The African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence is a new national Center funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Our academic home is the National Center for Primary Care, Morehouse School of Medicine.
We are determined to help our field transform behavioral health services for African Americans, making them: Safer, More effective, More accessible, More inclusive More welcoming, More engaging, and More culturally appropriate and responsive.
We will do this through collaboration, training, technical assistance, and a variety of written and recorded resources. Our efforts will be guided by: A distinguished Executive Advisory Board; An innovative Black Stakeholders Engagement Council reaching deep into the community, and A National Strategic Partners Group. Our work will remain rooted in our main goals:
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Goal 1: Increase the capacity of behavioral health systems to provide outreach and to engage, retain, and effectively care for African Americans.
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Goal 2: Improve dissemination of up-to-date information and culturally appropriate evidence-based practices and approaches for African Americans.
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Goal 3: Increase workforce development opportunities focused on vital issues such as social determinants of health, implicit bias, structural racism, and other factors that impede high-quality care for African Americans.
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Goal 4: Collaborate extensively with all of the SAMHSA-funded training and technical assistance providers, to infuse these networks with culturally appropriate information that will improve services for African Americans.
