Amittia Parker

Amittia Parker, PhD, LMSW, MPA, is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus. Her expertise spans maternal mental health, infant/early childhood mental health, and racial equity. She focuses on minority mental health, particularly among Black and Latin/x communities, and integrates practice experience from 15 years as a mental health consultant into her academic work.

• Education: PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Kansas (2021), IMH-E® Level III Endorsement

Research Interests: Parker explores Black maternal mental health, mental health in higher education, and community-based participatory research. Her work emphasizes racial disparities and culturally sensitive interventions.

Publications (selected): Includes analysis of racial equity in mental health systems and innovative supervision frameworks. Recent work addresses intersectionality in substance use treatment systems.

• Awards: 2024 JSWE Best Article Award, 2021 Dean Kondrat Award, and funding from Council on Social Work Education

Teaching: Focuses on training social workers and infant mental health practitioners, with specialization in recruiting and mentoring students of color. Teaches online, blended, and in-person courses in racial equity, community practice, and qualitative methods.

Grants: Participated in workshops on Black/Latinx research (University of Michigan) and intersectional qualitative methods (University of Texas-Austin). Member of professional organizations including Kansas Association of Infant Mental Health and Kansas City Association of Black Social Workers.