NASW Collaborating to Create Mental Health and HIV/AIDS Training Center

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The National Association
of Social Workers (NASW) and National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) will collaborate with Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association to create a new Mental Health and HIV/AIDS Training Resource Center.

The Center, which will be funded by $4 million over five years from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will provide training and education to social workers and allied providers on a variety of mental health issues affecting those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

“The National Association of Social Workers is delighted to be part of this collaboration,” said Robert Arnold, director of the NASW Foundation. “Social workers and NASW have played a critical role in addressing HIV/AIDS through the early days of the epidemic to the growing global pandemic. This collaboration provides the opportunity to utilize our 20 years of expertise and broad reach to help achieve the goal of providing quality mental health services to people across the country.”

The center was developed in collaboration with EDC, under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Mental Health Care Provider Education in HIV/AIDS and Mental Health (Psychology, Social Work and Psychiatry) contract (Reference No. 283-12-2401).

The new center will bring together the work of NASW’s HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project, the American Psychological Association’s Hope Program, and the American Psychiatric Association’s Office of AIDS Psychiatry.

It will use activities such as national meetings and virtual learning environments to provide online and face-to-face training and technical assistance to mental health professionals who work with people affected by HIV. A committee that includes consumer advocates will oversee the center’s activities, priorities, and quality of care.