African American Behavioral Health Conference History

The Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Programs (UMADAOP) of Ohio were established in 1980 via legislation spearheaded by former State Representative William L. Mallory. Representative Mallory was informed by Don Turner of Cincinnati, a professional in the field of substance abuse, that the culturally specific needs of African Americans were not being met. Jacqueline P Butler, a longtime advocate for underserved populations, shared with Mallory and others that state monies were available to possibly fund a substance abuse service delivery system specially targeting Ohio’s minority community. Under the guidance of Representative Mallory, along with former Ohio State Senator William F. Bowen, Turner, Butler, and many others worked to develop a statewide network that adequately addressed the prevention of alcohol abuse among African and Hispanic Americans throughout Ohio. Now, OhioMHAS supports 11 UMADAOPs and one specialized program around Ohio. They are a vital force in meeting the substance misuse education, prevention and treatment needs of African and Hispanic/Latinx Americans throughout the state of Ohio

Minority Concerns Committee - the Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH), led by chairperson Wilma Townsend, established the Minority Concerns Committee to look at mental health service utilization of minority populations in Ohio. Throughout the 1980’s the Minority Concerns Committee issued reports and recommendations on service utilization, language on cultural competence to be included in the Mental Health Reform Act of 1988, and held the first Annual Cultural Diversity Mental Health Conference in Ohio.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the Secretary’s Task Force Report on Black and Minority Health. The Report clearly established that a disparity in health status existed between the majority and minority populations in the United States. The minority population was defined as African Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native American Indians. The Report stated: “Despite the unprecedented explosion in scientific knowledge and the phenomenal capacity of medicine to diagnose, treat, and cure disease, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and those of Asian/Pacific Islander heritage have not benefited fully or equitably from the fruits of science or from those systems responsible for translating and using health sciences technology.”

In response to this disparity the State of Ohio created the Governor’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health as a special project under the Ohio Department of Health. Executive Order 85-69 authorized the Task Force to: 1) examine the conditions under which gaps in the health and health care services for black and minority communities exist and recommend methods by which the gaps could be closed; 2) design methods for disseminating health information and education materials especially designed for the minority community; 3) develop models to improve access and utilization of public health services; 4) develop strategies to improve the availability and accessibility of health professionals to minority communities; 5) establish the rules, regulations, and In acknowledgment of the trailblazers and pioneers serving, advocating, and supporting recovery in Ohio’s behavioral health system on behalf of African Americans and communities of color, Thank you! Though this list is not comprehensive, we wanted to share highlights that serve as the building blocks of today’s behavioral health system. procedures which are necessary or desirable for discharging the duties of the Governor’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health; and 6) report to the Governor the activities, findings, and recommendations of the Task Force.

The Franklin County Mental Health Board hosted provider system cultural training sessions for clinicians and case managers. These pioneering efforts were created by Wyvetta Harper who hosted sessions focused on working with African Americans.

The ADAMH Board of Franklin County responded to a Request for Proposals (RFP) from the Ohio Department of Mental Health to initiate recommendations cited in a Minority Concerns Committee report. Phil Cass, Ph.D., president of the ADAMH Board convened members of the Columbus Chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists who had been advising ADAMH on ways to improve services and marketing to the African American community. Drs. Moriba Kelsey and Linda James Myers along with ADAMH Executive Assistant to the President Kevin Dixon and Vice President of Alcohol and other Drugs Suzanne Coleman Tolbert responded to the RFP by proposing the creation of an Afrocentric training initiative to focus on cultural awareness/sensitivity, training, and program development. The board received approval of funding for three years to begin this work and hired coordinator Sheila Austin to implement the proposed project.

The Afrocentric Training Project was designed to create and implement an Afrocentric paradigm that could be replicated for other underserved and marginalized communities. The Franklin County ADAMHS Board’s planning team created a training model with the assistance of nationally renowned scholars and social scientists Wade Nobles, Ph.D., Na’im Akbar, Ph.D. Joseph Baldwin, Ph.D., and Jewel Pookrum, M.D. to design a comprehensive response to the needs of the African American community, but also other marginalized and underserved cultural communities (i.e., Asian/Pacific Islanders, Appalachian, Native American, Latino, African and Caribbean communities). The overall goal of the Afrocentric Training Project was to provide education, training, program development, human resource training/development, system and community resource library, funding supports, hosting community events (e.g., Kwanzaa celebration), diversity in workplace, and implementing culturally responsive services. The committee formed a three phased training program that included an intensive training for system agencies who had demonstrated a level of cultural competence and practice, a general training for mental health service providers, and free evening sessions for the general community that featured all the leading experts who trained system professionals. This project was the foundation for hosting three national conferences.

