2003 Annual Reports for Boards and Committees

APA Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs 2003 Annual Report

Personnel/Membership

The APA Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) convened two meetings in the year 2003 (February 28 - March 2 and via conference call on September 10). The face-to-face Fall 2003 consolidated committee meetings were cancelled due to APA budgetary shortfalls. The APA Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs (OEMA) continued to support the work of the Committee. CEMA's 2003 members were Karen H. C. Huang, PhD (chairperson); John M. Chaney, PhD; Stephen M. Quintana, PhD, Robert M. Sellers, PhD, Elizabeth M. Vera, PhD, and Tawa M. Witko, PsyD.

Dr. Huang and Dr. Chaney participated in their last CEMA meeting on September 10, 2003. Their terms of service on CEMA ended on December 31, 2003. CEMA expresses its great appreciation to both Dr. Huang and Dr. Chaney for their exceptional dedication, commitment, and demonstrated leadership. Their efforts were instrumental in CEMA’s ability to accomplish its mission, goals and objectives despite APA’s financial hardships. Their expertise, insight, and meaningful contributions were a great credit to the Committee.

Alvin N. Alvarez, PhD, and Priscilla Dass-Brailsford, PhD, were appointed to CEMA by CEMA's parent board, the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI) with terms of service to begin January 1, 2004 and to end December 31, 2006.

The remainder of this report is organized around CEMA's major goals and objectives as revised and approved on March 1, 2003.

GOAL I: Increase the numbers of ethnic minority psychologists in the profession, as well as in the membership and leadership of the Association, state psychological associations, and APA divisions, and promote activities that increase recruitment and retention of ethnic minorities in psychology.

CEMA nominated approximately 60 ethnic minority psychologists/APA members for consideration to serve on APA governance groups. In addition, CEMA nominated five of its former chairpersons for consideration by its parent board, the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI) to fill two member at-large seats on the 2004 Committee for Psychology in the Public Interest Awards (CPPIA).

CEMA met with Josephine Johnson, PhD, Terrie Furukawa, PhD, and Michael Sullivan, PhD, of the APA Practice Directorates’ Committee on State Leaders (CSL) to discuss collaboration efforts to enhance the CSL’s Diversity Initiative, which as has increased the participation of ethnic minority members in state and provincial psychological association leadership.

CEMA applauded the APA Membership Committee (M/C) and its Membership Task Force for their pro-active recommended strategies to increase ethnic minority participation in the APA, namely: (a) APA conduct special outreach to new members that self-identify as ethnic minority; and (b) tailor membership recruitment messages to address specific issues relevant to target communities of color; as well as the recommendation by the M/C’s Task Force on Membership, Retention, and Recruitment to (c) invite ethnic minority psychology organizations to discuss their concerns with the M/C. In addition, CEMA was particularly interested in learning more about the Task Force’s charge to “formulate a systematic plan to foster the retention of members and appropriate outreach to nonmembers.” Although specific mention and/or follow up reference to any “systematic plan” proposed by the Task Force was not readily available, CEMA was hopeful that such information would be forthcoming. CEMA expressed its sincere interest in this important issue and would greatly appreciate receiving additional details and/or an update report on the status of the development of a systematic plan and the plan’s possible implementation timetable.

GOAL II: Increase efforts to empower ethnic minority psychologists within the Association as well as increase the recognition of the contributions of ethnic minority psychologists inside and outside of the Association.

CEMA reviewed, modified, and approved its goals and objectives.

CEMA submitted detailed feedback on the Interim Report of the APA Presidential Task Force on APA Governance, and recommended that the Task Force add the following statement to its list of goals: “The continued increased representation of ethnic minorities at all levels of APA governance.”

CEMA recommended to BAPPI that it (BAPPI) support a Division 45 request to the APA Council of Representatives (C/Rs) for the collection of data and information related to diversity in the APA publications and communications editorial pipeline, as well as in psychology course content and training.

