Savannah Bachar

Savannah is  is currently a clinical psychology doctoral student at Loma Linda University's School of Behavioral Health. She grew up in San Bernardino and surrounding cities within the county. Her emphasis is on community development and improvement. She is committed to serving the city of San Bernardino by providing therapy for adolescents at an alternative education high school. Her research interests include community health, behavioral interventions for children, substance abuse, and rehabilitation of violent and non-violent offenders. 

Savannah's doctoral project takes place in collaboration with the Department of Surgery and Trauma at the Loma Linda University Medical Center. Her goal is to evaluate an existing community-based substance use intervention program, the Youth Alternative Solutions Program (YASP). Loma Linda has been hosting the YASP program for the past 23 years. YASP is a seven-step intervention program that focuses on psychoeducation about substance use, requires the attendance of a narcotics or alcoholics anonymous meeting, and includes visiting the hospital’s trauma center and morgue. The goal of her project is to evaluate the YASP program’s long-term efficacy at reducing incarceration.