The mission of African American Family Services (AAFS) is to help the African American individual, family and community to reach a greater state of wellbeing through the delivery of community-based, culturally-specific chemical health, mental health, and family preservation services
The strength of A.A.F.S. lies in our belief that culture matters. Our philosophies for mental health and chemical health treatment are based on the culturally-specific needs of our clients. A.A.F.S. defines cultural specificity as the creation of a safe, supportive environment in which the identity and experience of a people in a specific group or culture, is recognized, explored and accepted. At A.A.F.S. we believe in culturally-specific services delivered in a way that surpasses cultural competence, and is culturally-responsive. Cultural responsiveness involves looking at people as ever-changing and evolving individuals with unique life narratives. This orientation of responsiveness differs from competency in that in cultural responsiveness an individual, family or community’s lived experience always takes precedence over generalized cultural guidelines. We do not view any cultural guideline as all explaining and instead recognize them as tautologies reflective of commonly shared experiences that may or may not be experienced by our clients. Our responsiveness allows us to hear, validate and address our client’s needs in a skillful and collaborative way in which culture is utilized in a supportive, instead of stereotypical manner.
