Message From the Director

Dear MFP Fellows and Alumni:
 
Congratulations to our MFP master’s and doctoral fellows who have recently graduated! We are proud to count you among our fellows and look forward to the great contributions you'll make to behavioral health work!

Did you know that July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month? The National Alliance on Mental Illness poses the question: WhyCare? Post why you care to Twitter and tag me (@cswemfp) with the hashtag #MinorityMentalHealth.

This month’s featured fellows show how they care in many different ways. Dr. Jenny Jones cares about the profession and students through her leadership in social work education while also serving as the dean at Clark Atlanta University. MFP master’s fellows and recent graduates Michelé Jones and Yamirelis Otero-Ramos care about students’ emotional well-being in schools and the barriers facing people with disabilities in Puerto Rico. Dr. Lizbeth Gaona Dill, a recent PhD graduate from the University of Southern California, cares about the experiences of homeless citizens in Southern California living with mental illnesses and substance use disorder. Read more about these fellows in the full newsletter here.
 
Duy Nguyen, PhD
MFP Director

MFP Spotlight

Michelé Jones, MSW, PPSC

Current MFP master’s fellow Michelé Jones, MSW, PPSC graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with her MSW on June 14. She works as a mental health therapist at Pacific Clinics. The UCLA Department of Social Welfare presented Jones with the Outstanding Student of the Year Award for her leadership as the Luskin Black Caucus chair. As chair she organized events on health disparities in the Black community, trauma affecting children of color in schools, and Black community engagement. Jones plans to obtain her LCSW and work for a school district. To later combine her love of traveling and helping others, she plans to add an additional career in international social work during the summer months. Connect with Michelé on LinkedIn.

 

Yamirelis Otero-Ramos, MSW

Current MFP master’s fellow Yamirelis Otero-Ramos, MSW, graduated with her MSW from Stony Brook University on May 23. Otero-Ramos works for the Partial Hospitalization Program at John T. Mather Hospital in New York as a psychiatric social worker. Her responsibilities include treatment plan development and individual, group, and family therapy and crisis intervention. She is a bilingual, culturally competent clinical social worker who is committed to people with disabilities who lack access to resources. She collaborated with two of her professors for the article, “The Political Determinants of Disaster Risk: Assessing the Unfolding Aftermath of Hurricane Maria for People With Disabilities in Puerto Rico.” Her work was published in the April 2018 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Justice. Otero-Ramos plans to continue working and learning about the social, environmental, and political barriers facing people with disabilities in Puerto Rico. Connect with Yamirelis on LinkedIn.

Lizbeth Gaona Dill, PhD

Lizbeth Gaona Dill, PhD (MFP Doctoral 2019) has graduated with her doctorate from the University of Southern California. Dr. Gaona Dill works as a clinical supervisor at a non-profit in downtown Los Angeles, where she serves homeless mentally ill adults with substance use disorder. Dr. Gaona Dill has accepted an assistant professor position at California Baptist University and will continue to conduct community-based research with her current emplooyer to improve outcomes for the organization’s clients. Dr. Gaona Dill will present her research on dialectical behavior therapy and firearm interventions at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention in November 2019. Dr. Gaona Dill appreciates the MFP for career mentorship and networking opportunities, and she hopes to collaborate with the MFP community in the future.

Jenny Jones, PhD

We are proud to announce Jenny Jones, PhD (MFP Doctoral 2002) has been elected as the Graduate Program Representative to the CSWE Board of Directors. Dr. Jones’ 3-year commitment to serve the social work education community began July 1, 2019. Dr. Jones is dean at Clark Atlanta University’s Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work and was program director of CSWE’s MFP from 2007–2010.






 

Laina Ya-Hui Bay-Cheng, PhD, MSW

Congratulations to Laina Ya-Hui Bay-Cheng, PhD, MSW (MFP Doctoral 2002) for receiving a promotion to full professor and associate dean for faculty development at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. Dr. Bay-Cheng expresses her gratitude to the MFP for the moral and material support she received as a fellow. The momentum from the MFP still carries her forward with determination to support colleagues at all stages of their career.





