The AACP Board met in conjunction with the IPS meeting in Philadelphia October 28-29, 2000. Four new board members were welcomed at this meeting: Mario Cruz, MD (Representative at Large), Anita Everett, MD (Representative at Large), Peter Forster, MD (Area VI Representative), and Peter Gibson, MD (Area VII Representative).

AACP Winter Meeting: The 2001 winter Board meeting will be held in conjunction with the All-Ohio meeting, March 9-11. Conference focus areas include: diversity, rural psychiatry and centers of excellence. Robert Ronis, MD has taken the lead in coordinating the conference and meeting.

Cultural Competence Standards: Russell Lim, MD reported that the Federal cultural competence standards for four underserved populations are now available and can be obtained by calling 1-800-789-2497 and requesting SMA-003457, or by going to www.mentalhealth.org.

American Association of Psychiatric Administrators (AAPA): Wes Sowers, MD reported that the AAPA is developing an administrative curriculum which will be offered to psychiatric residency programs.

Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU): Ken Thompson, MD reported that the number one concern of community primary care providers is lack of access to mental health services for their patients and families. The states that make up Region III of the Public Health service (PA, MD, DE, DC, VA, WV) are looking for psychiatrists to join a listserve designed to connect community psychiatrists with community providers (see related article pg. 7). Several AACP members are already involved. The ACU is interested in having the AACP join them organizationally.

American Orthopsychiatric Association (AOA): Suggested co-sponsorship of a program at 2001 IPS with AACP.

SAMHSA: Steven Goldfinger, MD reported that SAMSHA will make $5 million available in competitive grants for training in working with diverse populations.

The SAMSHA reauthorization act was passed. Specifics included jail diversion, buprenorphine dispensing, and provision for "high priority" to interface with primary care. The Charitable Choice provision was also included in the legislation.

Council of State Governments: The council is coordinating a joint project on Criminal Justice interactions with mental health (Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus). Several AACP members have been asked to represent psychiatry on advisory groups on corrections and law enforcement.

Clif Tennison, MD reported that the 14 allied organizations to the APA Assembly have formed the Federation of Allied Psychiatric Organizations. The liaison from each allied organization will sit on a selected component. Anita Everett, MD was selected to fill in for Dr. Tennison at the following Assembly meeting.

Russell Lim, MD reported that 13 committees are represented on the Council. Seven of these committees represent minorities. The Council discussed the process for DSM V, expected to be released in 2010. A committee on cultural issues was added. The council recommended that cultural competency standards be reviewed and promulgated.

Discussion of APA and AACP involvement: A general discussion followed concerning the AACP sharing its membership rolls with the APA. Concern was expressed regarding turning over membership information to the APA. It was felt that AACP attendance at APA meetings was an important statistic to track.

Additional liaisons were suggested with the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Federation of Families and NASMHPD.

Dual Recovery Network: Ken. Thompson, MD proposed that the AACP join this new advocacy network. The Board passed the motion.

Pfizer support of primary care/mental health interface: Larry Gordine, district manager of Pfizer, visited the Board informally. He discussed Pfizer’s efforts to support the. primary care/mental health interface by sponsoring training institutes and a speakers bureau, especially regarding ethnic disparities. He and Annelle Primm, MD discussed the initiation of a program in Baltimore bringing psychiatry and primary care together. Pfizer has offered to fund an AACP affiliation with the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved and with the American Acadamy of Family Physicians. The Board voted to accept this offer.

Support of Demand Treatment: Ken Minkoff, MD suggested that the AACP become a co-sponsor of Demand Treatment, an advocacy organization for substance abuse treatment availability. The Board voted to support this motion.

Psychosocial Rehabilitation: The Psychosocial Rehabilitation position statement was published in the December 2000 issue of the Community Mental Health Journal. Plans were discussed to share the statement with other organizations interested in rehabilitation. In the future, this committee will also address the issue of representative payees.

Child and Adolescent: Charles Huffine, MD discussed the workgroup within the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists that is focusing on 0-3 diagnostic standards (DC 0-3). He suggested that medical directors familiarize themselves with the 0-3 standards. Also, further discussion of issue of seclusion/restraint in children and adolescents.

LOCUS/CALOCUS: Committee reported on some recent market success. Locus will be used in North Carolina, as well as in Los Angeles County where it will be used for managing residential facilities. There is now data on CALOCUS from several states, that demonstrate good validity and reliability.

Membership: The committee plans continued focus on early career psychiatrists (ECPs). The bylaws allow the nomination of an ECP to the Board. The president will appoint a member for 2001. In addition there will be a new Bristol-Myers Squibb fellow on the board.

A membership survey was also discussed. The last survey was done in 1997. The survey will be conducted through website, email, newsletter and membership renewal mailings. Information gathered will include demographics, member interest questions, and interest in sharing membership information with the APA.

Publications: The newsletter will be made available on the website prior to published distribution.

Ken Thompson, MD proposed having two online lists: one general list for president’s announcements without discussion, and one discussion list.

Training: Jack Haggerty, MD reported that the annual training network meeting was successful. The group agreed that training curriculi in community psychiatry would be collected and posted on the web.

The group also discussed the topic of promotion for faculty working in the community. Dr. Minkoff suggested that the AACP do a position paper on this idea. This was also discussed as a conference topic.

Dr. Jim Thompson confirmed that federal money has been approved for a training initiative.

Program: David Pollack, MD reported 75 AACP members presented at the 2000 IPS meeting. He stated that the Board will be submitting multiple AACP presentations at IPS 2001. There will be one submission for APA 2002, a symposium on the use of restraint and seclusion.

Diversity: Ten additional complementary AACP memberships will be offered for the upcoming year to increase minority membership in the organization. Russell Lim, MD will report on the follow-up of these memberships at the next meeting. Dr. Lim reported that the Diversity Committee listserve is working well with 44 members.

Healthcare Systems: This committee is taking over the seclusion and restraint issue. Dr. Huffine will take the lead in drafting a position paper on this topic. The lack of a committee addressing clinical programmatic issues (eg. homelessness, the housing continuum, and models of case management) was discussed. Current subcommittees include:

Mentally Ill Persons Behind Bars: David Moltz, MD reported that the committee has been active in supporting the Riker’s Island lawsuit.

The AACP position paper was passed by the APA Assembly and Board and has been forwarded to the APA Psychiatric Services Committee. Liaison will be attempted with the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law and the APA caucus of correctional psychiatrists.