60th Annual Meeting

October 19 - 27, 2013

Other Programs (open)

Hispanic/Latino Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Caucus

The Hispanic/Latino caucus is an informal group designed to identify and begin to address some of the unique needs of Hispanic/Latino child and adolescent psychiatrists, their patients, and their families. During our first two meetings, we covered a number of areas affecting Latino youth, including the rising tone of xenophobia and discrimination, increasing mental health disparities, increasing numbers of Latinos in the juvenile justice and child welfare system, and continued barriers to access to mental health services. Most recently, deportation of Hispanic parents leaving their children behind in the U.S. has been an issue of great concern. We also discussed issues of concerns for young Latino child psychiatrists, such as career development, access to mentorship, and pathways for greater involvement in AACAP. We will follow-up on these issues and develop action recommendations to AACAP,  as well as follow-up on the Caucus project to provide education to Latino youth about mental health issues and about careers in child and adolescent mental health. While the focus of the caucus group is on issues related to the Hispanic/Latino community, we appreciate that there are many child and adolescent psychiatrists who have an interest in and a passion for Hispanic/Latino issues.