CEMA submitted the following comments/feedback to BAPPI regarding two February 2003 APA Council of Representatives (C/Rs) New Business Items #28 – APA Ban on Department of Defense Advertising in APA Publications – and #32C – Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Military Personnel:

CEMA was pleased that information related to the action taken by the APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns (CLGBC) on these two C/Rs business items was made available during its (CEMA’s) deliberations. CEMA recommends that BAPPI reject the main motion associated with Item #28, which proposes “repeal of APA’s resolution ‘Department of Defense Policy on Sexual Orientation and Advertising in APA Publications’”; and adopt the substitute main motion proposed by CLGBC associated with Item #32C, with the following “friendly amendments”: Create a Division 19/Division 44 Joint Task Force on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Military Personnel and Veterans. The charge of the Joint Task Force would be to generate a report to Council...that summarizes the current relevant literature [FRIENDLY AMENDMENT: and research] in this area and examines the current status of lesbian, gay, and bisexual military personnel and confidentiality issues for psychologists in the military regarding lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. It would also include an examination of the effects the APA ban on DoD advertising has had upon recruitment and upon military psychologists and interns. Finally, the report would include joint recommendations for APA's activities in this area, including lobbying efforts, policy development, and considering the relevance of the advertising ban. The Task Force membership should [FRIENDLY AMENDMENT: be balanced in representation from both Divisions, 19 & 44, and] include psychologists with expertise from the following areas: military psychology, lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues in psychology, and experience in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system.[FRIENDLY AMENDMENT: Lastly, the Task Force should carefully consider ethnic minority concerns by (1) ensuring adequate representation of persons of color in its membership composition, (2) examining the possible disproportional effect of these issues on military/veteran personnel of color, and (3) reporting on relevant findings.].

In response to a request from BAPPI regarding its Poverty Initiative, CEMA submitted the following:

CEMA is pleased to report that it is currently involved in several activities that are consistent with BAPPI’s Poverty Initiative. Three activities in particular stand out: (1) CEMA’s continued involvement in promoting and implementing the recommendations of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (WCAR) – addresses issues related to the link between racism and poverty; (2) CEMA’s efforts to develop an action plan to address APA’s Resolution on Racial/Ethnic Profiling and Other Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Law and Security Enforcement Activities – will take into consideration the role of poverty in the context in which profiling occurs as well as the psychological impact of being a victim of racial profiling; and (3) CEMA is in the process of developing a list of graduate students and psychologists who will work with CEMA and the APA Public Policy Office to help with advocacy activities associated with ethnic minority issues, including those significantly related to poverty. In addition to these specific activities, many of the issues and concerns that are relevant to ethnic minorities are also relevant to issues of social class and poverty. As such, much of CEMA’s current and planned activities are consistent with BAPPI’s Poverty Initiative. Also, CEMA encourages BAPPI to work with the APA Public Policy Office (PPO) in achieving many of the public policy issues delineated in the APA Resolution on Poverty. CEMA believes that PPO could be particularly helpful in achieving those goals.

CEMA appointed Dr. Vera as its representative to the Coalition of Psychology in Schools and Education (ICPSE). Dr. Vera attend the ICPSE meeting that was convened in Washington, DC, December 5-6, 2003.

CEMA approved a memorandum to BAPPI addressing strategies CEMA believes BAPPI could undertake in order to deal with the loss of convention program hours. CEMA is concerned that the loss of BAPPI’s four (4) hours of convention programming would negatively impact on the visibility of CEMA (and other BAPPI committees) at future APA conventions. CEMA recommends two strategies to deal with this issue: (a) BAPPI should ask the APA Board of Convention Affairs to reconsider their ruling regarding the reduction in the number of convention program hours for BAPPI based on the fact that this board has the greatest number of committees, and (b) BAPPI establish a rotating assignment of hours to the various BAPPI committees (for example, one hour for each of four committees), so that committees have planned opportunities for providing a session that is of particular relevance to their constituencies.

CEMA hosted one Open Meeting during the Spring 2003 consolidated meeting for members of color in the APA governance structure. The March 1, 2003 Open Meeting focused on the booklet being developed by the CEMRRAT2 Task Force Textbook Initiative Work Group entitled, “Toward an inclusive psychology: Infusing the introductory course with diversity content.” The Open Meeting was instrumental in gathering comments/feedback, recommendations, and endorsements from the various governance groups participating in the consolidating meetings. CEMA forwarded all comments to the TIWG for consideration.

