June 2022

From the Director Dear fellows and alumni,  We have so much to celebrate within our MFP (Minority Fellowship Program) family, including graduations, employment notices, academic appointments, and promotions. Yet, because of recent events in our country involving gun violence, senseless murders, hate crimes, and mental health concerns, it seems unconnected and inconsiderate to begin this letter with words of cheer. So instead, I will begin by acknowledging that June is PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) Awareness Month and Pride Month. Furthermore, I will use this space to offer some words of acknowledgment, provide considerations related to PTSD, and extend calls to action for our MFP family.  Thank you to our MFP alumni for all that you do to ensure that the intersections between love and hate, health and hurt, freedom and fear, and policy and practice are addressed. Please continue serving at the crossroads to ensure that all are holistically safe, especially those from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Additionally, I congratulate our most recent MFP graduates on reaching such an awesome professional milestone. Please take the most recent incidents of violence as a call for you to stand boldly in the roles as advocates, activists, and others associated with our profession to be exemplars of change. Finally, sincere appreciation is extended to our continuing fellows for remaining committed to furthering your research and practice agendas. Your work on behalf of communities of color is critical in addressing the needs of those who are disproportionately affected by mental health and substance use/abuse issues. Please remain steadfast in your pursuits. If nothing else, these most recent mass murders are an indication that our country needs your research, scholarship, and practice expertise now more than ever.  Within this newsletter you will learn more about how to stay up to date on the activities of MFP scholars conducting research, producing scholarship, and demonstrating practice expertise. In addition to spotlighting your own efforts, please be sure to read about these scholarly practitioners who are making a difference in the world. Help us recognize each other’s accomplishments and commitment to addressing these ongoing social ills in the face of all that is happening in the world today.    In the spirit of Sankofa and Harambee,  Kesslyn Brade Stennis  Kesslyn Brade Stennis, PhD  Director, Minority Fellowship Program

 

Taking Pride in Our Work

The Minority Fellowship Program at CSWE values the intersectional identities of fellows and alumni. We know we cannot meet the mental health and substance use treatment needs of BIPOC communities without meeting the needs of those who identify as LGBTQ+ within those communities. We also know that YOU are at the forefront of these efforts and want to give you a platform to share them with the broader MFP community. 

Throughout Pride Month this June, the MFP invites you to share how the work you’ve done, are doing, or plan to do supports the theme chosen in the region you call home. Whether it’s Unapologetically Us for New York City, or ReUNITED for Washington, DC, we know you’re a part of realizing these groups. Use this thread in the MFP’s exclusive Spark community to share how! 

Celebrating Graduation Season

CSWE MFP staff send our most enthusiastic congratulations to those fellows who’ve graduated from master’s or doctoral programs in March, April, and May, as well as to those who will be graduating in the months to come! Graduating from a social work master’s or doctoral program is no small feat, and we want to honor these fellows’ accomplishments by creating spaces to spotlight their successes. Share your graduation photos and/or a positive update about your future plans here. 

Join Us on Spark 

Spark is CSWE’s online community for educators and social workers. This intuitive platform is designed to inspire conversation and collaboration among social workers, faculty members and administrators, students, interprofessional care providers, and other professionals around the world. 

Your community can be used to:   

• have real time conversations with daily or weekly notices of new posts; 

• upload documents and materials;   

• keep track of meeting minutes;   

• share ideas or generate collaboration among members; and  

• organize notes and discussion points.  

If you haven’t yet created a Spark account, watch this brief tutorial on how to create an account and post content. Written instructions are also available. 

Once you have created an account, please search for "Minority Fellowship Program (MFP)" in the search bar and request to join the community. When requesting to join, please provide a short message as to why you would like to join the community. Once we receive your request, we will grant you full access to the MFP Community.    

Update Your Contact Information 

Have you changed jobs in the last few years? Changed your primary email address? The MFP relies on current contact information for our internal database, which we use to contact alumni and help us prepare our reports for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Please use this link to share your updated contact information. Additionally, you are encouraged to reach out to MFP alumni you are connected with and request that they share their updated information too. Thank you in advance for supporting MFP staff efforts to enhance connectedness in the MFP community.  

Resources

Job Announcements

Community Science, an organization helping build the capacity of organizations and institutions to develop healthy, just, and equitable communities, is seeking a full-time associate who will lead research and technical assistance tasks for national and local initiative across the United States. Community Science is also looking for a managing associate with content knowledge in health behavioral or physical equity, community development, child or family support systems, or juvenile justice. Find details on responsibilities, review qualifications, and apply here. 

Thank you to MFP alumni for sharing the above job announcement(s) with the broader MFP community. For other opportunities, please visit the   CSWE Career Center. 

Professional Development Opportunities 

In recognition of PTSD Awareness Month, the National Center for PTSD is encouraging health care professionals to stay up to date on the best PTSD assessment tools. As such, they’re offering a four-course, on-demand online curriculum to learn the CAPS-5. The CAPS-5 is the gold standard in PTSD assessment and diagnosis. Created by staff at the Veterans Administration’s National Center for PTSD, the CAPS-5 can be used to: 

• make a current (past month) diagnosis of PTSD, 

• make a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD, and 

• assess PTSD symptoms over the past week. 

Learn more and register here. 

Catholic University of America (CUA) is hosting the 16th annual International Interdisciplinary Conference on Clinical Supervision (IICCS). The event will be held virtually and in person at CUA’s Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center, June 29–July 1, 2022. Presentations will address a variety of topics related to clinical supervision and training, including telesupervision, multicultural and social justice issues in supervision, international and cross-disciplinary practices in training, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on supervision and training. Register now and earn continuing education credits when you participate in this year’s IICCS. 

Save the date for CSWE’s 2022 Annual Program Meeting (APM) in Anaheim, California, November 10–13, 2022. As we did last year, we will continue to follow CDC guidelines as they relate to COVID-19 protocol as well as the Anaheim Hilton property’s protocols. Registration for the APM will open in June 2022. Find the latest information on conference details and registration here. 

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CSWE Diversity Center’s June Educator|Resource

Visit CSWE’s Center for Diversity and Social & Economic Justice on June 14 to view the latest Educator|Resource.