 

Call for Volunteers: Minority Fellowship Program

Pay it forward to future MFP fellows by serving as an advisory committee member, application reader, or a career mentor for 2019-2020 doctoral and master’s fellowships. Applications will open in August 2019. More information will be provided during the application process. Sign-up here to be notified via e-mail when the application cycle opens.
 

Resources

The Diversity Center’s Educator|Resource of the Month
Visit CSWE’s Center for Diversity and Social & Economic Justice to view the July Educator|Resource. Dr. Arati Maleku of The Ohio State University developed “The Practice of Hope: Participator Models for Work With Communities.” This Educator|Resource describes resources on the use of participatory approaches such as asset-based community development and community-based participatory research as pragmatic strategies that ignite hope in social work research and practice with diverse communities and organizations. This resource provides materials for active and applied learning, including three teaching modules, classroom exercises, and two research briefs.

Reports: CSWE’s Rainbow Papers
Guidelines for Affirmative Social Work Education is a resource for creating social work educational environments that support lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning students, faculty members, administrators, and staff members. Creating affirmative social work educational environments for transgender and gender nonconforming populations is addressed in the following document, Guidelines for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) Inclusive Social Work Education.

2019 APM Preliminary Program Available Now
The 2019 Annual Program Meeting (APM) Preliminary Program is now available. The Preliminary Program provides a sneak peek of the opportunities available at this year’s conference in Denver, CO, on October 24–27. Browse the program here for the preliminary schedule, preconference events, speaker biographies, instructions for earning continuing education credits, and more.

Conference: 2019 Fall IPEC Institute Registration Now Open
The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) welcomes registrants for the 2019 Fall IPEC Institute, “Strengthening Partnerships for IPE and Collaborative Practice,” which will be held on October 2–4, 2019, in Portland, OR. Register now if you are a social work educator interested in strengthening and improving collaborative partnerships with other health professions.

Nomination: Women’s Council Mentor Recognition Fund
Nominate and honor your mentor(s) at the Feminist Networking Breakfast at APM (formerly the Women's Council Breakfast). This fund honors feminist mentors for their contributions to the increased visibility of women in social work education. Nominate your mentor here by September 15, 2019.

Call for Papers: 24th Annual Feminist Manuscript Award
CSWE’s Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education (Women's Council)  presents the 24th Annual Feminist Manuscript Award for accepted APM proposals that advance feminist thought. The Feminist Manuscript Award recognizes the work of scholars who have a deep understanding of feminism in relation to social work theory, research, practice, policy, and education. Learn more here and apply by Monday, July 15, 2019.

Conference: Advancing School Mental Health: Safe and Supportive Schools for All Students
The 2019 Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health, hosted by the National Center for School Mental Health, will be held on November 7–9, 2019, in Austin, TX. The conference brings together local, state, national, and international experts to advance knowledge and skills related to school mental health practice, research, training, and policy. Learn more here.

Study: Global Agenda  
CSWE is the Global Observatory for the North American and Caribbean Region to collect resources in support of the Global Agenda to gather information regarding the fourth pillar of the Global Agenda, “promoting the importance of human relationships.” Participate in the Global Agenda study by submitting relevant resources that promote the importance of human relationships. Your participation will also make your work more visible across the globe. View the survey here before it closes on November 15, 2019.

Webinar: Working With Gender Diverse Individuals: Implications for Services
The Mental Health Technology Transfer Center–Northeast and Caribbean is hosting a two-part webinar on the history, strengths, and challenges related to gender diversity in the behavioral health field. Participants will gain an understanding of the research addressing disparities and improving behavioral health services for gender diverse individuals. Join the first webinar on July 24. The second webinar will be on July 31 from 12:00 pm–1:30 pm EDT. Register for the webinars here.

MFP Fellow and Alumni Features
We want to feature your work in MFP Connect! Please use this form to tell us about your current work with underserved racial/ethnic communities. We are especially interested in examples that build and foster connections between current fellows and alumni!