Racial & Social Justice Committee
Statement of Acknowledgement from the RSJC While RECAMFT is proud of winning this CAMFT Chapter Excellence Award for DEI, we acknowledge that as an organization there is still work to be done. We are committed to carrying out this work as a community of healers, and humbly dedicate ourselves to leaning in towards the deeper work within the communities we serve, our membership, and ourselves. Every voice is essential and valuable in building RECAMFT into what we all hope it can and should be. We welcome feedback regarding our ongoing efforts to create inclusive, equitable safe spaces. Please help us as we continue to learn and grow together. RECAMFT Racial and Social Justice Committee March 15, 2024 CONGRATULATIONS to our RECAMFT Racial and Social Justice Committee! Thanks to our RSJC, RECAMFT took the top award for DEI at the CAMFT Chapter Leadership Conference!! Here is a listing of all the CAMFT Chapter Nominees and Winners (bold type) at this year's Chapter Leadership Conference in February 2024.
"RSJC working with our Board developed the Justice Projects (https://recamft.org/justice).
Members are encouraged to participate in each program, and upon attesting when they have completed the readings, videos, and books outlined for each, they receive a beautiful certificate worthy of displaying in their office. Thus far 17 certificates have been awarded. Various CE events were held which can also be credited towards each of the Justice Projects. These have included CE and non-CE discussion groups led by Dr. Shawan Worsley, PhD, LMFT (2 discussion groups, 1 antiracism consultation demonstration), and a panel of RSJC members (2 groups). Six CE speakers offered a total of 23 CEs related to both Justice Projects. We decided to introduce each Justice Project with a mailing to all members. The antiracism project included a letter and bookmark with the new Racial and Social Justice Pledge, and description of the self-education program. For LGBTQ+ Affirming Care, we developed new adapted logos with rainbow rings to highlight RECAMFT’s newest Justice Project and mailed all members a sticker. Photos of placed stickers were featured in our newsletters. RECAMFT developed a scholarship program for Prelicensed/newly licensed members (https://recamft.org/scholarship). The eligibility criteria states, “Priority will be given to those who are underrepresented in the mental health field (BIPOC, disabilities, LGBTQ+, elders, etc.).” Our RSJC (https://www.recamft.org/Racial-and-Social-Justice) also provided updated content for two resource pages.
By touching our membership with mailings of the bookmark and the sticker, over the last 12 months, our chapter obtained 72 new members, roughly 11% growth. We developed a new outreach brochure for the local colleges who offer programs for masters-level students in LMFT training programs featuring clinicians of color. Our Joe and Pamela Ward Memorial Scholarship has given out $5000 in scholarships for five Prelicensed/newly licensed members over the last two years. Three of the five identify with an underrepresented group (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, etc.)." |
We stand for racial and social justice in RECAMFT and seek to discover and remedy injustices that arise within our events, programs, and practices. We are committed to doing this through engaging in ongoing education and self-inquiry, and integration of member feedback. We hold ourselves accountable to RECAMFT and our community.
RECAMFT is committed to equity including addressing structural racism and systemic injustice. We endeavor to be inclusive and value individuals from all ethnicities, ages, races, sexual orientations, genders, languages, abilities, religions, citizenship statuses, and socioeconomic backgrounds into our chapter and into treatment. We strive to advocate, educate, collaborate, and strategize for positive racial and social justice change within our membership and our community. (Amended Feb. 19, 2022 by the RECAMFT Racial and Social Justice Committee. Amended Pledge approved by the RECAMFT Board of Directors on Feb. 22, 2022 by electronic vote.) We are so excited about our newest offerings! We created two Resource pages for members. Please check them out! We will be continuing to update these pages, and your suggestions are welcomed. Please email suggestions to therapy@recamft.org. Thanks! Systemic Racism Explained (4 min) 13th - A must-see to understand how slavery exists today (1 hr 40 min) Would you like to be a part of RECAMFT's award-winning Racial and Social Justice Committee (RSJC)? We need your input for upcoming projects we hope to accomplish. If you are interested, please send an email stating your interest to therapy@recamft.org. |
This is an excerpt from the text about what our chapter did to merit this award. 
Committee Mission Statement
Racial and Social Justice Pledge 
Educate yourself! Committee recommended educational resources Committee recommended books to join the conversation |
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Updates on 2024 RSJC Goals
The committee agreed to recommend adoption of the following three goals. 1. Continue integration of racial and social justice values into programming. Prioritize showcasing experts of color holding intersectional and non-dominant identities in our trainings in specific methods, and in required trainings. Coordinate with Programs Committee as appropriate. 2. To reflect the underserved populations of Sonoma County, we aim to increase access for Latino/a/x/Hispanic, Indigenous and other BIPOC community members to information, resources and support to enter the mental health field. Coordinate with Outreach Committee as appropriate. 3. Coordinate service projects with local indigenous tribes requesting support. (More research needed). Additional goal topics under consideration, but for which the committee did not have time during this meeting. These goals need additional time for discussion. A. Maintain the Justice Projects for 2024. No additional money or infrastructure is needed, however the website pages need to be updated. Laura Strom will update them soon. B. Continue development of the Land & People Acknowledgment Statement.
We tabled the idea of how to change the face of the RECAMFT Board of Directors without tokenizing, causing emotional labor for BIPOC people for the time being. In December the RSJC recommended the Board adopt a scholarship program for BIPOC therapists, including both newly licensed (up to three years) and prelicensed members. The scholarship would cover the members CAMFT and RECAMFT dues for up to ten BIPOC therapist members. The Board included the program in its 2024 budget but has not yet provided a procedure for how to access this benefit, nor adopted a motion to offer it to members. | RSJC Recommended Reading 
Sand C. Chang, PhD, Anneliese A. Singh PhD, LPC, and Lore M. Dickey PhD.
Recently, the New York Times named Sonoma County non-binary author Maia Kobabe's new book, Gender Queer: A Memoir, as "the most banned book in the country" and Maia wrote a Washington Post op-ed asking that books which help queer kids not be banned, but made available in libraries as a lifeline to kids who might not have access to this information. |
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On January 19th the RSJC met to consider goals for 2024. Randy Cheek and Emily Larkin are the new co-chairs. Wolwvenn Seward-Katzmiller acted as Secretary. Laura Strom and Lisa Wenninger were present. 
We discussed our Past President, Gina Culver has been asked to present on our Justice Projects at the CAMFT Chapter Leadership Conference the first week of February. The committee is very excited our former Co-Chair, 
What our members are saying about our work: The Justice Project: Antiracism
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Redwood Empire Chapter of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists |
