Dr. Sandra Owens has secured and administered over $3,300,000 in grants and contracts designed to help improve the mental and behavioral health and well being of vulnerable children, young adults, elderly adults and their family caregivers.

Dr. Owens is currently the lead investigator for a large multi-phase behavioral health research study that examines the mental health needs of Clark County residents and the capacity of the existing workforce to address those mental health needs. The $75,000 assessment is funded by The Lincy Institute. There are three components to the assessment: (1) The Household Assessment—a survey of 600 households to determine prevalence of mental health conditions; (2) The Service Utilization Assessment—interviews with 200 individuals (youth and adults) who are currently utilizing local mental health services; and (3) The Workforce Assessment—an examination of the clinical workforce’s skills, competency, professional backgrounds, preparation, and their perceptions of the gaps in mental health service delivery. Preliminary data from two phases of the assessment have been used to document the need for an expanded and better trained mental and behavioral health workforce in Southern Nevada, and these data have also been used to leverage federal and state grant funds to provide enhanced, evidence-based training to clinicians committed to providing mental and behavioral health services in Southern Nevada.

For example, in 2014 Dr. Owens and her Co-Principal Investigator received a $1.44 million Human Resources and Services Administration, Behavioral Health Education and Training grant to provide integrated behavioral health care training and $10,000 stipends to 108 UNLV master of social work students who will soon join the workforce that provides mental health counseling to children, adolescents and transitional-age young adults in Nevada. And in September of 2015 Dr. Owens and her Co-Principal Investigators received another federal grant in the amount of $940,000 to provide free Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) training to 900 university students, clinical practitioners, and allied health professionals working in Southern Nevada.

During her 25 years as a social worker Dr. Owens has taught and mentored hundreds of university students and social workers at the local, state, national and international levels. She has published journal articles and encyclopedia entries, book chapters, and newsletter articles on topics such as elder caregiving, respite care for parents of special needs children in the foster care system, the mental health conditions of children, adults and seniors, and on the bio-psycho-social demographics of youth in the Clark County School District. She is committed to assisting non-profit agencies with meeting their organizational goals, and to helping solve the myriad problems facing individuals, families and communities.

Dr. Owens is actively involved in leadership roles in a variety of community and university organizations, and she served as President’s Fellow in the cabinet of UNLV President Neal Smatresk. In 2016 the data collected from the Lincy Institute 3-part mental and behavioral health assessment will be disseminated to the public at large, legislators, local non-profit agencies, and administrators and practitioners working in city, county and Nevada state governmental and non-governmental agencies. Dr. Owens can be reached at [email protected] or via phone at 702-612-6371 (cell) or 702-895-2898 (work).