Andy Garbacz

Education

Ph.D., Psychological Studies in Education (School Psychology), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

Biography

Andy is a Professor and Co-Chair of the School Psychology Program. He received a doctorate from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools and the Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Andy has experience in schools, community mental health, and medical settings. Andy is a licensed psychologist, licensed school psychologist, and Nationally Certified School Psychologist. Andy serves as Co-Director of the School Mental Health Collaborative, a center focused on conducting research that informs policy and practice to promote the social-emotional and behavioral success of all students. He is also Co-Director of the Family-School-Community Alliance, a national organization focused on advancing partnerships among families, schools, and communities to support family and professional wellness, and youth mental health.

Research

Andy’s research focuses on (a) mental health promotion and (b) optimizing mental health interventions in school and community settings to center equity and justice, and improve adoption, implementation, and sustainment. Andy’s expertise includes community-engaged research, qualitative methodology, implementation science, large-scale randomized trials, and hybrid (effectiveness-implementation) methodology. Andy co-developed the Family-School Partnerships for Mental Health framework, an approach to build partnerships among families, school professionals, and community mental health professionals to support youth mental health. He also co-developed Resilient Families, a family-school intervention to support students at-risk for internalizing concerns within the Resilience Education Program. Andy contributed to the development of Teachers and Parents as Partners, and has an active research program examining the Family Check-Up to promote family wellbeing and youth mental health.

Awards and External Funding

Andy received the Lightner Witmer Award from Division 16 of the American Psychological Association for early career scholarship. Andy was named a Morgridge Fellow in Community-Engaged Scholarship and he received the award for Community-Engaged Scholarship from the School of Education based on his partnerships with families, schools, and communities to support youth mental health. Andy’s research has been funded from multiple agencies, such as the Institute of Education Sciences, the Office Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.