Kelly Bass

Kelly Bass serves as Associate Professor and Faculty Chair in the Department of Social Work at the University of South Dakota, directing the Child & Adult Advocacy Studies (CAASt) program. His clinical expertise spans forensic evaluations, crisis intervention, and therapeutic treatment for vulnerable populations across criminal justice, mental health, and welfare systems.

His educational background includes:

• Doctorate in Social Work (DSW), Clinical Social Work, University of Tennessee - Knoxville, 2015
• MS, Advanced Generalist Social Work, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2001
• BS, Generalist Social Work, University of Sioux Falls, 1998

Bass focuses on clinical supervision frameworks, interprofessional education, and trauma-informed interventions for at-risk youth and families. His research examines service delivery integration at healthcare-discipline intersections and outcomes improvement for mentally ill populations within institutional systems. Recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on culturally relevant case studies, advocacy curriculum development, and ACEs mitigation through neuroscience-informed practice.

His scientific recognition includes the 2023 IPEC Excellence Award Honorable Mention and multiple Belbas-Larson Teaching Award nominations. Current grants like HRSA's COMPASS initiative ($1.2M) address South Dakota's behavioral health workforce shortages through innovative training pipelines, while the NCWWI case-based learning project enhances child maltreatment practitioner competencies.

Bass leads the CAASt certificate program and serves as an ASWB Path to Licensure Scholar, developing national curricular guides for licensing regulation. His clinical supervision research informs the COMPASS grant's mentorship framework, creating sustainable pipelines for rural mental health professionals through university-community partnerships.