91ÉçÇø

Faculty

Anna Abella, PhD Assistant Research Professor Phone: 813-974-3739 Office: MHC 2413 Send an email View 2024 Curriculum Vitae

---

---

Anna Davidson Abella, PhD, is an applied anthropologist and a Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Child & Family Studies in the College of Behavioral Community Sciences at USF. Dr. Abella has conducted numerous studies involving mental health services, child welfare systems, and early childhood education programs, investigating both family/consumer and professional experiences in implementing interventions or systems change initiatives. She is especially interested in investigating systemic and structural factors that serve as barriers to individual and family well-being and prevent effective system functioning.

 

Dr. Abella is currently a co-investigator on an Equity Evaluation of the Indiana Department of Health and Addition’s behavioral health services. Through this project, she has had the opportunity to work closely with state leaders, regional and grassroots providers, and service recipients to understand existing strengths and future opportunities for addressing behavioral health disparities across the state. She currently serves as co-Principal Investigator for an evaluation of a statewide initiative to improve pediatric primary care providers’ ability and capacity to identify and treat children with behavioral health care needs throughout 91ÉçÇø, as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of in-home child welfare services for families with maltreatment allegations and substance use conditions. Dr. Abella has recently co-led a nationwide study funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to assess school administrators’ experiences implementing violence prevention and mental health training programs through the Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence program. She has also led several projects assessing the implementation and effectiveness of law enforcement and behavioral health collaborations to better respond to individuals in crisis and help them avoid unnecessary criminal justice system involvement. Dr. Abella has recently served as Principal Investigator of a study aimed at understanding challenges to engagement among Black families in early childhood education programs in Sulphur Springs, FL.

Dr. Abella provides graduate student advising for the Behavioral and Community Sciences Doctoral program and the Master of Science in Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health program at USF. She teaches the Program Development & Implementation in Children’s Mental Health course for the MSCABH program, as well as the Evaluation of Clinical Practice in Diverse Settings course for USF’s Master’s in Social Work program.

Dr. Abella is a member of the American Evaluation Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology. Her academic training in Applied Cultural Anthropology (PhD) and in Women’s and Gender Studies (MA) has informed her research methodologies to include engaged, critical, and participatory approaches.