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College of Health and Human Services

Irán Barrera

Professor

Social Work | 559.278.3038 | Office: PHS 128 A

irbarrera@csufresno.edu

Education

August 2008    Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work: University of Texas at Arlington: Arlington, Texas.Dissertation: Mental Health Care Barriers in the Latino Community: Chair: Catheleen Jordan. Committee: Norman Cobb, Randall Basham. Bi-National Ph.D. Social Work Program: Doctoral Specialization in International Comparative Social Welfare Policy

August 2008  Ph.D., Doctorado en Filosofía con especialidad en Trabajo Social y Políticas Comparadas de Bienestar Social.  Universidad de Autónoma de Nuevo León (Monterrey, Nuevo León, México). Comité: Dr. Guillermo Zúñiga, Dra. Guillermina Garza.

1999-2003 M.S.W., Master of Social Work, Concentrations in Children, Families, & Youth & School Social Work (PPSC) California State University, Long Beach: Long Beach, California. Thesis:  The Impact of Solution-Focused Supervision on Social Workers.  Chair:  Jeffrey Koob, Committee:  Molly Ranney, and Jillian Jimenez

1995-1997 B.A., Bachelor of Arts, Major in Psychology. California State University, Long Beach: Long Beach, California.

1992-1995 A.A., Associate of Arts: Liberal Arts, Fresno City College California: Fresno, California.

Courses Taught

Dr. Irán Barrera is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Social Work Education (DSWE) at Fresno State.  Dr. Barrera is an alumnus National Leadership program supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Interdisciplinary Research Leader) to become a change agent with advanced leadership skills and a clear focus on health and equity, allowing him to apply health research and policy to meet the pressing needs of communities. Dr. Barrera was the Chair of the Cultural Competency Track for the Council of Social Work Education from 2016-2019 (CSWE) and is also on the Mental Health Advisory board for The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).  Dr. Barrera was also the President of the Latino Faculty/Staff Association at Fresno State (2018-2019).

Dr. Barrera is a former minority fellow through the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE), in which allowed Dr. Barrera to achieve two doctoral degrees from two different universities in two different countries and border states (The University of Texas at Arlington and the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León-México).  This experience provided Dr. Barrera important awareness related to mental health care disparities among Latinos.  As a result, his work (researcher and practitioner) has concentrated on understanding perceptions and mental health care literacy among Latinos.  Current, research interest are the role of Race/Ethnicity in wellbeing. 

Dr. Barrera is the Principal Investigator (PI) on a grant Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Health Professions ($2 million) which aims to expand on the Latino & Hmong behavioral health workforce (LaHm) in the Central San Joaquin Valley.  Previously, (2014-2017) Dr. Barrera was also the PI on previous HRSA Grant ($700,000) named Consejo: A Latino Behavioral Health Practice Project for Central California (CONSEJO) under his leadership.

Dr. Barrera has extensive experience working with minority communities (African-American/Latino/Asian) in California and Texas. Dr. Barrera has provided behavioral health services to these populations in the most poverty stricken and vulnerable areas (Watts, Compton, North Long Beach, Fresno-California: Arlington, Brownsville, McAllen, Edinburg-Texas and Mexico) which has provided Dr. Barrera with great understanding of optimal practices that can best serve these communities. He is a sought-after speaker and trainer both in the United States and México.