MFP Connect, July 2024

Happy July!

This has been a busy season for MFP with a handful of networking events, professional development opportunities, collaboration across the MFP community and celebrations, of course! Over the last 2 months, 40 MFP fellows attended CSWE’s Fellows Forum in Alexandria, VA focusing on Environmental Justice, 16 MSW fellows attended NASW’s National Conference in Washington, DC, and two doctoral fellows attended and presented at SAMHSA’s MFP Symposium in Rockville, MD! It’s exciting to note that in this same time frame several of the exceptional fellows from across the nation graduated from their social work programs, received job offers, presented research findings at conferences, co-authored a book , and passed their licensure exams! This is a time of major accomplishment and transition for MFP fellows! 

In preparation for appointing the 50th cohort of CSWE MFP fellows who promise to be just as outstanding, the MFP team has also oriented thoughtful volunteer reviewers to the necessary process to read and score applications for the 24–25 MFP cohort of MSW and Doctoral fellows. Alongside preparations to welcome the next cohort of fellows, we are also working with the MFP 50th Steering Committee and various subcommittees to arrange for the commemorative gala to be held at CSWE’s upcoming Annual Program Meeting where we invite the MFP community to come together to celebrate the 50th anniversary milestone! We are eager to continue into the summer months and see what the next stage of transition for the MFP community looks like. Thank you to everyone who continues to support the goals of the MFP. We can’t do this work without a strong community!

With gratitude,
The MFP Team

Did you know that 2024 marks 50 years since CSWE’s MFP was awarded a grant by the National Institute of Mental Health to increase the number of minority doctoral students majoring in mental health research? This first award was the catalyst for the program we have today. Please take time to acknowledge those who paved the way with our ongoing MFP Legacy section highlighting those fellows who first were awarded fellowship. Below is one fellow’s biographical profile from when they were a fellow.

"Kasumi K. Hirayama holds an MSW in social groupwork and an advanced certificate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work. She has had various social work experience in Japan, Germany, and the United States. She was most recently employed as a social worker supervisor at the Southern Home for Children in Philadelphia and will enter the doctoral degree program at the University of Pennsylvania.”

A Native New Yorker from the Bronx Durrell Malik Washington, Sr. is an abolitionist, a social worker and PhD candidate at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Durrell is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research draws from social work, sociological, criminological, developmental, and legal theories and perspectives. His research interest lies at the intersections between prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition, juvenile legal law and policy, Black families, and health. Durrell is a former mental health clinician and policy analyst with years of experience supporting formerly incarcerated young people, adults, and their families. His current dissertation is a narrative study that investigates how a period of juvenile incarceration shapes Black family life in the United States through the perspective of siblings of formerly incarcerated Black youth. Durrell has been a project manager and consultant on several qualitative projects. He has published in top social work journals including the Journal for the Society of Social Work and Research and Social Service Review. He is on the editorial board of Children and Youth Services Review and Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work Journal. For the past 2 years Durrell served as the Student-Director-at-Large representing all students of Social Work on the Board of Directors for the Society for Social Work and Research. Durrell is a 2022 American Society of Criminology Ruth D. Peterson Fellowship Award recipient, and CSWE’s MFP fellow, which he attributes to some of his most formative training as a health scholar during his doctoral studies. As Durrell transitions from the MFP, he will continue in pursuing rigorous training as a health scholar as a National Institute of Aging T32 predoctoral fellow in demography and the economics of aging.

Durrell is also co-author of a critical anthology titled, Abolition and Social Work:, Possibilities, Paradoxes, and the Practice of Community Care. A little about the book: Durrell describes abolition and social work as a labor of Love. It is a book in the form of a critical anthology that delves into the debates, challenges, and promising practices surrounding abolition and social work within both academia and affected communities. Social work has historically been linked to and often complicit in the maintenance of the carceral state, and in this book we interrogate how social work can be transformed through abolitionist thought, movement-building, and radical practice. This collection of critical scholarship and organizing efforts scrutinizes the role of carceral social work as a form of "soft policing" and advocates for a radical shift in the field. With a foreword by Mariame Kaba, the anthology provides a comprehensive introduction to abolitionist theory for social workers, addressing the complexities and contradictions of implementing abolitionist practices. It serves as a crucial intervention in current discussions about carceral social work, guiding the profession towards an approach centered on abolition, transformative justice, and collective care.

May, CSWE’s student fellows from the MFP, the Substance Use Disorders Education and Leadership Scholars Program (SUDEALS), and the Doctoral Student Policy Fellowship (DSPF) convened in Alexandria, VA to delve into topics spanning research, policy, and practice. Key takeaways included learning strategies for advancing social policy and effecting positive change for the individuals, communities and systems the fellows work with and in. With the aim to empower fellows with the tools and knowledge needed to advocate for equitable change in social work, CSWE student fellows visited Capitol Hill and successfully presented experiences and data from their practice, internships, and research related to behavioral health policy.

CSWE was joined by phenomenal speakers who focused their discussion on advancing environmental justice. Karina L. Walters, PhD, MSW, presented the opening plenary that outlined land-based health and indigenous knowledge. Michelle D. Hand, PhD, MSW, LSW, met with MSW and BSW fellows to provide an overview of nature-based strategies for wellness as they relate to social determinants of health. Meirong Liu, PhD, MS, LLM, invited doctoral fellows to review her research utilizing community-based approaches to mitigating asthma disparities experienced by urban minority children. Additionally, Lewis-Burke Associates, who are championing government relations for research, healthcare, and education, presented a policy and advocacy information session in preparation for the Capitol Hill Day visit. This was an event filled with an abundance of beneficial learning and networking opportunities that has had lasting effects. MFP looks forward to taking part in this event in future years to come!

Have you changed jobs in the last few years? Changed your primary email address? CSWE’s MFP relies on current contact information for our internal database, which we use to contact alumni and help us prepare our reports for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Please use this link to share your updated contact information. Additionally, you are encouraged to reach out to MFP alumni you are connected with and request that they share their updated information too. Thank you in advance for supporting MFP team efforts to enhance connectedness in the MFP community.