OKPOLICY.ORG
Oklahoma Policy Institute seeks applicants for the Oklahoma Mental Health Policy Fellowship. The fellowship’s mission is to equip professionals in Tulsa and the greater Oklahoma community to be passionate, knowledgeable leaders who can advocate for mental health and addiction policy reforms while also working to reduce the stigma surrounding these illnesses. Over the course of a two-year, full-time fellowship, fellows will acquire the knowledge and skills to be expert advocates for mental health policy reforms in the public and private sectors. The fellowship has three main components:
- A curriculum that improves fellows knowledge of mental health and illness, including substance use disorders
- Practical and tutorial experiences to learn policy research and evaluation skills, as well as formulation of new policy
- Acquisition of effective advocacy skills, including real-world application of this knowledge.
Each fellow is assigned to a mentor who is a professional in the Tulsa area. Mentors are well-recognized experts with a record of successful advocacy for evidence-based mental health and/or healthcare policies. While there is flexibility as to the policy interests of mentors, the selection of a fellow is based in part on matching the interests of an applicant to those of a mentor. The deadline to apply is Friday, March 1, 2019. The start date for the new cohort is August 1, 2019.
Qualifications of a fellow:
Successful applicants must have earned a degree from an accredited higher education institution. Preference will be shown to applicants who have a graduate degree, though those with a baccalaureate degree are eligible to apply. Applicants must have completed their degree programs before beginning the fellowship and no more than two years prior to the time of application. Degrees in any field or discipline are welcomed, and training in a health or policy-related discipline is not required.
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.
Special Conditions:
The fellow agrees to participate fully in all aspects of the program which requires the equivalent of a full-time effort (40 or more hours per week). The program may also include travel within and outside of Oklahoma, and overnight stays on some occasions. Travel expenses beyond the immediate Tulsa area will be covered by the Oklahoma Policy Institute, as will other previously approved expenses associated with the program.
A fellow must commit to the entire two-year program and may risk a financial penalty for failure to complete the program through volunteer resignation. The terms of an agreement are detailed in a separate document that is signed by the fellow and a representative of the Oklahoma Policy Institute.
Fellows are employees of the Oklahoma Policy Institute with salary and benefits paid in accordance with agency policies.
