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) in mental health by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).