The American Psychological Association urges Congress to increase funding for the Minority Fellowship Program from $3 million to $6 million for FY 2005. This program trains minority mental health professionals to provide culturally competent, accessible mental health and substance abuse services for diverse populations.

History

• In 1973, the Center for Minority Health at the National Institute of Mental Health was concerned about the lack of minority mental health professionals and awarded a small training grant to the American Sociological Association to train ethnic minority sociologists. Soon afterward, the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Psychiatric Association, the American Nurses Association and the Council on Social Work Education were invited to submit grants aimed at training ethnic minority mental health professionals and thus began the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP). Since its inception 30 years ago, 1072 Fellows have received support through the MFP, which is part of the Best Practices program within the Programs of Regional and National Significance at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Background

• Both reports of the Surgeon General, Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity (2001), and the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003) identified the existence of health disparities in the mental health system, with minorities receiving less mental health treatment and of a lower quality. A major recommendation in both these reports was to increase funding for training minority mental health professionals and to train mental health professionals to become culturally competent.
  
  
• Severe shortages of mental health professionals often arise in underserved areas due to the difficulty of recruitment and retention in the public sector. Studies have shown that ethnic minority mental health professionals practice in underserved areas at a higher rate than non-minorities. Furthermore, a direct positive relationship exists between the numbers of ethnic minority mental health professionals and the utilization of needed services by ethnic minorities.
  
  
• Although minorities currently represent 30% of our nation’s population and are projected to account for 40% in 2025, only 16% of doctorates in psychology in 2001, for instance, were awarded to minorities. Given the high cost of graduate education, federal support for programs that train minority psychologists and other behavioral health professionals is vital to help ensure that minorities have access to culturally sensitive and effective mental health services.

Funding Request

• Prior to FY 2001, the MFP funding level was set at $1 million for many years. In FY 2001, the budget was tripled to $3 million – still far below what is needed. Although the Senate Labor-Health and Human Services -Education Appropriations Subcommittee has included report language emphasizing the importance of increasing the training opportunities for ethnic minority mental health professionals, no additional funding has since been appropriated.

RECOMMENDATION

The American Psychological Association strongly urges Congress to:

• Reduce health disparities in the mental health field by appropriating $6 million for the MFP in FY 2005.
  

For more information, please contact Denis Nissim-Sabat, Ph.D., in APA’s Public Policy Office at (202) 336-6104.

March 2004

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