Dean Delva Joins Post-Incarceration Project Supporting Rehabilitation for Chilean Inmates
Dean Jorge Delva of Boston University School of Social Work will serve as a consultant on an international post-incarceration project designed to support the successful social reintegration of formerly incarcerated people in Chile, his home country.
The project, funded by Chile’s Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge & Innovation, is led by Guillermo Sanhueza, associate professor at Loyola University School of Social Work. In addition to Dean Delva, the project will involve collaboration with engineering, law, and social sciences faculty from the University of Chile.
The researchers plan to develop a prototype for an integrated management system that serves as an early monitoring tool — paving the way for a digital platform capable of collecting, analyzing, and integrating prison and rehabilitation data (e.g. situational indicators and behavioral outcomes) from numerous sources. This data monitoring and management system would provide Chilean agencies and organizations with critical information needed to improve post-incarceration rehabilitation prospects. It will also examine the barriers and conditions that inmates are met with upon their release from prison.
Dean Jorge Delva brings an international social work perspective to the project. An expert in ethnic health disparities and substance use, Dean Delva is a nationally renowned researcher and author of more than 160 publications and over 200 presentations on topics including cross-cultural research and behavioral health interventions. He is a fellow of the Society for Social Work & Research and the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, and past editor-in-chief of Social Work, the flagship journal of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). In addition to serving as the dean of BU School of Social Work, Delva is the director and Paul Farmer Professor of the School’s Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health, which seeks to expand the impact of social work in health care and public health.