African American Family Services, Inc.

A culturally specific behavioral health service provider serving 2400 African American and multi-racial individuals in the Twin Cities

Our Mission: To help the African American individual, family, and community to reach a greater state of well-being through the delivery of community-based, culturally specific chemical health, mental health, and family preservation services.

Our Vision: We will act as the preeminent thought and research leader on African American behavioral health and wellness.

Our Impact:

“If you can control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one,” (Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro, pgs. 84-85).

The work we do at African American Family Services (AAFS) is about shifting perspectives so that one’s own mind does not remain convinced of his or her own inability to achieve a greater state of wellbeing for his or herself, family and/or community. Before we can even address the issues of mental health, chemical health, family preservation and self-sufficiency – as defined in our mission – we must first challenge our clients’ perspective to include the belief that they are deserving of wellness and that they can be successful in their treatment goals and achieve overall wellbeing.

For those clients presenting with mental health diagnoses, we begin with getting them to utilize mental health services. A prior step, in many cases, is first removing the barrier of stigma related to mental illness and therapy services. A survey in the last quarter of 2011 conducted by AAFS revealed that 80% of chemical health clients were in need of mental health services. After six months another survey conducted in 2012 revealed that 40% of those 80% of clients in need of mental health services self-reported they have attended at least one mental health appointment or have been seeing a mental health therapist regularly for at least the past 60 days.

In addition, because our population is relational in nature, our clients take back their learning to their friends, families and loved ones. In fact, nearly 40% of our mental health referrals are directly through client relationships. Individuals in our programming teach friends, families and loved ones using their newly acquired skills and healthy coping mechanisms, which in turn changes the whole culture of a family system, and ultimately the community. 

Our History:

AAFS was established in 1975 as a grassroots organization designed to provide chemical dependency and related support services to the African American community of Minnesota. Originally called the Minnesota Institute on Black Chemical Abuse (MIBCA) and then the Institute on Black Chemical Abuse (IBCA), AAFS became known as an effective treatment, prevention and aftercare center.

AAFS’ services expanded to help families address other issues that often co-exist with chemical dependency, including mental illness and family violence. In order to meet the needs of  the clients, co-located wrap-around services have been developed including family counseling, family violence prevention, crisis intervention, and home-based services. AAFS is now an Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment (IDDT) center providing trauma-informed care.

AAFS is a results-based organization that relies on evaluation to promote excellence. Our Quality Assurance Division measures agency performance, outcomes, performance improvement initiatives, and client satisfaction, with a goal of creating wellness both for the people we serve and the organization itself.