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Sharon A. Hoover, PhD

Academic Title:

Professor

Primary Appointment:

Psychiatry

Additional Title:

Co-Director, National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH) Director, NCTSN Center for Safe Supportive Schools (CS3)

Location:

737 W. Lombard St. 426

Phone (Primary):

(410) 706-4851

Phone (Secondary):

(410) 706-0980 (Center)

Fax:

(410) 706-0984

Education and Training

University of Sussex, England, Study Abroad Program, Psychology, School of Cultural and Community Studies, 1995

Miami University, Oxford, OH, B.A., Psychology, 1996

University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, M.A., Clinical Psychology, 2000

University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, 2002

University of Maryland Medical System, Baltimore, MD, Postdoctoral Fellowship, School Mental Health, 2004

Biosketch

Sharon A. Hoover, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Co-Director of the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH, www.schoolmentalhealth.org), and Director of the Center for Safe Supportive Schools (CS3). She currently leads national efforts to support states, districts and schools in the adoption of national performance standards of comprehensive school mental health systems (www.theSHAPEsystem.com). Dr. Hoover has led and collaborated on multiple federal and state grants, with a commitment to the study and implementation of quality children’s mental health services. Currently, she co-leads two large randomized trials of school mental health efforts, one focused on reducing exclusionary discipline practices by installing mental health and restorative practice approaches and one on improving school mental health services with best practices in family engagement, educator mental health literacy and modularized evidence-based clinical practices.

Creating safe, supportive and resilient schools has been a major emphasis of Dr. Hoover’s research, education and clinical work. Since 2004, she has worked with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Treatment Services Adaptation Center for Resiliency, Hope and Wellness in Schools, to train school district and school leaders, educators and support staff in multi-tiered systems of support for psychological trauma. She has trained school and community behavioral health staff and educators in districts across the United States, as well as internationally, including consultation on building safe and supportive school mental health systems in Canada, China, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, South Korea, and Ukraine. Dr. Hoover is a certified national trainer for Bounce Back, the CBITS Program - Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools – and the SSET Program – Support for Students Exposed to Trauma. As an advisor to the World Health Organization, Dr. Hoover has provided consultation and technical assistance on comprehensive school mental health in several countries, including developing and implementing a student mental health curriculum for teachers throughout the Middle East and developing and evaluating a school-based intervention to support immigrant and refugee youth in Canada and the United States. 

Dr. Hoover has also devoted considerable efforts to understanding the implementation of “collaborative” mental health care in primary care settings, including school-based health centers. As a Co-Investigator on the Center for Mental Health Services in Pediatric Primary Care at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, she developed a research portfolio examining the common factors and practice elements of mental health care that could feasibly be implemented by school-based health practitioners. She worked closely with Center leaders and the National Association of School Nurses on the development of an in-person and online training for school health providers, the Mental Health Training for Health Providers in Schools (MHTIPS), currently being implemented across the United States to improve school nurses’ and other school health providers’ capacity to address student mental health.

Research/Clinical Keywords

School Mental Health, Primary Care-Behavioral Health Integration, Trauma

Highlighted Publications

Crooks, C. V., Hoover, S., & Smith, A. (In press). Feasibility trial of the school-based STRONG intervention to promote resilience among newcomer youth. Psychology in the Schools.

Connors, E., Smith-Millman, M., Bohnenkamp, J., Carter, T., Lever, N., & Hoover, S. (in press). Can we move the need on school mental health quality through systematic quality improvement collaboratives? School Mental Health.

Kase, C., Hoover, S. A., Boyd, G., Dubenitz, J., Trivedi, P., Peterson, H., & Stein, B. (2017). Educational outcomes associated with school behavioral health interventions: A Review of the Literature. Journal of School Health, 87(7), 554-562.

Connors, E. H., Stephan, S. H., Lever, N., Ereshefsky, S., Mosby, A., & Bohnenkamp, J. (2016). A national initiative to advance school mental health performance measurement in the US. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion 9(1), 50-69. Doi: 10.1080/1754730X.2015.1123639

Stephan, S., Lever, N., Bernstein, L., Edwards, S., & Pruitt, D. (2016). Telemental health in schools. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology26(3), 266-272. doi: 10.1089/cap.2015.0019

Stephan, S. H., Sugai, G., Lever, N., & Connors, E. (2015). Strategies for Integrating Mental Health into Schools via a Multi-tiered System of Support. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America24(2), 211-231.

Stephan, S.H., Paternite, C., Grimm, L., & Hurwitz, L. (2014). School mental health: The impact of state and local capacity-building training. International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, 9(7). 

