The APA President decides whom to appoint to each Task Force. President Geller propitiously appointed subject matter experts and members of the Board of Trustees to serve on the SR Task Force. Subject matter experts contribute historical and contemporary content about racism, including anti-Black racism, to the discussion. The data are used to craft research questions that may yield pertinent data. (Note that not all subject matter experts are Black, nor are all Board members White.) APA staff support the Task Force by sharing their expertise, compiling data, coordinating meetings, collaborating on program development, disseminating the work product to APA members and the media, and other important tasks.
The SR Task Force’s work
The SR Task Force strives for transparency in a process that is informed by APA members. The group immediately set up a web hub that is used to communicate with APA members.5 Individual members also use social media to alert members to SR Task Force activities and events. Member input has been solicited by posting several brief surveys on the SR Task Force web hub. Topics have included the effect of structural racism on patient care, psychiatric practice, and organized psychiatry, including the APA. The responses, which collectively totaled >1,600, were reviewed and used to inform Task Force priorities while working within the scope of the charge.5
Based on member feedback, the first large project of the SR Task Force has been to examine structural racism in the APA. The SR Task Force formed workgroups to study data pertaining to diversity and inclusion in the APA Assembly, governance (the Board of Trustees), Councils and Committees, and Scientific Program Committee. As APA Publishing and the DSM Steering Committee have internal processes to address structural racism, the SR Task Force did not convene workgroups to study this. However, the SR Task Force will be meeting with leaders of those groups to learn about their protocols and will request that information be made available to APA members.
The SR Task Force reviews and interprets data that are compiled by each workgroup, deliberates on its significance, and when appropriate, drafts achievable recommendations to improve diversity and inclusion in the APA. This is where Trustee involvement is invaluable to the SR Task Force, because the report and recommendations will be presented to the Board of Trustees.
There is no guarantee that the recommendations contained in a report that is accepted by the Board of Trustees will be implemented unless they are approved. It is imperative, therefore, that SR Task Force recommendations to the Board take into consideration Board structure, processes, goals, efficiency, history, and other matters. The learning curve can be steep, especially when the first major report was due 3 months after the SR Task Force was appointed. Clarity and efficiency are key in report preparation. For example, during the Winter 2020 Board of Trustees meeting, the SR Task Force presented its report, answered questions, and offered 7 action items to the Board for deliberation and voting. The endeavor, which was completed in 20 minutes, resulted in the Board supporting 6 of the recommendations and deferring the deliberation of the seventh recommendation to the spring Board meeting, due to logistical concerns.
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