On February 11th, Family Paths clinicians were led in a powerful training offered by Taqueila Washington of EmpowerMe! Services. The topic of this 5 ½ hour training was "Working with African-American Youth and their Families," and it encompassed a variety of issues that directly affect many African-Americans. Topics up for discussion included the slave trade's creation of a legacy of multi-generational trauma, the inner-city experience, and the link between poverty and issues surrounding diet and nutrition.
As Family Paths strives to be a local leader in culturally competent mental health and family support programming, we know that the importance of trainings like this one cannot be overestimated. Expert-led trainings guide clinicians in the self-examination processes that are so vital to providing the highest-quality treatment to a diverse clientele.
Sam Markewich, our Clinical Training Coordinator, says, "Family Paths clinicians will benefit from this because they now have a culturally sensitive and depthful knowledge base and tool box to help them best get to know, understand, and help African-American youth, parents, and other family members in order to help them to thrive."
EmpowerMe! Services offers educational workshops and trainings on a variety of different topics, including Cross Cultural Counseling and the Family, Culturally Inclusive Therapy, The Undocumented Experience, Self Care for Service Providers, Teen Dating Violence, and Working with "at risk" youth. Learn more about Taquelia Washington and EmpowerMe! Services here.
Our commitment to cultural competency
Embracing Diversity in our Community
At Family Paths, we strive to create a positive and supportive environment for our staff, where we can also challenge ourselves to deeper learning on a variety of topics. Cultural competency is a core value in the work we do and is essential in our effort to serve children and families in respectful and inclusive ways.
-Marcella Reeves, Executive Director
As part of our on-going mission to maintain a culturally competent agency, on September 22nd Family Paths' employees were led in an intensive day-long training titled "Building Dialog in Inclusive Communities," put on by Tarah Fleming of Start Dialog, and funded by Title IV-E.
It was a thought-provoking and exciting day. We examined issues surrounding culture and race, as well as the importance of talking to children and to each other about these complex issues. Tarah shared with us her principles of dialogue, which we were encouraged to practice throughout the day and include in our everyday lives.
The workshop was mind-opening and compelling, and our thanks go out to The California Endowment for providing the space for the training, Start Dialog for the excellent program, and the staff at Family Paths who organized the training. It is so important that adults and children in our communities have the tools they need to talk about and navigate through issues of race and discrimination, and trainings like these are vital for us to keep that conversation going.