August 2020

From the Director 

Dear Fellows and Alumni,
 
For the last 45 years, more than 800 social work master’s and doctoral students have received CSWE MFP support as they advanced their behavioral health careers. Whether it is social work education, research, practice, or policy promulgation, CSWE MFP fellows continue to be leaders in their field through innovative approaches and a deep-rooted commitment to the behavioral health needs of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
 
Carl A. Scott helped secure National Institute of Mental Health funding for the MFP and was the first MFP director. When he retired, Dr. E. Aracelis Francis succeeded him as the MFP director—a role she would fill for more than 20 years. An NASW Social Work Pioneer, Dr. Francis began her career at CSWE in the late 1960s and retired in 2007. Recently, I interviewed her for perspective on the MFP’s history and the social change we’re witnessing. More of the interview will be shared on CSWE’s social media channels, but here are her thoughts on how far we’ve come in addressing the mental health and behavioral health needs of BIPOC:
 

We've made progress, but we still have a lot to do; and so much of it is systemic. Right now, there are more mentally ill people in jails and prisons; and social workers are not in jail or prisons, so they're not getting any services at all. We've got to find ways to get to them before they get to jails and prisons and provide services to them.

The problem is always there are not enough trained social workers. There are not enough social workers who can work with these various groups; so we've made progress, but we still have a long way to go.

In Fellowship, 
Duy Nguyen, PhD