Vivian Jackson is a member of the faculty of the National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, where she provides technical assistance and consultation related to cultural and linguistic competence for the SAMHSA Children’s Mental Health Initiative and HRSA Maternal and Child Health Grant Programs. She is a member of the faculty teams for first year medical students in the Social and Cultural Issues in Health Care and the Service Learning courses.
Dr. Jackson is a social worker with over 30 years of experience as a practitioner, supervisor, manager and trainer in health, mental health, substance abuse, child welfare, managed care, system reform and cultural competency. Former positions include nonteaching faculty at Howard University Medical School, field instructor for Howard University and Catholic University Schools of Social Work. She served as Director, Office of Policy and Practice, National Association of Social Workers and Child Welfare Advisor, National Resource Network for Children’s Mental Health at the Washington Business Group on Health. Her publications include “Cultural and Linguistic Competence and Eliminating Disparities,” in The System of Care Handbook (Brookes, 2008); Cultural Competence in Managed Behavioral Health Care (Manisses Communications,1999), Getting Started…Moving On: Planning, Implementing and Evaluating Cultural and Linguistic Competency for Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Families (NCCC, 2003) and The Essential Role of Cultural Competency in Addressing Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in the African American Community in Diabetes in Black America (Hilton Publishing, 2010, L. Jack, Jr. Ed.).
Dr. Jackson served as a member of the National Association of Social Workers National Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity from 2000-2008 and the NASW’s Presidential Diversity Task Force from 2005-2008. In these roles, she was instrumental in the development of Indicators for the NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in the Social Work Profession and Institutional Racism and the Social Work Profession: A Call for Action. She is currently member of the Board for the National Leadership Council for African American Behavioral Health and member of SAMHSA’s CMHS External Work Group on the Elimination of Mental Health Disparities.