APA Committee Overseeing Implementation of APA’s Anti-Racism Plan

Last June, the APA Board of Trustees transitioned the work of its Presidential Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry (TFSR) to the Structural Racism Accountability Committee (SRAC). The SRAC was created by the Board to oversee the implementation of the task force’s recommendations, evaluate their success, make additional recommendations for improvements, and accomplish the other objectives that were noted in the final task force report. The task force focused specifically on anti-Black racism, and in the coming year, the SRAC will expand the recommendations to include other minority/underrepresented groups (M/UR).

The SRAC is co-chaired by Mary Hasbah Roessel, M.D., and Felix Torres, M.D., M.B.A.; its members are Elie G. Aoun, M.D., M.R.O., Ken Certa, M.D., Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H., Glenn A. Martin, M.D., Urooj Yazdani, M.D., and Melinda L. Young, M.D. Former APA President Altha J. Stewart, M.D., serves as committee consultant.

To achieve its objectives, the SRAC has consulted and will continue to consult with APA members who have positions, expertise, and influence that align with each Board-approved action item. Also, the SRAC is working with APA’s district branches, the Assembly, the Joint Reference Committee, and councils and committees to implement the task force recommendations and to ensure that APA as an organization is a champion of anti-racism and provides a welcoming and inclusive environment for all its members.

The SRAC presented progress reports to the APA Board at its October and December 2021 meetings; reports will be filed for the March and May 2022 Board meetings. In addition, Psychiatric News will periodically publish articles on the SRAC’s activities and progress.

For information on the task force’s recommendations, the work of the SRAC, and APA’s initiatives on diversity, equity, and inclusiveness, visit psychiatry.org/SRAC. ■