Diversity updates

British Columbia

On May 22, 2020, the British Columbia Psychological Association (BCPA) hosted the following virtual workshop: How to Provide Culturally Competent Care: The DSM-5 Outline for Cultural Formulation and the Cultural Formulation Interview. The workshop learning objectives were the following:

• Define the elements of cultural competence and its rationale for quality of care and meeting professional guidelines of care with diverse populations. 
• Define the five parts of the DSM-5 Outline for Cultural Formulation and apply it in clinical assessment and treatment planning of patients. 
• Cite the 16 questions of the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) and apply it in clinical assessment of patients. 
• Describe the 12 Supplementary Modules of the CFI and apply them when appropriate in the clinical assessment of patients.

There were 50 virtual attendees for this workshop.

California
The California Psychological Association has been active in responding to recent events in our country. Through our Information and Advocacy Alerts we have kept psychologists updated on changes in reimbursement rates for telehealth and other critical considerations during this pandemic. CPA worked with all other mental health associations in California to secure reimbursement equity for telehealth, we supported the Board of Psychology’s request for waivers to allow more time to gain supervised experience, and we worked with other organizations to develop a volunteer registry for mental health providers who can provide pro bono services to front line healthcare workers. Finally, we held a free webinar for California psychologists on the topic of racism during COVID-19, held virtual conversations on practice issues, and issued statements on xenophobia during the pandemic and on anti-racism following the death of George Floyd.

Florida
Here are 2020 updates on diversity initiatives from Florida Psychological Association:

• Adopted a Diversity Mission Statement that is now available on our website and is part of policy.
• Added a page on our website devoted to announcing and support our diversity initiatives and our Diversity and Cultural Competence Committee.
• We are working on the development of a Diversity Webinar Series that will include several Diversity and Cultural Competence-focused CEs for our membership.
• Joined APA’s #EqualityFlattenstheCurve movement to raise awareness about the ways that the pandemic is affecting communities of color in disproportionate ways.
• The FPA Diversity and Cultural Competence chair role is now a voting member of the FPA Board of Directors.
• Published a statement in reaction to the murder of George Floyd and the systemic racial injustices in our country. This statement was spread widely.
• Organized two Open Forums for membership. One, an open space for support for those affected by the recent racist violence and another one, a more structured dialogue focused on how we can as individuals, professionals, and as an organization be a part of needed change. Following these forums, the Diversity and Cultural Competence Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Board of Directors will meet to discuss needed organizational changes that arise from the Open Forums.

Georgia

The Diversity Directorate of the Georgia Psychological Association has been quite busy and productive over the last several months. In June, to directly engage in fighting the racism pandemic, we have:

• Developed a Statement on Racial Injustice in conjunction with GPA leadership for our membership after the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.
• Supported the Georgia Psychological Association Graduate Students in preparing a Statement on Racial Injustice with associated resources and calls to action.
• Submitted a letter to the lieutenant governor advocating for passage of the Hate Crime Bill, as Georgia is one of four states that does not have a hate crime law. We also developed a position paper highlighting the psychological science on the effects that hate crimes have on individuals and communities to advocate to distribute to Georgia legislators. Related to this, we educated our members on how to personally advocate with their legislators for the passage of this bill.
• Held a Diversity Directorate meeting on June 10, 2020, with approximately 30 GPA members to discuss members’ and GPA’s organization needs in advancing social justice. The plan includes: a) holding a town hall on the racism pandemic; b) developing a web-based list of resources for members and the general public regarding racial and social justice issues; c) offering multiple CE workshops on social justice issues this fiscal year; d) obtaining a nationally recognized expert on race for the annual meeting; and e) educating the membership about the role of the Diversity Directorate and recruiting more members through posts on GPA’s website.

• The Diversity Directorate hosted a free one-hour CE event to highlight health disparities in February on Maternal Mortality Trends in African American Women. Further, the Diversity Directorate solicited workshop proposals for the 2020 virtual annual meeting and ongoing workshops on topics such as “Multicultural Supervision,” “Immigrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees,” “Bringing Identity into the Room: Steps for Culturally and Evidenced-Based Work with Couples,” Culturally Sensitive Assessment of Interpersonal and Racial Trauma in Ethnic Minority Adolescents,” and “The Complex Relationship Between Good Hair, Bad Hair and African American Women’s Racial Identity and Self-Esteem.”

Additional highlights include:

• The president-elect of the Georgia Psychological Association, Kamieka Gabriel, PhD, is an African American female.
• GPA member Jennifer F. Kelly, PhD, ABPP, who is ethnically diverse, became APA’s 2020 president-elect.
• Mary Fernandes, who is ethnically diverse, is the APAGS chair-elect.

Iowa  

The Diversity and Social Justice Committee (DSJ) of the Iowa Psychological Association (IPA) promotes the integration of awareness and advocacy for diversity and social justice through all aspects of IPA. We view ourselves as agents of social change, and our aim is to increase cultural competency on multiple ecological levels within the field of psychology, with an emphasis on Iowa. Our biggest update is the successful creation of a diversity liaison position on the Executive Council. The diversity liaison will have voting rights and will work closely with the Diversity and Social Justice Committee. We also offer multiple trainings throughout the year with a focus on issues pertaining to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. We are intentional about having persons of color present on these issues when possible. The Diversity and Social Justice Committee successfully secured funding to have Melba Vazquez present a Cultural Competency and Ethics workshop this fall. Other activities include actively promoting community engagement. We attended a talk by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine entitled, “Black Bodies, Medical Science, and the Age of Emancipation.” We also organized a social for members of IPA to attend the movie “Harriet.”

