Glaser receives national award for work in juvenile offender counseling program

Brian Glaser, a professor of counseling psychology in the College of Education, has received a national award for his work in a counselor preparation program that allows UGA students to gain practical experience by working with local juvenile offenders.

Glaser received the Education Excellence Award from the International Association of Addictions and Offender Counseling (IAAOC), which annually recognizes one educator who demonstrates an outstanding commitment to the field of addictions/offender issues through teaching.

Glaser and his colleague, Georgia Calhoun, both faculty members in the department of counseling and human development services, developed the Juvenile Counseling and Assessment Program (JCAP) and the Gaining Insight into Relationship for Lifelong Success (GIRLS) program which have incorporated student work with more than 2,000 juvenile offenders over the past decade.

The programs provide training for future counselors, opportunities for research and mental health services to court-referred juvenile delinquents in Clarke, Oconee and surrounding counties.

Glaser, who is the director of training for UGA's American Psychology Association-approved counseling psychology doctoral program, has provided guidance to more than 60 doctoral or master's-level counselors-in-training who must complete 700+ hours of clinical training.

Additionally, more than 25 journal articles and book chapters have referenced the on-going research that has emanated from the programs. Research focuses on how counseling benefits juveniles and developing prevention and intervention programs for the community.

The two programs, collaborations between UGA's College of Education, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice and local courts, received the Outstanding Program Award from the IAAOC in 2005.

“We created the JCAP as a way to train graduate students, research this particular population and, at the same time, provide a service to a really under-served population,” says Calhoun. “There are not a lot of people standing in line to work with juvenile offenders.”

The juveniles range in age from 9 to 17 and come from varying racial, ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic status. These youth attend one of the public, private or alternative schools in the community. Their offenses ranges from status offenses (i.e. truancy, runaway, underage consumption of alcohol) to felonies (i.e. aggravated child molestation, burglary, aggravated assault).

Glaser came to UGA 16 years ago from Indiana State University where he earned his Ph.D. in counseling psychology.

For more on JCAP:
http://www.coe.uga.edu/chds/jcap/index.html

Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Writer: Angela Hains, 706/542-5889, anicole7@uga.edu
Contacts: Brian Glaser, 706/542-4117, bglaser@uga.edu