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.

Free PAX Tools Workshops

Oklahoma PAX reach by county

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.

NEAR Science-Beyond ACE's

NEAR Science – Beyond ACEs, part of the Potts Family Foundation’s Raising Resilient Oklahomans (RRO) initiative, is a statewide effort to enhance community understanding of early life experiences, trauma, and resilience. Through partnership with the Potts Family Foundation, the OSU Center for Family Resilience coordinates NEAR Science across Oklahoma and provides technical assistance to the NEAR OK Trainer group, which consists of 143 dedicated Oklahomans from various professional and community sectors. These trainers, who have undergone intensive training led by ACE Interface’s Laura Porter and Dr. Rob Anda, present key concepts in Neurobiology, Epigenetics, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and Resilience, enabling communities to effectively respond to adversity and cultivate resilience. Since 2021, NEAR Science – Beyond ACEs has reached nearly 10,000 Oklahomans through over 300 presentations, empowering communities statewide to foster positive, resilient outcomes.

NEAR Science is available anywhere in Oklahoma, free of charge. To schedule a NEAR Science presentation, please e-mail us at NEAROK@okstate.edu

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.

First Responder Resilience

The Center for Family Resilience engages in work to support resilience for first responders and their families through projects such as:

The Tactical Athlete Academy Readiness Program (TARP) is a partnership with OSU's Tactical Fitness and Nutrition Lab to provide recruits and early career first responders with strategies to prepare for success in first responder academy training settings. The Center for Family Resilience's role in the project is to develop online educational tools to support mental wellness and first responder family resilience.
The Oklahoma First Responder Resilience Project is aimed at providing needs assessment, technical assistance, and program evaluation support services to first responder organizations around topics of mental and behavioral health, occupational stress, and resilience using a multidisciplinary approach.