In addition, the chair of the DSJ committee, Joyce Goins-Fernandez, PhD, attended the Practice Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., as a diversity delegate. At present, the Diversity and Social Justice Committee is holding a series of townhalls in response to the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor to discuss how racism is a pandemic in this country and what we can do as psychologists to create positive change. We have continued with past initiatives to have IPA members submit Diversity Profiles to the listserv. T hese  profiles are ways for members to get to know each other by sharing experiences related to our identities. We also continue to submit articles to IPA’s quarterly newsletter The Iowa Psychologist. Future initiatives include organizing trainings on topics surrounding racial trauma and xenophobia.

Minnesota

The Minnesota Psychological Association (MPA), like many of the associations around the country, have experienced some challenging months. However, these challenges have allowed us to expand our offerings and focus on what is important. One area of focus has been on our diversity initiatives. MPA’s Diversity Committee recently released a statement regarding the loss of George Floyd. Our listservs have been active, and we are currently exploring virtual discussion forums for our members with a focus on recent events and the racial disparities in our state. We have collected and shared anti-racism resources. MPA has lobbied to support state legislative efforts to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis and replace incarceration with treatment, as this has been historically used for voter suppression and the oppression of minorities. MPA also annually partners with the Minnesota Association of Black Psychologists in celebrating Black History Month with a First Friday Forum training specific to African Americans, and an award ceremony honoring a Black psychologist who has made a significant contribution to Black psychology. MPA members have also elected four African Americans as the association’s president, including the current President Willie Garrett, EdD. MPA is currently partnering with the Minnesota Association of Black Psychologists with a first responder and front-line employee support service, in response to the COVID-19 crisis and current policing protests. MPA has diversity representation on both the executive and governing, leadership committees. MPA has submitted public position statements opposing the new racism towards all Asian groups in response to the coronavirus being reported as originating in China. Climate change is an MPA initiative as communities of color are disproportionately impacted by environmental harm. Finally, for several months now, we have been working on a joint virtual Multicultural Conference with the Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT), which will have a focus on difficult dialogs and healing conversations. This will be our second Multicultural Conference, and we look forward to providing opportunities for continued personal and professional growth to our attendees.

Missouri

Missouri Psychological Association’s (MOPA) Diversity Committee is a standing committee, as well as one of the most active, having set a prototype for others. New student members have been added to the committee. Also, the committee is diversifying, having members with promoting allies of diversity initiatives in various mental health settings. In addition, the Diversity Committee membership is expanding throughout regions of Missouri. On June 30, 2020, there will be a webinar,COVID-19 and Racism: Next Steps to Heal from Both Viruses. The Panel will include Diversity Chairperson Keisha Ross, along with two physicians, moderated by Falconer.

The committee recently established a collaborative relationship with the St. Louis County Juvenile Public Defenders Office. The committee will serve in the capacity of providing trainings to public defenders on cultural competence topics such as oppression, historical/ intergenerational trauma, poverty and its effects on mental health as it intersects with criminal justice system. The committee also plans to develop and provide mental health support program and resources for family members who have children within the system. Psychologist also will assist with providing expert testimony.

Our future long-term goals will include maintaining voting Board of Director’s member of racial/ethnic minority status; additionally, focusing on continued expansion of the Diversity Committee throughout the state, as well as utilizing the diversity officer to assist in mandating cultural competency state level for licensing.

Nevada

The Nevada Psychological Association included a strategic plan within our two-year goals, which is aimed at embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into the culture of NPA. This DEI focus has encouraged more community participation in events, for example the Las Vegas Pride parade. The DEI committee offers training aimed at increasing cultural competencies and also provides educational emails to the member listserv to promote discussion. The DEI chair attended the 2020 APA Practice Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., which offered training in leadership skills. NPA’s DEI Committee and Executive Board released a statement of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and re-committed to combating anti-Blackness within our organization.

Oklahoma

Thus far, we have issued a statement to our members regarding our approach to diversity, inclusion, and equity, which was followed by a list of resources related to social justice and mental health specifically targeted to helping ethnic, cultural, and sexual minorities. We are in the process of issuing a statement in support of anti-racism that will hopefully go out today. This includes promotion of the use of resources previously delivered, as well as additional resources. It also includes a call to work for participation in anti-racism activities such as volunteering and supporting anti-racist organizations and has spurred our efforts for continuing education for diversity among psychologists in Oklahoma.

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Psychological Association’s Board of Directors recently voted to approve a change to our bylaws that would add a diversity and inclusion officer position to our Board and to our Executive Committee. The membership will be voting on this proposed revision shortly. If approved, that person would be a leader in PPA’s efforts to diversify our membership and leadership, and to develop, consult on, implement, and/or evaluate the success of other organizational activities and initiatives pertaining to diversity. We are also planning a webinar for our members on anti-racism/allyship, though details are not yet finalized.