Current Projects
Oklahoma PAX Project
PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX GBG) is an evidence-based practice designed to promote student self-regulation in school settings. PAX creates nurturing environments in which kids thrive by reducing toxic influences; increasing psychological flexibility (mindfulness) and safety; limiting problematic behavior; and richly reinforcing prosocial behaviors.
PAX Tools is a collection of evidence-based, trauma-informed strategies designed to
improve cooperation and self-regulation with youth of all ages in nurturing environments.
It is intended for any caring adults who interact with children. This includes parents,
caregivers, professionals, and volunteers. PAX Tools creates nurturing environments
in which kids thrive by reducing toxic influences; increasing psychological flexibility
and safety; limiting problematic behavior; and richly reinforcing prosocial behaviors.
The Center for Family Resilience serves as the Oklahoma PAX Support Team, coordinating
trainings and implementation support of PAX programs in Oklahoma through a partnership
with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. If you
are interested in bringing PAX to your school or community, please complete the form below. For more information on PAX programs,
visit www.paxis.org.
MTSS
OSU CFR partners with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) to provide quality technical assistance, assessment development, and individualized local education authority (LEA) site support for Oklahoma districts working to enhance mental and behavioral health prevention efforts. This work is structured around the framework of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), which utilizes a 3-tiered model of supportive strategies, programs, and evaluation methods to promote whole student success.
Since January 2021, OSU CFR has worked with 18 districts across the state of Oklahoma to develop mental and behavioral health specific MTSS plans focused on prevention of problematic behavioral health indicators.
OPNA
The OPNA is a biennial survey of public, private, and charter school students in 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades conducted by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS). This statewide risk assessment measures research-based factors that are shown to contribute to student wellbeing and success and delivers a risk and protective profile that can be leveraged to inform prevention and intervention strategies at the school, district, county, and state levels. Beginning in 2021, the Oklahoma Department of Substance Abuse Services partnered with Oklahoma State University’s Center for Family Resilience and the National Center for Wellness and Recovery (NWCR) at OSU Center for Health Sciences to carry out 2021-2022 OPNA Administration. Our responsibilities include providing statewide technical support, training district survey coordinators in each participating Oklahoma school district and synchronizing survey administration across the state. The goals of the OPNA include identifying the individual needs of schools and districts within our state to address issues of substance use and abuse, and other health risk behaviors that impact student wellbeing; supporting schools in leveraging their site/district specific OPNA data to improve the prevention and intervention efforts currently underway, and to develop new supports to target additional areas of concern. OPNA data is used to evaluate current supports and inform future prevention and intervention efforts within a specific community that can promote student success and wellbeing across the lifespan.
Community Outreach
In line with Oklahoma State University’s land-grant mission, the CFR supports several community-based activities, initiatives, and events to foster and promote individual, family, and community resilience. In 2021, the CFR coordinated its first annual, interactive community literacy event where participants received free books and gained access to the literacy resources available within the community. Quraysh Ali Lasana, Director of the OSU-Tulsa Center for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation, led a live reading of Opal’s Greenwood Oasis, which he co-authored. This event connected Tulsans to literacy resources in the Tulsa area. The CFR also supported the North Tulsa Community Coalition’s virtual “2021 Secure the Bag One-Stop Resource Fair” by helping to provide education around financial aid, resume building, and healthy work environments to promote college and career readiness.