Military Family Research Institute Named Wounded Warrior Project Grant Recipient

WEST LAFYAETTE, Ind. – The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University announced Monday (Nov. 3) its selection as a 2014 Wounded Warrior Project® grant recipient.

The WWP grant program bridges gaps in services and support for this generation of injured service members by supporting organizations that provide high-quality, high-touch, unique programming in remote or underserved regions. Through teamwork and collaboration, this $250,000 grant will enhance MFRI’s ability to support this generation of injured service members and foster healthy readjustment to civilian life through programmatic activities aimed at training civilian behavioral health specialists.

The award will be used to increase regional approaches to Star Behavioral Health Providers, a program that MFRI first created in Indiana, in collaboration with the Center for Deployment Psychology, the Indiana National Guard and the Indiana Family Social Services Administration.

The Star program is a training and registry system that prepares civilian behavioral health providers and other community-based professionals to serve members of veteran and military families. Three tiers of training range from cultural competence to evidence-based treatments, and qualified providers can attend trainings in multiple tiers. The program has expanded to California, Georgia and Michigan. WWP funding will allow the MFRI to bring this program to Ohio and South Carolina, with trainings beginning in March. Nearly 4,300 attendees have received more than 35,000 hours of training to date from SBHP.

“We are honored that the Wounded Warrior Project has chosen to award us this grant,” said Kathy Broniarczyk, family support director for MFRI. “The grant will enable SBHP to reach even more providers.  Through this funding, we expect to serve roughly 240 trainees who reach 400 military-affiliated and veteran clients. It will also facilitate the creation of Midwestern and southeastern regions that together can create synergies to better serve these behavior health providers, as well as clients and their families.”

For more information, and a full list of WWP grant recipients, please visit the 2014 WWP Grant Program.

About MFRI

The Military Family Research Institute was founded in 2000 with funding from the Department of Defense. It is the leading university-based organization in the nation that conducts research about, with and for military families. MFRI is part of the Center for Families in Purdue's College of Health and Human Sciences. 

Writer: Beth Johnson, 703-927-7429, bethjohnson@purdue.edu