[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 20015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10543]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Minority Fellowship Program

AGENCY: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of planned award for renewal of a clinical training 
grant under the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) to the American 
Psychological Association (APA).

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SUMMARY: SAMHSA's CMHS plans to award a renewal MFP grant to the APA 
for the clinical training of pre-/post-doctoral level psychology 
trainees who plan service careers working with ethnic minority 
populations with mental and addictive health disorders. The project 
period for the renewal grant is anticipated to be 3 years. The first 
year will be funded at approximately $400,000.
    This is not a general request for applications. The renewal 
clinical training grant will only be made to the APA based on the 
receipt of a satisfactory application that is considered to have 
sufficient merit by an Initial Review Group and the CMHS National 
Advisory Council.

Authority: The award will be made under the authority of section 303 
of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act. The authority to administer 
this program has been delegated to the Director, CMHS. The Catalog 
of Federal Domestic Assistance number for this program is 93.244.

Background

    Section 303 of the PHS Act assigns the Director of CMHS certain 
responsibility for the clinical training of mental health professionals 
including those concerned with the treatment of underserved priority 
populations; i.e., adults with serious mental illness; children with 
serious emotional disturbance; elderly, ethnic minority and/or rural 
populations with mental and addictive disorders. The lack of suitably 
trained professionals is considered to be a major cause of the lack of 
access for ethnic minority communities to appropriate mental health and 
substance abuse services. Accordingly, CMHS has the responsibility for 
providing support to facilitate the entry of ethnic minority students 
into mental health careers and increase the number of professionals 
trained at the doctoral-level to teach, administer, and provide direct 
mental health and substance abuse services to ethnic minority 
communities.
    Over the past several decades, the Federal mental health clinical 
training program at CMHS (and previously at the National Institute of 
Mental Health [NIMH]) has addressed this gap primarily by attempting to 
increase the numbers of professionals who wish to dedicate themselves 
to serving ethnic minority populations with mental and addictive 
disorders.
    A renewal application may be submitted only by the APA. This 
professional organization has unique access to those students entering 
the profession of psychology. The field of psychology has been 
nationally recognized for decades as part of the four core mental 
health disciplines, along with psychiatry, nursing and social work. The 
American Psychiatric Association, the American Nursing Association, and 
the Counsel on Social Work Education also have ongoing CMHS MFP grant 
support. Psychologists provide part of an essential core of services 
for individuals with serious mental illness and also less severe mental 
disorders.
    The APA is the largest national professional psychologists' 
organization in the country. The APA and its affiliates have activities 
in all major areas of national policies affecting psychology as a 
profession, including education and training.
    The APA, along with its affiliates, has direct involvement in 
curriculum development, school accreditation, and pre-/post-doctoral 
training. The APA has had decades of experience in working directly 
with university training programs in its respective field.
    Because of the above unique characteristics and long experience, 
NIMH, the original funding agency, chose APA as the exclusive 
representative for the field of psychology. For over 20 years, the APA 
has administered the MFP exceptionally well, recruited excellent 
students, assured that all program requirements were satisfied, and 
effectively monitored the progress of fellows during and after the 
fellowship period. The MFP grantee continues in its unique position to 
represent this core mental health discipline and eligibility for 
continuation funding has been restricted to it accordingly.
    Therefore, because the APA's grant support will end in FY 1997, 
CMHS is providing additional support for up to 3 years via a renewal 
grant award.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Questions concerning the CMHS MFP may be 
directed to Paul Wohlford, Ph.D., Human Resources Planning and 
Development Branch, CMHS, Room 15C-18, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, 
Maryland 20857, telephone (301) 443-4257.

    Dated: April 18, 1997.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 97-10543 Filed 4-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P