 The Latin American Bridge
Responding to an increased interest by USF in building collaborative opportunities in Latin America, the Department of Child and Family Studies at FMHI added a Latin American track to its annual RTC conference, A System of Care for Children's Mental Health: Expanding the Research Base in 1999. Within the past four years researchers and practitioners associated with universities, state organizations, and non-governmental organizations from Chile, Cuba, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico have taken part in the conference. Their presentations focused on a range of topics related to social services and mental health interventions for children and adolescents, contributing greatly to the success of the overall conference.
Recognizing the Latin American track's success, in 2001 the Department of Child and Family Studies created the Matílda García Initiative: Latin American Research Scholars Exchange to ensure continued collaboration between the Department of Child and Family Studies and Latin American researchers and practitioners. The Matílda García Initiative provides an opportunity for further increasing the participation of Latin American researchers and practitioners in our annual research conference by covering their trip expenses and registration fees through funding of a conference scholarship. Perhaps more importantly, the Initiative provides the Institute with a means for strengthening the level of exchange with Latin America through the funding of these and other activities.
Matílda García, a lifelong Tampa resident who is active in community issues affecting Latinos and recently arrived Latin Americans, funds the initiative through an endowment. Ms. García's support has encouraged a new vision of future collaboration between the Department of Child and Family Studies at FMHI and a wide variety of Latin American academic institutions and organizations. We are convinced that such collaboration will be of benefit to all participants and will contribute to the development of common perspectives and approaches to problems facing children, adolescents, and families in Latin America and in the United States.
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