Bio
Scottye J. Cash, MSSW, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Social Work at The Ohio State University. Dr. Cash’s expertise has focused on assessment and targeted service delivery for at-risk children and families. She has been a Co-Principal Investigator on a federally-funded grant to develop, implement, and evaluate a children’s mental health training program for social work students pursuing a career in child welfare. Dr. Cash served as the Principal Investigator on the evaluation of the state of Ohio’s Comprehensive Assessment and Planning Model—Interim Solution case management and planning system. The project evaluated the measurement of safety and risk for children and families involved in the child welfare system. A primary aim of this research was to identify the relationship between the family’s identified needs, services received, and outcomes.
Dr. Cash has continued her research on matching services to needs in her most recent work on adolescent mental health and social media. In a recent study, she explored adolescents use of suicide statements on MySpace and found that adolescents posted suicidal thoughts related to family and friends, methods to commit suicide, and issues with their family. Dr. Cash also conducted a nationwide survey with older adolescents to determine what type of mental health supports (text, Facebook, mental health provider, etc.) adolescents are willing to use when they are depressed, and/or suicidal. Dr. Cash has worked with Reachout.com in the United States, Ireland, and Australia to explore the relationships between using the Reachout.com website to increase mental health literacy, decrease mental health stigma, and increase help seeking. Finally, Dr. Cash has served as a research partner to the Young and Well Centre in Australia, which is a world-wide leader in using technology to engage young people around mental health and positive well-being. She is currently enrolled in their Certificate in Young People’s Mental Health and Technology program.
Education
PhD - University of Texas at Arlington, 1998 - Social Work
MSSW - University of Texas at Arlington, 1995 - Social Work
BA - University of Oklahoma, 1994 - Social Work
Areas of Expertise
Adolescent mental health and social media
Child welfare research
Safety and risk assessment
Linking services to family needs
Substance abuse in child welfare families
Areas of Interest for Mentoring PhD Students
Child welfare
Adolescent mental health
Technology and social work