Biography     

Dr. Ward retired from his tenured faculty position in December of 2007.  The university awarded him Emeritus status for his contributions to the University during his tenure and he is now an Emeritus faculty member of the Department of Mental Health Law & Policy at the Florida Mental Health Institute, College of Behavioral and Community Services. Since joining FMHI in 1981, he maintained a part-time private clinical psychology practice in the evenings until 2002, served as a department associate chair, interim chair, clinical director and chief of the professional staff, authored numerous publications, made many presentations at state and national conferences, and served as a frequent consultant to the State of Florida and elsewhere in areas of mental health law, policy, clinical service provision and evaluation of behavioral healthcare outcomes. He taught a graduate level course in the fall of each academic year called “Co morbidity of Mental and Physical Disorders” in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the USF College of Public Health. He was a very active member in the USF Faculty Senate where he served as Vice President.

He was a Principal Investigator on the Statewide Outcomes Project and the District 7 Research and Development Project  and also a Principal Investigator on the Statewide DCF Outcomes Project that developed many of the measures and procedures used by Florida to evaluate state supported behavioral healthcare services. He has also been a consultant/participant on many other projects at FMHI related to improving and, or, evaluating services received by people with serious mental illness. Dr. Ward is an author of the Techniques for Effective Aggression Management (TEAM), a widely disseminated aggression-replacement training program used throughout Florida in mental health programs and hospitals, emergency medical care facilities, public schools, and developmental disability residential programs. He is also first author of the Functional Assessment Rating Scale (FARS) and the Children's Functional Assessment Rating Scale (CFARS) (http://outcomes.fmhi.usf.edu) and co-author of the Behavioral Healthcare Rating of Satisfaction Scale (BHRS). The FARS and CFARS are used statewide by mental health authorities and mental health service providers in Florida, Wyoming, New Mexico, Illinois, Malta and elsewhere to evaluate effectiveness of publicly supported behavioral healthcare services.

Recent Publications

McColm, G., Metz-Wiseman, M. Phelps, C., Rabson, D., Tauber, S. & Ward, J. (2005) Departmental Governance at the University of South Florida: A Written Report from The USF Faculty Senate Committee on Shared Governance. The University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, September 26, 2005.

Ward, J. C., Dow, M. G., Penner, K., Saunders, T. & Halls, S. (1998, Revised 2004, 2005, 2006). A Manual for Using the Functional Assessment Rating Scale (FARS). Tampa, FL: Department of MentalHealth Law and Policy, FMHI/USF. http://fars.fmhi.usf.edu

Ward, J.C., Dow, M.G., Saunders, T.L., Halls, S.C., Penner, K.F., Musante, K.A., Berry, R.T. and Sachs-Ericcson, N. (1999, Revised, 2004, 2006) A Manual for Using the Children’s Functional Assessment Rating Scale (CFARS). Tampa, FL: Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, FMHI/USF. http://cfars.fmhi.usf.edu

Ward, J.C. and Mawoussi, B.(2003) “On-line Web-based Training and Certification for the Functional Assessment Rating Scale (FARS) and the Children’s Functional Assessment Rating Scale (CFARS)”. Tampa, FL: Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, FMHI/USF. http://outcomes.fmhi.usf.edu

Annis, L., Beck, J., Chaffin, M., Harrell, S., Koch, K., Lord, S., Riley, J., Rudman, M., Russell, C., Ward, J. & Warren, J. (2003) Report of the DCF Functional Assessment Workgroup: Considerations in Selecting and Using Functional Assessment Methodology to Monitor Service Outcomes for Adults Receiving General Revenue Supported Mental Health Services in Florida. Florida Department of Children and Families, Tallahassee, FL.

Ward, J., Beane, D., Potts, P. & Pensel-Potts, R. (1988, Revised 1990, 2003).