Job Description | Healthy Minds Policy Initiative

Fellowship projects

Fellows work on projects that align with Healthy Minds’ organizational priorities and have real community impact. Fellows will work closely with policy analysts, consultants, and community partners throughout their tenure and are assigned projects based on their interests, skills, and career aspirations.

Fellows will have the opportunity to focus their work on a primary project and contribute to the general work of Healthy Minds (e.g., supporting the policy team during the state legislative session, research on emerging issues, etc.). Project topics available for fellows to focus on may include, but are not limited to:

Strategies for strengthening the behavioral health workforce
Building treatment capacity in the children’s behavioral health treatment system
Community-wide prevention and harm reduction strategies
Strategies for integrating mental and physical health care through regulatory, legislative, and community partnerships
Criminal justice, behavioral health diversion-to-treatment policy, and program research
Recovery-oriented policy and programming recommendations to strengthen current substance use disorder and mental health recovery support systems
Mental health and addiction stigma reduction
Working with publicly available mental health data to visualize trends and policy needs in ways accessible to policymakers
Developing metrics and sources of measurement to track the progress of the 10-year Tulsa Regional Mental Health Plan
Increasing community-wide capacity to apply for and implement federal behavioral health grants
Support for community data partnerships led by HMPI staff

Duties and responsibilities

During the course of the fellowship, fellows will have the opportunity to further develop topic-specific knowledge, shape and even lead future Healthy Minds projects, and develop sustainable solutions to local and statewide issues, all while creating lasting community relationships.

Fellows will complete the above projects by performing the following activities on a regular basis:

Research and analyze policy issues related to mental health prevention and treatment, compile relevant research findings in written reports
Maintain positive relationships and regular meetings with community members, including personal advisory board members comprised of area professionals unique to each fellow
Synthesize data and compelling talking points in meaningful, usable documents tailored to specific audiences
Understand the status of the mental health landscape in Tulsa and Oklahoma, including gaps and opportunities at the policy and systems levels
Develop and provide public education, presentations, and outreach regarding mental health issues as needed
Informed by research and engagement with the community, identify and propose creative solutions for addressing gaps and opportunities in mental health services, including national best practices
Other duties as assigned

Reporting structure

Fellows will be overseen by Healthy Minds’ program director and may work frequently and closely with policy analysts and other staff depending on project assignments.

NOTE: The fellowship is not a clinical internship or supervised practice program of any sort, and fellows may not engage in any form of clinical service during their fellowship.