Doctoral student Nereida Heller has been awarded the Sosozei Pre-Dissertation Fellowship in recognition of her research on sobering centers and their role within behavioral health systems. A third-year MSW/PhD student at the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare, Heller’s work focuses on poverty governance, public health equity, and substance use policy, with an emphasis on how welfare and behavioral health systems shape outcomes for marginalized communities.
The fellowship, funded by the Sosozei Foundation, supports research aimed at expanding access to mental healthcare and reducing the inappropriate use of jails and prisons for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in the United States.
Heller’s project examines sobering centers as critical, community-based alternatives within the continuum of care, an area of growing importance as communities seek more effective and humane crisis response systems.
This work has been supported by faculty mentors Tina Sacks and Emmeline Chuang. As part of the fellowship, Heller has also been matched with alum Dr. Leah Jacobs, who will serve as her mentor during the fellowship program.