CEMA hosted a breakfast meeting, attended by over 45 persons, during the APA 111th annual convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Invited guests included presidents of state psychological associations (SPAs) and the chairpersons of SPA and division committees on ethnic minority affairs, and ethnic minority persons involved in APA governance. For the ninth year, this breakfast has enjoyed co-sponsorship from the APA Practice Directorate and the Office of Division Services. The breakfast provides a forum for its invitees to meet, discuss, and network on relevant issues of concern. This year's breakfast theme, Psychology and Legislative Advocacy, focused on psychology’s involvement in public policy legislative advocacy issues at the local, state, and national levels, and the potential role SPAs, APA divisions, and APA members can play to promote such efforts. The breakfast’s keynote speaker was Rodney Hammonds, PhD. Additional presenters included Ellen Garrison, PhD, director of the APA Public Interest Directorate’s public policy unit in the APA Public Policy Office, and Josephine Johnson, PhD, chairperson of the Committee of State Leaders, who offered some information to breakfast participants on the State Leadership Committee’s diversity initiative. CEMA member, Stephen M. Quintana, PhD, chaired the session.

GOAL III: Increase the understanding of the need for scientific research on ethnicity and culture.

CEMA stated that the CEMA/P&C editorial pipeline survey report continues to be a high priority issue: CEMA continues to be concerned about the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities at all levels of the editorial pipeline (reviewer to editor) of APA journals.

CEMA awarded the Jeffrey S. Tanaka, Memorial Dissertation Award in Psychology to Su Yeong Kim, PhD, for her dissertation research entitled, “Generational consonance and dissonance: Acculturation, parent-child relationships, and adolescent adjustment in Chinese American families,” (University of California at Davis, 2002). In addition, Honorable Mention recognition was accorded to Do-Yeong Kim, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for her dissertation research entitled, “Parental traditionalism and parent-child relationships, explicit and implicit psychological acculturation, and mental health of Korean-American young adults,” (University of Washington, 2001). Members of the CEMA Dissertation Award Selection Subcommittee were Drs. Chaney (chairperson), Vera, and Witko. The Selection Subcommittee reviewed eleven abstract submissions of which three were selected as semi-finalists, who were required to submit their complete dissertation for review. The winner and honorable mention dissertations were selected from the semi-finalist submissions.

CEMA sponsored a social hour celebrating the presentation of the Jeffrey S. Tanaka Memorial Dissertation Award in Psychology plaque during the APA 111th annual convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Vera presented the winner’s award plaque to Dr. Su Yeong Kim and acknowledged Dr. Do-Yeong Kim, as this year’s Honorable Mention. In addition, CEMA hosted the presentation of the Suinn Minority Achievement Awards during its social hour. Dr. Vera announced the following award winners (winners represent three graduate training programs): University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Clinical/Community Psychology Program); The University of Michigan (Social Psychology Program); New York University (Community Psychology Program). Awards were presented to representatives of the Departments of Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Michigan during the social hour. The award to New York University (NYU) was presented to NYU representatives during CEMA’s invitational breakfast meeting.

CEMA commended the APA Board of Directors (B/Ds) for its continued support of the publication of the “Book on women of color leader psychologists.” In addition, CEMA submitted the following comments/feedback to the B/Ds related to the B/Ds agenda item, “Psychology making a significant difference web-based compendium.”

CEMA supports the effort to inform the world of the significant role that psychology plays in society. This web tool will define what matters, both to funders and to the general public. Therefore, a valid and useful final product is extremely important.

CEMA hopes that the Task Force has members who are familiar with ground-breaking ethnic minority research, and recommends that the Board encourage Phil Zimbardo, PhD, to ensure that his selection criteria for the “Psychology making a significant difference web-based compendum” are ones that are inclusive of the work by and about communities of color. CEMA’s concern arises because of historical marginalization of ethnic minorities. For instance, the criteria used to create the list of “Top psychologists of the 20 th century,” published in The Review of General Psychology (2002), over-emphasized quantitative data (e.g., the number of times an author was cited in journals and textbooks), and participation in institutions and publication outlets that have historically marginalized people and researchers of color, works against the inclusion of psychologists who work on issues of race, ethnicity, and/or culture (c.f. Tomes, “Recognizing Kenneth B. Clark’s legacy,” Monitor on Psychology, 33(11)). There are other ways of measuring “significant difference,” such as the fact that research results in a U.S. Supreme Court decision that affects fundamental institutions of society or led to the creation of new areas of study that have changed research paradigms (e.g., racial identity models).

CEMA reviewed and discussed further action in the development of an action plan in support of the APA Racial Profiling resolution.

