This is a leadership opportunity from the National Council on Behavioral Health Care:

The National Council established the Addressing Health Disparities Leadership Program in 2010 to provide a concrete strategy for which participants can leverage their growing leadership potential to benefit their colleagues, organizations, and communities throughout their careers. We see the enormous impact of workforce and training shortages on provider organizations and the clients they serve. National Council members, similar to other healthcare providers, struggle to recruit and retain a diverse workforce that has the appropriate training to adapt clinical practices to clients’ backgrounds and health needs. In the context of Affordable Care Act implementation, the importance of a highly skilled and diverse workforce is all the more important.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

From August 2013 through May 2014, the Addressing Health Disparities Leadership Program includes three in-person meetings in which participants will engage in a robust learning forum to enhance their management and leadership skills and knowledge of strategies to eliminate health disparities. During the first meeting, participants will begin developing a customized “stretch project.” The stretch project will expand the participants’ leadership capacity to benefit their organizations’ efforts to address health disparities.

In addition to in-person meetings, participants will engage in bimonthly webinars, monthly one-on-one calls with professional coaches, and a peer-to-peer support system through monthly calls and social media. All program activities are structured to support implementation of stretch projects, with the final in-person meeting intended to highlight participants’ successes and promote sustainability.

The program expects participants to acquire knowledge and skills on:

  • Health Disparities – Building awareness and knowledge about health disparities, cultural and linguistic competence, successful strategies to address health disparities, data collection, and program evaluation
  • Leadership Models and Management Skills – Adaptive leadership techniques, managing system change, building collaborations and working in teams, developing shared goals, change management and conflict resolution.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Participants must be available to engage in the following program activities throughout the 10 months:

  • Program Introduction Webinar: Wednesday, August 14, 3:00 – 4:30 pm ET
  • In-Person Meetings:
    • 2.5 Day Kick-Off Meeting: September 23 – 25, 2013 in Washington, DC
    • 1.5 Day Mid-Program Meeting: February 3 – February 4,

      2014in Washington, DC

    • 2.5 Day Wrap-Up Meeting: During the week of May 5,

      2014in Washington, DC (TBA after selection)

  • Bi-Monthly Webinars: October 16, 2013, December 11, 2013, February 26, 2014, April 9, 2014 – All webinars will be held from 3:00 – 4:30 pm ET
  • Monthly One-on-One Coaching Calls: Calls will run a half-hour and will be scheduled based on participant availability*
  • Monthly Buddy Calls:  Participant-led conference calls to be scheduled based on small group availability
  • Monthly Homework Assignments & Readings: Participants will be assigned readings and small writing assignments to explore leadership growth and application of strategies to address health disparities.

Outside of in-person meetings, estimated monthly commitment for participation in this program is 6-8 hours. Participation in all program requirements is mandatory. If participants have more than one absence, they will be asked to disenroll from the program.

*Note: participants must be willing to have some coaching calls during evenings and weekends.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

Individuals are eligible for the Addressing Health Disparities Leadership Program if they are a “middle manager” in a community mental health and addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery settings. “Middle manager” is defined as being an intermediate supervisor with direct reports and reporting to others within the organization. Applicants do not need to be clinicians, but must be able to directly influence practices to address health disparities.

This program is only open to National Council members. If accepted into the program without membership, the applicant’s organization must join the National Council prior to the Program Introduction Webinar on August 14.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION

For consideration, individuals must submit a completed application packet to Laira Roth at the National Council by 5:00 pm ET on Friday, July 19, 2013. Every effort will be made to select participants from provider organizations in varying states serving diverse communities. For more information about the Addressing Health Disparities Leadership Program, please contact Mohini Venkatesh, Senior Director of Public Policy, at 202-684-3730 or [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about the program, join us on Monday, July 8, 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET, for an optional informational webinar. The webinar will be recorded for those who are unable to participate.