ACA 2011 Annual Conference New Orleans, Louisiana March Federal Policies Affecting Counselors: How Can They Be Changed?

Transcription

1 ACA 2011 Annual Conference New Orleans, Louisiana March Federal Policies Affecting Counselors: How Can They Be Changed? Scott Barstow & Dominic Holt American Counseling Association Office of Public Policy and Legislation

2 ACA s Office of Public Policy & Legislation ph: fax: Scott Barstow, x234 sbarstow@counseling.org Dominic Holt, x242 dholt@counseling.org Christie Lum, x354 clum@counseling.org mental health, substance abuse, rehabilitation, career, vocational, and state counseling issues education issues, grassroots development, and communications office admin, budgeting, publications, logistics and planning, lists, web page Slide 2

3 ACA Public Policy & Legislation Committee Sets ACA legislative agenda Gives out legislative development grants to ACA entities Provides guidance and feedback on policy issues Comprised of 9 members and 3 ex officio members Members appointed to three year terms, ACA president typically appoints two members and selects chair Current chair: Bill Braden, KyCA Executive Director Slide 3

4 Federal Issues update TRICARE TRICARE counselors must operate under physician referral and supervision until Department of Defense (DoD) issues regulations allowing independent practice H.R. 208 bill introduced by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) and Rep. Larry Kissell (D-NC), allows independent practice for counselors meeting current TRICARE requirements Ask your Rep. to cosponsor H.R. 208; bill may become necessary if DoD adopts Institute of Medicinetype recommendations (mental health counseling degree from CACREP-accredited programs Slide 4

5 Federal Issues update VA Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopted occupational standard for LPMHCs (licensed professional mental health counselors) in September VA facilities are continuing to hire LCSWs, but are hiring almost no LPMHCs ACA is asking the VA to issue guidance to local facilities to announce positions as multi-disciplinary; meeting with VA Office of Mental Health Services staff coming up in two weeks VA s LPMHC standard requires CACREP degree -- ACA joined AMHCA and NBCC in asking the VA to adopt grandparenting eligibility for counselors with other degrees, VA declined Master s level degree required; doctoral degree alone not recognized Slide 5

6 Federal Issues update Medicare New Medicare bill introduced in the Senate S. 604, the Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2011 [Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) / John Barrasso (R-WY)] Medicare -- Congress will take up Medicare legislation in 2011, to prevent a 25% physician pay cut from taking place January 1, We need to lay the groundwork now for success next year S. 604 covers LPCs, MFTs under same terms, conditions, pay rates as LCSWs ASK YOUR SENATORS TO COSPONSOR S. 604! Slide 6

7 Federal Issues update PPACA Health care reform -- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is one year old! Congressional Republicans continuing to attack legislation, promising repeal and replace (with what?) Affordable Care Act includes provider non-discrimination provisions, starting in 2014 Meshes nicely with Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ACA working with other health advocacy organizations to defend law Slide 7

8 Federal Issues update School Counseling Renewal of NCLB/ESEA May expand preschool access, improve teacher quality, change accountability/ayp, eliminate programs (ESSCP, MHI) H.R. 667, Put School Counselors Where They Are Needed Act, Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA-39) -- House cosponsors needed! ACA is working to make sure school counselors are more central, less marginalized, in schools, and appropriately included in teacherincentive and training opportunities Federal Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP) Appropriations/Funding -- US Department of Education (ED) funding cut severely in stopgap spending bills, and ESSCP proposed for elimination by new House Majority and consolidation per ED budget proposals Slide 8

9 True or False: The Founding Fathers created Congress to pass laws Slide 9

10 Advocacy is like baseball Legislative change happens s-l-o-w-l-y. It s supposed to! Most of the time when a batter steps up to the plate, nothing happens VERY successful baseball players hit around.300 Wayne Gretzky: You miss 100% of the shots you don t take. Slide 10

11 Advocacy is also like a camel (or rather, breaking a camel s back) On most issues, a given number of calls or letters will convince a legislator to take action Your call or letter may not be the 10 th or 20 th (or whatever) contact that convinces a staffer or legislator to take action, but it makes possible the contact that finally breaks the camel s back! Slide 11

12 Communicating with Congress [Excerpts from a November, 2008 presentation to ACA members by Congressional Management Foundation staff person Tim Hysom] 12

13 Roll Call Newspaper, March 26, 2001

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15 Offices Are Doing a lot More Since the 1970 s US Population: +100 million District Populations: +183,000 Casework: Barely existed Faxes: Didn t exist Didn t exist Staff sizes have stayed the same since the 1970 s! Advocacy campaigns: Rudimentary Internet/Web Sites: Didn t exist Faster pace!

16 Asked on a Survey of Congressional Staffers... "If your Member/Senator has not already arrived at a firm decision on an issue, how much influence might the following advocacy strategies directed to the Washington office have on his/her decision?"

