Two IUPUI community–engaged researchers have been recognized with the prestigious 2022 Charles R. Bantz Chancellor’s Community Fellowship and Scholar Awards. Now in its seventh year, Charles R. Bantz Chancellor’s Awards recognize and support faculty researchers for their commitment to community-engaged research with funding and other resources.
Charles R. Bantz Chancellor’s Community Fellowship Award: Community Engagement at its “Best”: A Holistic Approach to Prisoner Reentry
Lahny Silva, professor of law in the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law, has been named the recipient of the Charles R. Bantz Community Fellowship for her efforts and research aimed at reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety. Silva’s research project is titled “Community Engagement at its “Best”: A Holistic Approach to Prisoner Reentry.” The $40,000 award will support Silva’s work, in partnership with the IU School of Social Work, to provide resources to released prisoners and help them overcome civil legal barriers as they navigate a successful reintegration process. Silva’s community partners are; Thomas Ridley’s 1 Like Me, the Martin Luther King Community Center, and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
“I am so very grateful for this generous fellowship award granted by Chancellor Charles R. Bantz and the selection committee. This will allow the law school to conduct a measured interdisciplinary reentry program that will hopefully serve as a clinical model to those working with the reentering population. This award will also facilitate rich scholarship over the next few years that informs criminal justice administration and provides a framework to address social justice issues in the realm of reentry,” stated Professor Silva.
Charles R. Bantz Community Scholar Award: Families in Transition: Development of a Therapeutic Group for Gender-Diverse Youth and Their Caregivers
Richard Brandon-Friedman, assistant professor in the IU School of Social Work and an assistant professor of pediatrics in the IU School of Medicine, received the Charles R. Bantz
Community Scholar Award for his research on youth sexual well-being and LGBTQ+ identity development. The $25,000 grant will fund his project, “Families in Transition: Development of a Therapeutic Group for Gender-Diverse Youth and Their Caregivers,” a collaboration with GenderNexus, Gender Expansive Kids & Co., and PFLAG-Fishers. Brandon-Friedman’s research will evaluate a therapeutic support group designed to meet the needs of gender-diverse youth and their caregivers. The research team’s techniques are intended to enhance the social and emotional well-being of participants through psychoeducation, skill development, familial relationship and communication building, and community connectedness.
“This award allows us to collectively discover the best ways to meet the needs of gender-diverse youth and their families. At a time when access to services for gender-diverse youth is being debated and restricted in some areas, it is especially important to document the needs of these youth and their families and to develop services that can meet those needs. We are excited to apply our research methods and clinical experience to our community partners’ knowledge of the needs of these youth and families to evaluate and improve services,” stated Dr. Brandon Friedman.
Charles R. Bantz, IUPUI Chancellor Emeritus and Executive Director of the IUPUI Center for Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP), noted “These outstanding faculty are addressing pressing issues by partnering with the community to discover better ways to help people reenter society and to support youth with positive social and emotional well-being.”
For more information or to apply for the Charles R. Bantz Chancellor’s Community Fellowship or Scholar award, visit the Academic Affairs page.