MFP Advisory Committee Application

American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

Minority Fellowship Program

Advisory Committee-Professional and Public Member

 For more information regarding the previous application cycles please see below.

MFP Description
The MFP is one of the longest running behavioral health workforce development grants funded by the federal government – funding provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

MFP Mission Achievement
Advisory Committee members assist the MFP in achieving its objectives. The MFP has thus far focused on expanding the delivery of culturally competent mental health and substance abuse services to undeserved minority populations, and increasing the number of doctoral level culturally competent Marriage and Family Therapists.

Note on Future Scope
The MFP plans to increase its scope of impact in the near future to include focusing on expanding the delivery of culturally competent mental health services to undeserved minority populations, children, adolescence, and populations in transition to adulthood (aged 16-25); and increasing the number of master’s level culturally competent Marriage and Family Therapists committed to serving children, adolescence, and populations in transition to adulthood (aged 16-25).

Public Member Position
Individuals applying for the Public Member position must be members of the wider public who have been and /or are currently recipients of mental health services and/or substance abuse treatment services. MFP Advisory Committee Public Members do not have to be professionally aligned with any behavioral health field.

Professional Member Position
Individuals applying for the Professional Member position must be senior Marriage and Family Therapy educators or practitioners. Applicants should have a background that includes:

• Experience working in the areas of substance abuse and mental health services with minority populations for a substantial period of time within their respective behavioral health field;
• Research experience in mental health issues (preferable among minority and/or underserved populations);
• Experience with the PhD dissertation process from an evaluative perspective: having either served in a supervisory capacity for a dissertation proposal or advised on a dissertation panel;
• Research experience utilizing a quantitative and/or mixed methodological approach;
• Demonstrated experience working with mental health issues related to children, adolescences and youth age 16-25 with a focus on disadvantaged groups.

Roles of the Public and Professional Members
Advisory Committee members will provide programmatic and professional guidance aid in the growth and development of the AAMFT Minority Fellowship Program.  For more information about the AAMFT MFP please visit the MFP Webpage.

Advisory Committee (AC) Members are expected to:

• Attend all MFP Advisory Committee (AC) meetings. There are 1-2 Advisory Committee meetings annually in the DC Metro area. Meeting dates tend to be in the first half of the year but are dependent on the availability of AC members;
• Participate and provide guidance in periodic online and conference call discussions on emerging issues within the program;
• Provide guidance on program related policy matters. Advisory Committee members will lend their experience and expertise to the establishment of criteria for application review and expansion of the MFP;
• Public Members will serve as a voice for the public on the committee. They should actively advocate for the perspective, concerns and considerations of mental health service consumers as it relates to policy and procedural changes/suggestions put forth by the AC.

Advisory Committee Positions
All positions are volunteer based. We offer reimbursements related to these positions in the form of:

• Meal Reimbursements for required days of travel/meetings
• Travel and Hotel related expenses
• Air Fare
• Hotel Rooming
• Parking
• Etc.

Please note that the MFP does not provide honorariums.