The ADAMH Board launched intensive cultural trainings for those providers who had demonstrated work in cultural competence. These groups met two days each quarter with cultural, social, and clinical scholars in behavioral health. During this time the board hosted free systemwide and general community sessions at the King Arts Complex with Kwanzaa Founder Maulana Karenga, Ph.D., Ivan Van Sertima, Ph.D., Erice Doss, Ph.D., and Poet Sonia Sanchez. As this aspect of the program began, the Franklin County ADAMH Board under the leadership of Phil Cass started to transform itself in terms of creating system programs for target populations, therapeutic communities, faith-based programming, Afrocentric treatment teams, such as the Foluke House (Bell Center), and the WAIT program for women, et al. ADAMH Board of Franklin County and Ohio Dept. of Mental Health partnered to host its Annual Training Conference. Each previous year ODMH partnered with local mental health and/or addictions boards to host its annual cultural training conference. This was the first year that it was transformed to a national training conference with over 1200 participants from the United States, Canada, and Caribbean. ADAMH and ODMH partnered with the Ohio Commission on Minority Health, Ohio Commission on African American Males, Ray Miller Center for Urban Progress, WOSU television, WVKO radio, and the Foluke Center (Bell Center), along with community and provider agency staff. National Presenters representing a wide range of disciplines were tapped to participate in the areas of behavioral health, health, spirituality, youth, business/economics, education, cultural edutainment, and cultural traditions from an Afrocentric perspective. Participants included, Kwanzaa Creator Dr. Maulana Karenga, Afrocentric Architect Dr. Molefi Asante, Harvard physicians Dr. Alvin Poussaint and Deborah Prothro Stith, along with scholars/activists such as Edwin Nichols, Asa Hilliard, Randall Robinson, Dick Gregory, and dozens of others. National The evening ended with a solo performance with Presidential Poet Laurite Dr. Maya Angelou with 4,000 in attendance

ADAMH Boards in Cuyahoga and Franklin Counties hosted a National Training Conference in Cleveland in 1994, and ADAMH returned the Afrocentric Training conference in 1995. A subsequent conference was held in Hamilton County by the ADAMHS Board and ODMH occurred in 1995. Some results of these national conferences include:

• Creation of key Afrocentric programs (e.g., Afrocentric Mental Health Team; Columbus Area Afrocentric Team; Maryhaven’s Afrocentric Women’s Project; Foluke House and the WAIT Program. Established a community learning platform designed to have clinicians learn in the community about diverse cultural communities. Statewide training supported by the ODMH.
•  Funding from ODMH to examine everything from ethno-psychopharmacology to measuring disparities

In the early years, Mrs. Charlotte Bell, a prominent Columbus-area advocate brought a community together and led an effort with the National Suicide Prevention People of Color initiative. These efforts led to broader conversations and system advocacy. The Ohio Department of Mental Health, in partnership with the Franklin County ADAMHS Board and The Ohio State University, launched the state’s first Suicide Prevention Plan. The plan evolved into the creation of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation (OSPF) (2004). The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation (2004) was instrumental in creating local suicide prevention coalitions across the state. The OSPF flourished under the leadership of Elnora L. Jenkins, Director of Prevention Services, ODMH. For seventeen years, Ms. Jenkins was a fierce advocate for cultural competency, reducing stigma and raising awareness within the behavioral health system.

In 2003, the Minority Concerns Committee was formally organized as the Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence, Inc. (MACC) to make cultural competence a cornerstone in Ohio’s behavioral health system. MACC conducted the first ever-statewide mental health needs assessment among eleven racial, ethnic, and cultural communities titled, “Learning Your Needs” Cultural Competence Needs Assessment Project 2006; in 2008 the report was updated to include the Somali culture. The Disparities & Cultural Competency (DACC) Advisory Committee is a Statewide Advisory Committee championing the public behavioral health system in health equity and the elimination of disparities. This work is spearheaded by OhioMHAS under the leadership of Joseph Hill in the Bureau of Cultural and Linguistic Competency in the Medical Directors Office.

The Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence, Inc. worked with Ohio’s state departments, cultural organizations, consumers, families, and others to adopt the first in the nation state cultural competence definition to assist Ohio in moving towards cultural competence in service and care. MACC defined cultural competence as a continuous learning process that builds knowledge, awareness, skills and capacity to identify, understand, and respect the unique beliefs, values, customs, languages, abilities, and traditions of all Ohioans in order to develop policies to promote effective programs and services.