CEMA again met with the APA Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessments (CPTA). The Committees agreed to continue their collaboration efforts in the following manner: (a) Continue to update the bibliography project. Members of both Committees were asked to forward citations to their respective staff liaisons. It was agreed that once prepared in a more current form, this document will be included on the testing website being developed by CPTA; (b) Co-sponsor a convention program session during the 2004 APA convention in Hawaii. Topics for consideration will include: (1) “What is taught in psychology graduate training programs about tests/assessment?”; (2) Issues in forensic psychology and (3) “What are some important things that psychology has contributed to society regarding appropriate testing?”; and (c) Follow up on the development of an article on “testing culturally diverse populations” for submission to the American Psychologist. This will be done by Drs. Parham and Velasquez.

GOAL IV: Promote increased multicultural competence in psychology

CEMA expressed its continuing support of the CEMRRAT2 Task Force Textbook Initiative Work Groups projects and endorsed the continued development of the APA CEMRRAT2 Task Force Introductory Psychology Textbook Initiative booklet.

CEMA provided the following comments/feedback to the APA Committee on Children, Youth, and Families regarding CYF’s report titled, Early Mental Health Interventions and the CYF proposed Resolution on Children’s Mental Health.

CEMA appreciated the explicit identification of “eliminating racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in access to quality mental health care services” as one of its core principles. Furthermore, the affirmation of “every child’s right to have access to culturally competent, developmentally appropriate, family oriented, evidence-based, high quality mental health services” is strongly endorsed by CEMA. CEMA would recommend, for consistency of language, that the term “race” be added to the portion of the resolution that states “Whereas there is a disparity of access to quality, and/or evidence-based promotion, prevention and treatment services based on poverty, ethnicity, and special needs of children.”

CEMA expressed it support of the revised version of the CYF Early Mental Health Interventions Work Group (EMHIWG) report entitled, “Addressing missed opportunities in early childhood mental health interventions: Current knowledge and policy implications,” dated May 6, 2003, and endorsed the resolution with the recommended modification language.

CEMA approved continued collaboration with the APA Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP). CEMA remains committed to the collaborative activities mutually agreed to by CEMA and CAPP, namely:

Priority 1 Linking the needs of communities of color more directly with the interests and activities of state psychological associations.

Priority 2 Establishment of a more systematic communication effort between the constituencies that CEMA and CAPP represent.

Priority 3 Encouraging greater coordination between the Public Policy Office and the Government Affairs Office on advocacy efforts and issues of mutual concern.

Priority 4 Development of a resolution encouraging state psychological associations to seek inclusion of multicultural training in continuing education and state licensure requirements.

CEMA acknowledged the work being done by the APA Committee on Aging (CONA), and shared its particular pleasure of the appointment of Beth Hudnall Stamm, PhD, to CONA. CEMA believes that Dr. Stamm’s expertise in gerontology in rural areas with underserved populations, including American Indian elders, will be very valuable in focusing CONA’s attention on issues related to ethnic and racial diversity. In addition, CEMA expressed its pleasure regarding CONA’s 2002 APA convention program, entitled, “The Population Shift: Aging and Cultural Diversity.” CEMA encouraged CONA and Division 20 to discuss and/or collaborate on ways of sponsoring a future National Multicultural Conference and Summit and encouraged CONA to explicitly integrate issues of racial and ethnic diversity as they pertain to the aging process. Examples of projects where this is appropriate may include CONA’s planned survey on exposure to aging content during undergraduate education in psychology and associated fields.

GOAL V: Promote the use of psychological knowledge for the recognition, prevention, and education of racism.

CEMA continued to consider development of an initiative to address the use of American Indian images.

CEMA extended its sincere appreciation to the APA Committee on International Relations in Psychology (CIRP) for its partnership in formalizing a program of action by APA around the issues of racism, discrimination, and xenophobia, following the United Nations World Congress Against Racism (WCAR). CEMA continues to be interested and willing to assist in the development of a final report from the WCAR, as well as formalizing recommendations and dissemination of the final document. To that end, CEMA established a subcommittee of its members to work with CIRP on the WCAR final report to APA. CEMA’s subcommittee members include Tawa M. Witko, PsyD, Stephen M. Quintana, PhD, and William D. Parham, PhD, ABPP.