17 Form The Most Influential Communications are Personal 3% 3% Form Faxes A lot of Influnce Some Influence Constituent Visits 60% 99% Constituent Representative Individualized Letters 44% 47% 96% 96% Individualized Individualized Faxes 30% 34% 94% 91% Phone Calls Lobbyist Visit 15% 20% 88% 93% Form Letters 3% 65% A lot of Influnce Some Influence Form Form Faxes 3% 3% 57% 63% Source: CMF,

18 Mistrust of Identical Form Advocacy Campaigns Most advocacy campaigns of identical form messages are sent without the constituent s knowledge or approval. Disagree 24% Neither Agree Nor Disagree 25% Strongly Disagree 1% Strongly Agree 15% Agree 35%

19 INDIVIDUAL contacts work, form letters don t: an actual quote from a congressional staff member One hundred form letters have less direct value than a single thoughtful letter generated by a constituent of the Member s district. CMF report: Quality is more persuasive than quantity. The content matters. The operating assumption of many congressional staff is that the more time and effort constituents take to communicate, the more passionately they care about the issue. source: Communicating With Congress, Congressional Management Foundation, 2005 Slide 19

20 Communicating with Congress: True or False? Communicating with a staffer is the same as communicating with the Member or Senator. In a meeting, it s important to convey as much information as possible. A form response means the Member is not interested in what I have to say. Average citizens can build relationships with Members of Congress and their staffs. A meeting with a Member of Congress will be held in a lavish office like you see in the movies. 1. TRUE 2. FALSE 3. FALSE 4. TRUE 5. FALSE

21 Communicating with Congress: True or False? It s best not to identify the organization behind a grassroots campaign. It doesn t matter how a message is delivered (fax, postal, ), offices treat them all the same. Hundreds of form messages have more impact than a few individual communications from constituents. When trying to communicate a timely message, faxes are better than s. 1. FALSE 2. TRUE 3. FALSE 4. FALSE

22 The Do s and Dont s Do: Target Members who have not made up their mind Send messages when they can have the greatest impact. Send personalized messages that tells how a bill affects you Combine advocacy strategies Send thank-you messages to Members who support your issues

23 The Do s and Dont s Don t: Target every Member in the same way Send your messages too early or too late Send general messages that aren t about a specific bill or issue Just send repetitive and impersonal form messages Send the same message over and over Convey your position on multiple issues in a single letter

24 What is Your Ask? Policy/Legislative Requests Cosign a letter to the president Cosponsor legislation Offer help in crafting legislation to introduce Offer to be a knowledgeable resource prior to a key vote Ask the Member to support a grant request Building Relationships Facility visit District/state office meeting Newsletter article Statement for the Congressional Record Speech to members/employees Conference call

25 Your work is essential! ACA state association Without grassroots activity, lobbying is ineffective. individual counselors Slide 25

26 Writing your Members of Congress Keep letters to one page, and one topic Make sure your name and address are legible Keep a copy of your letter, for future reference May want to add Do not put on mailing list Sending s Keep s short, and on one topic Individualize and personalize your ! Make sure your name and address are included Keep a copy of your , for future reference Slide 26

27 Ask for specific, verifiable action SENATE and HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES Please cosponsor legislation to be introduced shortly which would establish Medicare coverage of medically-necessary psychotherapy provided by licensed professional counselors. POLICY ARGUMENTS Medicare s benefit package is woefully out-of-date, as private sector health plans have covered LPCs for years This is bipartisan, very low-cost legislation, with no opposition Medicare beneficiaries especially in rural areas need better access to outpatient mental health services Slide 27

28 What s a cosponsor? A member of congress is said to be the sponsor of a bill when he or she is the person who introduced the bill. A member of congress can cosponsor a bill by asking the bill s sponsor to add their name as a cosponsor. Cosponsoring a bill shows support for the legislation. A member of congress who has agreed to cosponsor a bill before it is formally introduced is said to be an original cosponsor of the legislation. Original cosponsors of legislation have their names listed behind the bill sponsor s name when the legislation is printed. The number and make up of a bill s list of cosponsors can provide a measure of its support. Slide 28

29 Slide 29 Thomas website

30 Slide 30 Thomas website S. 604

31 Slide 31 Capwiz website

32 Slide 32 Capwiz website - Medicare

33 Slide 33 ACA public policy website

34 Slide 34 ACA public policy website

35 Slide 35 Potential ACA public policy website

36 Slide 36 Potential ACA public policy website

37 Contacting your Members of Congress: What happens when I don t get a response in three weeks? Call the office back and politely offer to resend or fax the letter/ again Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease! I get a non-specific or non-germane response? Send another letter or back thanking the legislator for responding, but politely asking for a more specific response addressing your specific request Slide 37

38 Advocacy is like playing golf underwater Each contact with the ball (i.e., a legislator) gets you closer to the pin (i.e., a concrete response to your specific request) Depending on how tough the hole is, it s likely to take 3-5 shots (contacts) to get the ball to go where you want it to Three rules: 1. Follow through 2. Follow through 3. Follow through The initial call, letter, or is NOT the end point of engaging in advocacy. The end point is getting a concrete, specific answer on your particular request. Slide 38

39 Follow-up: above v. below the water level Contact plus follow-up Contact without follow-up Slide 39

40 Thank you! Q & A Slide 40