Additional Publication Citations

Lever, N., Stephan, S., Axelrod, J., Weist, M. (2004). Accessing fee-for-service revenue in school mental health: A partnership with an outpatient MH center. Journal of School Health, 74, 91-94.

Bruns, E. J., Moore, E., Stephan, S. H., Pruitt, D., Weist, M. D. (2005). The impact of school mental health services on out-of-school suspension rates. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34(1), 23-30.

Schaffer, C., Bruns, E., Weist, M., Stephan, S., Goldstein, J.,& Simpson. (2005). Overcoming challenges to using evidence-based interventions in schools. J Youth and Adolescence, 34, 14-22.

Mills, C., Stephan, S., Moore, E., Weist, M., Daly, B., & Edwards, M. (2006). The President's New Freedom Commission: Capitalizing on opportunities to advance school-based mental health services. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 9, 149-161.

Stephan, S., Weist, M., Kataoka, S., Adelsheim, S., & Mills, C. (2007). Transformation of children’s mental health services: The role of school mental health. Psychiatric Services, 58(10), 1330-1338.

Cunningham, D., Stephan, S., Paternite, C., Schan, S., Weist, M., Adelsheim, S., & Flaspohler, P. (2007). Stakeholders' perspectives on the recommendations of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Psychiatric Services, 58, 1344-1347.

Burke, R. W., & Stephan, S. H. (2008). Contextual features of public schools in the United States as settings for mental health promotion. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 1(1), 52-60.

Vulin-Reynolds, M., Lever, N, Stephan, S., & Ghunney, A.(2008). School Mental Health and Foster Care: A Logical Partnership.Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 1(2), 29-40.

Weist, M. D., Lever, N., Stephan, S., Youngstrom, E., Moore, E., Harrison, B., …Stiegler, K. (2009). Formative evaluation of a framework for high quality, evidence-based services in school mental health. School Mental Health, 1(3), 196-211.

Weist, M. D., Stiegler, K. L., Stephan, S. H., Cox, J. M., & Vaughan, C. (2009). School mental health and prevention science in the Baltimore city schools. Psychology in the Schools, 47(1), 36-54.

Lever, N., Chambers, K., Stephan, S., Page, M., & Ghunney, A. (2010). National survey on expanded school mental health services. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 3(4),38-50.

Stephan, S., Hurwitz, L., Paternite, C., & Weist, M. (2010). Critical factors and strategies for advancing statewide school mental health. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 3(3), 46-58.

Stephan, S., Mulloy, M. & Brey, L. (2011). Improving collaborative mental health care by school-based primary care and mental health providers.  School Mental Health, 3, 70-80.

Grady, B., Lever, N., Cunningham, D., Stephan, S. (2011). Telepsychiatry and SMH. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 20(1), 81-94.

Stephan, S., Westin, A., Lever, N.,  Medoff, D., Youngstrom, E., & Weist, M. (2012). Are School‑Based Clinicians' Knowledge and Use of Common Elements Correlated with Better Treatment Quality? School Mental Health, 4(1), 170-180.

Herman, K., Reinke, W., Bradshaw, C., Lochman, J., Boxmeyer, C., Powell, N., . . . Stephan, S., & Ialongo, N. (2012): Integrating the Family Check-Up and the parent Coping Power program, Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 5(3), 208-219.

Stephan, S., Brandt, N., Lever, N., Acosta-Price, O., & Connors, E. (2012). Key priorities, challenges, and opportunities to advance an integrated mental health-education research agenda. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion. 5(2), 125-138.

Westin, A.M., Barksdale, C.L., & Stephan, S.H. (2013). The effect of waiting time on youth engagement to evidence-based treatments. Community Mental Health Journal, 1-8.

Stephan, S., & Connors, E. (2013). School nurses’ perceived prevalence and competence to address student mental health problems. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 6(30), 174-188.

Harburger, D., Stephan, S., & Kaye, S. (2013). Children's behavioral health system transformation: One state's context and strategies for sustained change. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 40(4), 404-415.

Becker, K.D., Brandt, N.E., Stephan, S.H., & Chorpita, B. (2013). Improvements in clinical and educational outcomes: How do our best treatments measure up? Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 7(1), 5-23.

Cunningham, D. L., Connors, E. H., Lever, N., & Stephan, S. H. (2013). Providers' Perspectives: Utilizing Telepsychiatry in Schools. Telemedicine and e-Health, 19(10), 794-799.

Stephan, S. H., Connors, E. H., Arora, P., & Brey, L. (2013). A learning collaborative approach to training school-based health providers in evidence-based mental health treatment. Children and Youth Services Review, 35(12), 1970-1978.

