April 22, 1999
Contact: David K. Bush
(804) 924-1400


RACE, CULTURE, MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND FAMILY WELL-BEING CONFERENCE
SET FOR MAY 13-15

	The Southeastern Rural Mental Health Research Center and the
University of Virginia's College of Arts and Sciences and Center for
Children, Families, and the Law will co-sponsor a conference on mental
health services and family well-being of rural African-American families
May 13-15.
	The conference will bring together experts in racial identity
and culture, family life, and mental health services and examine issues
from the perspective of rural America. Speakers will include Lonnie
Snowden, School of Social Welfare, University of California-Berkeley;
Harold Neighbors, School of Public Health, University of Michigan;
Scotty Hargrove, Department of Psychology, University of Mississippi;
Samuel Turner, Department of Psychology, University of 
Maryland-College Park; and Jeanne Miranda, Department of Psychiatry,
Georgetown University Medical Center.
	While much attention has been directed at issues facing
African-Americans living in urban areas, the problems of lower-income
African-American families living in rural areas of the United States
have often been overlooked, conference organizers said. Yet some 35
percent of African Americans live in rural areas, and 90 percent of the
African-American families residing in rural areas are concentrated in
southern states. Most research, however, is conducted with urban
populations. In order to develop better intervention strategies and
social policies, the conference aims to improve understanding of the
family experiences of rural African-Americans.
	The conference is free to U.Va. faculty, staff and students. All
sessions will be held in McLeod Hall. For information on how to register
call the Southeastern Rural Mental Health Research Center at (804)
982-3273.

						###
	Reporters are welcome to attend the conference. For more
information, contact Dr. deKoven Fernandez, administrative director at
the Center for Children, Families and the Law, (804) 924-4029.
Television reporters should contact the TV News Office at (804)
924-7550.