Faith-Based Organizations and Public Health

Abstract

After receiving his doctoral degree in educational psychology and statistics at the University at Albany, State University of New York, Dr. Santiago in 1994 served as a research scientist in the New York State Office of Mental Health, where he directed the evaluation of a multimillion dollar, federally funded project in the Mott Haven community of the South Bronx. The project implemented a community-based system of care for children with serious emotional disorders and their families. In 1997, he moved to Maryland where he served as program director for evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program (Children’s Program) administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the US Department of Health and Human Services. This was the program that provided funding for the Mott Haven system of care project. In addition to producing several Annual Reports to Congress on the national evaluation of SAMHSA’s Children’s Program, Dr. Santiago coauthored numerous influential articles, book chapters, and conference presentations on the outcomes of the program. In 2001, he became Acting Deputy Chief of SAMHSA’s Child, Adolescent and Family Branch, assuming increased administrative responsibility for the Children’s Program. By the time he left in 2004, the Children’s Program was channeling over $100 million dollars in grants and contracts to many community-based projects across the country. In 2003, while still at SAMHSA, he was elected President of the Northeastern Educational Research Association, an association of over 200 educational researchers located primarily in the eastern part of the USA.