Chow, W. Y., Mettrick, J. E., Stephan, S. H., & Von Waldner, C. A. (2014). Youth in group home care: Youth characteristics and predictors of later functioning. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research41(4), 503-519.

Schiele, B. E., Weist, M. D., Youngstrom, E. A., Stephan, S. H., & Lever, N. A. (2014). Counseling self-efficacy, quality of services and knowledge of evidence-based practices in school mental health. The Professional Counselor4(5), 467-480.

Weist, M. D., Youngstrom, E. A., Stephan, S., Lever, N., Fowler, J., Taylor, L., ... & Hoagwood, K. (2014). Challenges and ideas from a research program on high-quality, evidence-based practice in school mental health. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 43(2), 244-255.

Stein, K. F., Connors, E. H., Chambers, K. L., Thomas, C. L., & Stephan, S. H. (2014). Youth, Caregiver, and Staff Perspectives on an Initiative to Promote Success of Emerging Adults with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 1-15.

Becker, K. D., Brandt, N. E., Stephan, S. H., & Chorpita, B. F. (2014). A review of educational outcomes in the children's mental health treatment literature. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion7(1), 5-23.

Fazel, M., Hoagwood, K., Stephan, S., & Ford, T. (2014). Mental health interventions in schools in high-income countries. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1(5), 377-387.

Stephan, S.H., Paternite, C., Grimm, L., & Hurwitz, L. (2014). School mental health: The impact of state and local capacity-building training. International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, 9(7).

Connors, E. H., Arora, P., Curtis, L., & Stephan, S. H. (2015). Evidence-based assessment in school mental health. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 22(1), 60-73.

Benningfield, M. M., Riggs, P., & Stephan, S. H. (2015). The role of schools in substance use prevention and intervention. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 24(2), 291-303.

Schiffman, J., Stephan, S., Hong, L. E., & Reeves, G. (2015). School-based Approaches to Reducing the Duration of Untreated Psychosis. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 24(2), 335-351.

Stephan, S. H., Sugai, G., Lever, N., & Connors, E. (2015). Strategies for Integrating Mental Health into Schools via a Multi-tiered System of Support. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 24(2), 211-231.

Weiss, C. L., Blizzard, A. M., Vaughan, C., Sydnor-Diggs, T., Edwards, S., & Stephan, S. H. (2015). Supporting the Transition from Inpatient Hospitalization to School. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America24(2), 371-383.

Bohnenkamp, J. H., Stephan, S. H., & Bobo, N. (2015). Supporting student mental health: The role of the school nurse in coordinated school mental health care. Psychology in the Schools52(7), 714-727.

Reeves, G. M., Wehring, H. J., Connors, K. M., Bussell, K., Schiffman, J., Medoff, D. R., ... & dosReis, S. (2015). The Family Value of Information, Community Support, and Experience Study: Rationale, Design, and Methods of a" Family-Centered" Research Study. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 203(12), 896-900.

Kim, R. E., Becker, K. D., Stephan, S. H., Hakimian, S., Apocada, D., Escudero, P. V., & Chorpita, B. F. (2015). Connecting students to mental health care: pilot findings from an engagement program for school nurses. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion8(2), 87-103.

Stephan, S., Lever, N., Bernstein, L., Edwards, S., & Pruitt, D. (2016). Telemental health in schools. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology26(3), 266-272. doi: 10.1089/cap.2015.0019

Arora, P. G., Stephan, S. H., Becker, K. D., & Wissow, L. (2016). Psychosocial interventions for use in pediatric primary care: An examination of providers’ perspectives. Families, Systems, & Health34(4), 414.

Blizzard, A. M., Glos, L. J., Stephan, S. H., Medoff, D., & Slade, E. P. (2016). Impacts of a Medicaid wraparound model demonstration program on youth specialty mental health services use. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research,1-13. doi:10.1007/s11414-016-9520-0

Bode, A. A., George, M. W., Weist, M. D., Stephan, S. H., Lever, N., & Youngstrom, E. A. (2016). The impact of parent empowerment in children’s mental health services on parenting stress. Journal of Child And Family Studies25(10), 3044-3055. doi:10.1007/s10826-016-0462-1

Blizzard, A. M., Weiss, C. L., Wideman, R., & Stephan, S. H. (2016). Caregiver perspectives during the post inpatient hospital transition: A mixed methods approach. Child & Youth Care Forum45(5), 759-780. doi:10.1007/s10566-016-9358-x

Connors, E. H., Stephan, S. H., Lever, N., Ereshefsky, S., Mosby, A., & Bohnenkamp, J. (2016). A national initiative to advance school mental health performance measurement in the US. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion.  9(1), 50-69. Doi: 10.1080/1754730X.2015.1123639

Kase, C., Hoover, S. A., Boyd, G., Dubenitz, J., Trivedi, P., Peterson, H., & Stein, B. (2017). Educational outcomes associated with school behavioral health interventions: A Review of the Literature. Journal of School Health, 87(7), 554-562.

