CFC Center News

Study by FSU Researchers Finds Resilience to Natural Disasters Lags in Black Communities

Years after Hurricane Michael devastated Florida’s Gulf Coast, residents of that area still struggle to overcome the trauma of the Category 5 storm. 

In a recent study, FSU researchers found that trauma and a host of psychosocial and physical challenges caused by Hurricane Michael disproportionately affect the region’s Black communities.  

FSU Center Awarded Grant to Improve Rural Community Health and Resilience Related to Opioid Use

A $1.3 million grant will fund a project in the Florida State University College of Social Work that aims to combat the opioid epidemic across eight southeastern states.

The two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will go to the Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities, Families and Children (CFC Center). It will target 168 rural counties across Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

FSU Student and Center Create Children’s Book to Enhance Social-Emotional Learning

Online MSW student Lara Klopp began working with the Center for the Study and Promotion for Communities, Families and Children at the FSU College of Social Work in 2021 to complete her social work field internship. One of her key assignments included working with pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) students in Brevard County, Florida, utilizing the center’s Rebound and Recovery program, a socio-emotional learning program piloted with pre-K through third-grade children.

FSU Researchers Earn NSF Grant to Transform Libraries into ‘Rural Resiliency Hubs’

The increasing frequency of natural catastrophes and their uneven impact on vulnerable populations calls for the development of disaster Resiliency Hubs. Now, through a grant from the National Science Foundation, a multidisciplinary team of Florida State University researchers is looking to utilize a commonly underrecognized space in disaster response: public libraries.