Dear Friends of the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health:

The National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health (NRCHMH) is pleased to announce significant reduction in fees for its upcoming 1st Biennial National Latino Mental Health Conference, titled Fortifying our Cultural Competencies – Fortificando Nuestra Competencias Culturales. This reduction in conference fees is being made in order to maximize learning opportunities for as many people interested in eliminating disparities experienced by Hispanics in need of quality, and culturally and linguistically competent mental health services. Please note that all conference sessions will be conducted in English and that the last day to register is October 30, 2009.

The conference, which will be held on November 9-10, 2009 at the Wyndham Miami Airport Hotel and Executive Meeting Center in Miami, Florida, will host 20 individual workshops, two keynote, and two plenary sessions with world-renowned Latino mental health leaders Drs. William A Vega, and Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, and other behavioral health professionals working on addressing depression in the Latino community over two days. A copy of the updated conference program can be found at www.nrchmh.org.

In addition to the great conference program being offered, participants are invited to participate in a free Welcoming Reception on Sunday, November 8, 2009 from 6 PM to 8 PM at the conference venue to network with the anticipated 300-500 event participants. Participants are also invited to consider spending some quality time with friends during an optional Special Night Out on the Town 3 hour Yacht excursion around Biscayne Bay, Miami (Registration for this excursion is also and only available at www.nrchmh.org).

The national conference has much to offer all attendees. Behavioral Health Agency Administrators will find several opportunities aimed at enhancing their ability to develop or strengthen their organizational cultural competence efforts, while direct service behavioral health providers will find numerous learning opportunities aimed at increasing their knowledge on how to best attract, retain, engage and serve Hispanics. Continuing Education Units for various behavioral health disciplines such as psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses are being provided through the conference co-provider, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – University Behavioral HealthCare. More information on this can be found in the conference program book.

Any support with circulating this information among your networks is greatly appreciated and sincerely needed. I hope to see you all in Miami. Best wishes and continued success to you all. Thank you for your past and ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Henry Acosta, MA, MSW, LSW
Executive Director, National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health, and Project Director, Partners for Culturally Competent Behavioral Health Service Delivery to Hispanics, New Jersey Mental Health Institute Inc.
3575 Quakerbridge Road, Suite 102
Mercerville, New Jersey 08619
Telephone: (609) 838-5488, ext. 205
Fax: (609) 838-5480
E-mail: hacosta@nrchmh.org or hacosta@njmhi.org
Website: http://www.nrchmh.org or http://www.njmhi.org

I would like to extend a special thank you to the Event Co-Sponsors:

American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry,Latino Behavioral Health Institute,National Association of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Social Workers Association, National Latino Behavioral Health Association, National Latina/o Psychological Association, NAMI National and Southern Winds Hospital.