CEMA collaborated with APA CIRP in the development of a proposal of a program session for APA’s 2004 annual convention in Hawaii. The session, tentatively titled, “Carrying APA’s commitment against racism forward into national and international contexts: Perspectives of Indigenous peoples,” is unique in both presentation and content. The proposed presentation is structured to combine a keynote address with panelist presentations. CEMA and CIRP were extremely fortunate to secure a commitment to deliver a keynote address by Mililani Trask, JD, who is an internationally recognized civil rights expert, an Independent Expert member of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Commission Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, and native Hawaiian, (Additional information about Ms. Trask can be found at the following web site: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/pfii/members/mililani.htm). Ms. Trask will report on the ongoing efforts of the UN to address the outcomes of the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and outline some of the pressing concerns that APA/psychology might be best suited to address. Additional panelists include: Corann Okorodudu, EdD, James Jackson, PhD, Bertha G. Holliday, PhD, Carlota Ocampo, PhD, William D. Parham, PhD, and James M. Jones, PhD.

GOAL VI: Promote and monitor an effective legislative advocacy agenda addressing ethnic minority concerns and their public policy implications -- particularly, in the following domains: Managed care, welfare reform, immigration, anti-affirmative action initiatives, English-only legislation, bilingual education, re-authorization of the Indian Child Welfare Act, and increased ethnic minority training funds.

CEMA received an informative report from Lori Valencia-Greene of APA’s Public Policy Office. The Committee was encouraged to consider legislative advocacy efforts that could include scheduled visits with Congressional leadership. In November, CEMA began an historic partnership with the Public Interest component of the Public Policy Office (PPO) in implementing Phase 1 of PPO's Coordinated Advocacy Campaign. Members of CEMA met with their Senators’ staff to express concern over the new minority health disparity legislation, the “Health Care Equality and Accountability Act” (H.R. 3459, S.1833). This involved CEMA members recruiting at least three of their colleagues in their states to the meeting and serving as the campaign contact in that state. The primary goal in this instance was to achieve integration of behavioral and mental health issues and providers throughout the minority health disparities legislation. Secondary goals were (1) to establish a relationship between CEMA members and their U.S. Senators, and (2) to provide a safe, enjoyable, productive encounter for all. To that end, the following CEMA members hosted meetings with their respective U.S. Senators and/or staff: (1) Tawa M. Witko, PsyD with Tim Johnson (D-SD); (2) Elizabeth M. Vera, PhD with Dick Durbin (D-IL); (3) Stephen M. Quintana, PhD with Herb Kohl (D-WI); and (4) Karen H.C. Huang, PhD with Arlen Specter (R_PA). By all accounts, the meetings were successful and the goals were met.

Participants present during Dr. Witko’s meeting with Senator Johnson’s staff on November 11th in the Senator’s office in Rapid City, South Dakota: Mr. Joe Roberts (member of Senator Johnson’s staff), and Jean Hammond, PhD.

Participants present during Dr. Vera’s meeting with Senator Durbin’s staff on November 19 th in Senator Durbin’s office in Chicago, Illinois: Ms. Charu Thakral, Mr. Michael Daley (Senator Durbin’s chief of staff), Suzette Speight, PhD, Torrey Wilson, PhD, and Karen McCurtis-Whitherspoon, PhD.

Participants present during Dr. Quintana’s meeting with Senator Kohl’s staff on November 14, 2003, in the Senator’s office in Madison, WI: Alberta Gloria, PhD, Mr. Steve Piotrowski (member of Senator Kohl’s staff), M. Lee Nelson, PhD, Kelly Huffman, M.Ed, Geraldo VilaCruz, PhD, Leya Moore, M.Ed (Faculty, students, and alumnus from Department of Counseling Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison).

Participants present during Dr. Huang’s meeting with Senator Spector’s staff on December 8, 2003 at Lehigh University: Justin Porembo (member of Senator Spector’s staff), Tina Richardson, PhD, Arpana Inman, PhD, and Nick Ladany, PhD.

CEMA was informed that the APA Council of Representatives reinstated OEMA’s award of $20,000 in discretionary funds to support further planning efforts associated with OEMA’s public policy conference proposal. These funds had been awarded to OEMA in 2002 but were later rescinded due to budget shortfalls.

Dissemination of Information

The CEMA Issues of Concern, which summarizes CEMA’s deliberations and activities, was prepared and disseminated to State and Division CEMAs, persons of color in APA governance, top APA leadership, and others.