Last week the Crisis and Recovery Enhancement (CARE) Technical Assistance (TA) Center hosted the first-ever Listening, Learning, and Leading: Anti-Racism in the Crisis Continuum of Care Conference. Over the course of two days, attendees got a chance to access a variety of presentations on topics like diversity, inclusion, and equity within the behavioral health workforce; equitable hiring practices; recovery supports; and more. CARE is a cross-agency team that features experts in the fields of mental health; training and technical assistance; criminal justice diversion; and beyond.
“Driven by resilience and the healing power of community like Black joy and Indigenous intergenerational wisdom, this conference engages difficult discussions directly with evidence-based hope,” said event organizers. “By listening to lived experience in storytelling and music and learning about professional predecessors of color and current best practices, we will inspire one another to imagine and lead anti-racist change in the crisis continuum of care.”
Featured among the many presenters were Change Matrix (CM) staff members, who featured three presentations that each focused on an aspect of fostering a diverse, equitable workforce:
- Holding Space for Grief and Healing in the Workplace: AAPI Listening Sessions by Rachele Espiritu, PhD and Annie Guo VanDan
- Assessing Workforce Diversity: A Tool for Mental Health Organizations on the Path to Health Equity – Eve Kucharski and Chyenne Mallinson
- Bold Conversations and Implicit Bias – Tonicia Freeman-Foster, EdD and Alice Choi
To learn more about the conference, view session materials, and access anti-racism and LGBTQ care resources visit the conference page here.
