The SCCAP Board of Directors is proud to announce that Ritchie J. Rubio, PhD has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 SCCAP Award for Promoting Evidence-Based Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents (SCCAP Practice Award)!
This award is based on Dr. Rubio’s many efforts to promote awareness, accessibility, and implementation of culturally-responsive evidence-based practices (EBPs) for youth. In terms of awareness and accessibility, Dr. Rubio engages in community-based participatory research to consistently integrate the voices of key stakeholders (children, families, program leaders) in his efforts to enhance diversity and equity in the work of various mental health organizations. In terms of implementation, Dr. Rubio is incredibly involved in building sustainability for therapists to utilize remote and culturally-informed EBPs in their settings. As a concrete example, we were incredibly impressed with Dr. Rubio’s website rich with practice-oriented resources for clinicians, including tools for working with a range of marginalized groups and an anti-racism toolkit. Overall, Dr. Rubio has been involved in creating and leading a range of training opportunities with the goal to strengthen the use of evidence-based assessment and interventions in a telehealth environment primarily for diverse, marginalized, and underserved communities. For example, Dr. Rubio created an EBP-informed curriculum and facilitated a learning network for the Greater Bay Area Mental Health and Education Workforce Collaborative in California to equip behavioral health providers with skills in using evidence-based, trauma-informed, and culturally-responsive clinical practices with their clients, in a telehealth environment. Beyond San Francisco, Dr. Rubio also actively participates in statewide California initiatives to champion increased access to training and implementation of culturally-response and culturally-adapted EBPs.
As SCCAP’s Practice Award winner, Dr. Rubio will be recognized at this summer’s APA conference. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Rubio!