Advocacy News

August 2009 Update

Thank you to all NASP members, colleagues and friends that expressed support for the retention of the School Psychology exemption in the APA proposed Model Act for the Licensure of Psychologists!

The second public comment period for APA’s proposed revisions to its Model Act ended June 5, 2009 and resulted in approximately 19,000 comments being submitted, with the majority of comments addressing removal of the school psychologist’s exemption. APA’s revision task force is reviewing and organizing the public comments during summer 2009. The task force plans to prepare the final, proposed Model Act revisions in fall 2009, with the proposed revisions scheduled for consideration by the APA Board of Directors at its December 2009 meeting. The official adoption of the Model Act revisions will occur through the APA Council of Representatives (the major policy group in APA) and is scheduled tentatively for February 2010. We will inform NASP members about any new information in the coming months. For additional information, go here.

• New Send a personal invitation to your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative to attend a bipartisan bicameral briefing in honor of National School Psychology Awareness Week
• Legislative Alert: Send a letter to your U.S. representative asking for his/her support of “Reducing Barriers to Learning Act of 2009”
• Review the National School Psychology Week House Resolution and Senate Resolution recently introduced in Congress
• Legislative Alert: Send a letter to your U.S. Senators and Representative asking them to sign on as a cosponsor of a resolution designating November 9-13, 2009 as National School Psychology Week
• Action Request: NASP needs you to call or email your US Senators to ask for their support restoring funding for school-mental heath related programs
• NASP Advocacy Roadmap: School-Based Medicaid Reimbursement
• How to Promote School Psychological Services Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
• Advocacy Alert: Send a letter to the APA expressing your opposition to the proposed removal of the school psychologist exemption from the MLA
• NASP Response to APA's Model Act for State Licensure
• Information on the 2009 NASP Public Policy Institute
• NASP Advocacy Roadmap: Preserving and Promoting School Psychological Services
• Legislative Alert: Send a letter to your U.S. Representative asking for his/her support of “Increased Student Achievement Through Increased Student Support Act”
• Research on the relationship between mental health and academic achievement
• Legislative Alert: Send a letter to your U.S. Senators and Representative asking to pass the “Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008”
• Ready to Learn, Empowered to Teach: Excellence in Education for the 21st Century - National Association of School Psychologists: Guiding Principles for Effective Education—August 2008
• Increased Student Achievement through Increased Student Support Act Introduced into the U.S. House and Senate, July 30, 2008
• Proposed Regulations to Strengthen NCLB Released for Public Comment, April 23, 2008
• Advocacy Alert: Participate in the National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, May 8, 2008
• Legislative Alert: Send a letter to your U.S. Representative asking for his/her support of HR 5613, the Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008
• Loan Forgiveness for School Psychologists
• The NASP Advocacy Roadmap for States: Navigating a State Level Response to the APA Model Act for the State Licensure of Psychologists
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's Mental Health Panel
• NASP Position on APA Model Act Revisions
• 2007 NASP/GWU Public Policy Institute
• NASP Advocates for School Psychology on Capitol Hill - 2007
• Legislative Alerts