Murphy, M.J., Abel, M.R., Hoover, S., Jellinek, M., & Fazel, M. (in press). Scope, scale, and dose of the world’s largest school-based mental health programs. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 25(5), 1-11.

Awards and Affiliations

2005                      Faculty Award, National Assembly on School-based Health Care

2006                      Merit of Appreciation Award for Dedicated Service at Western High School, Future Educators of America

2004 – 2008           Loan Repayment for Health Disparities Research, National Institutes of Health

2011                      Recognition Award for “Meeting the Mental Health Needs of School-Age Children,” School Social Workers in Maryland

2012                      Citation of Merit for “Outstanding Volunteer Service,” Howard County Public School System

2014 – present        Editor in Chief, Advances in School Mental Health Promotion

2014 – present        Editorial Board, School Mental Health

2014 – present        Advisor on School Mental Health, World Health Organization

2015 – present        Advisory Board Member, Maryland Assembly on School-based Health Care

2016 – present        Maryland Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Workgroup

2016 – present        School Climate Transformation Grant Technical Workgroup Member, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Healthy Schools

2016                Paula U. Hamburger Award, Awarded annually by the Mental Health Association of Maryland to “Honor a Champion for Children”  

2017                Honorary Faculty Member, Henan University, China

2018                Betty Huse Foundation Award, Child and Adolescent Research Award in the Department of Psychiatry

2019                American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Sidney Berman Award for the School-Based Study and Treatment of Learning Disorders and Mental Illness, Awarded to one individual annually

Grants and Contracts

Active Grants

7/1/13 – 6/30/20           (Co-I, 5%, PI Bob Buchanan)

                                    “The Maryland Early Intervention Program”

                                    Maryland Behavioral Health Administration

 

7/1/16 – 9/29/20           (UMB PI, 10%, Co-PIs Eric Bruns and Elizabeth McCauley, University of Washington)

                                    “Brief Intervention for School Clinicians (BRISC)”

                                    Institute for Education Sciences

 

10/1/16 – 9/30/21         (UMB PI, 10%, Co-PIs Cheryl Vince, David Osher, American Institutes of Research)

                                    “National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) Technical Assistance Center (TA Center)”

                                    US Department of Education

                                    

5/1/17 – 12/31/20         (PI, 15%)

                                   “Kaiser Permanente National Trauma-informed Schools Initiative Evaluation”

                                   Kaiser Permanente

 

1/1/18 – 12/31/21         (Co-PI, 10%, PI Cindy Schaeffer)

                                    “Evaluating Promising School Staff and Resource Officer Approaches for Reducing Harsh Discipline, Suspensions, and Arrests”

                                    National Institute of Justice

 

9/1/18 – 8/31/23           (PI, 20%)

                                   “Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network for School-Based Health Services

                                    Cooperative Agreement with Maternal and Child Health Bureau,

                                   Health Resources and Services Administration,

                                   U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

           

1/1/19 - 9/29/20            (UMB PI, 5%, PI Shanna Widemann, Maryland Behavioral Health Administration)

                                   “State Opioid Response”

                                   Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, U.S. Department of Health

                                   and Human Services

 

3/1/19 – 12/31/23         (UMB PI, 10%, PI – Mark Weist, University of South Carolina)

                                   “Patient-Centered Enhancements in School Behavioral Health: A Randomized Trial”

                                   Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

 

5/1/19 - 9/29/20            (UMB PI, 2%, PI Shanna Widemann, Maryland Behavioral Health Administration)

                                   “Student Assistance Program”

                                   Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, U.S. Department of Health

                                   and Human Services

 

5/1/19 - 9/29/20            (UMB PI, 2%, PI Shanna Widemann, Maryland Behavioral Health Administration)

                                   “Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach”

                                   Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, U.S. Department of Health

                                   and Human Services

 

10/01/19 – 09/30/24      (UMB PI, 2%, PI Natalee Johnson, Maryland Behavioral Health Administration)

                                    “Healthy Transitions”

                                    Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, U.S. Department of Health

                                    and Human Services

Links of Interest