In partnership with Divisions 16 (School Psychologyopens in new window) and 37 (Society for Child and Family Policy and Practiceopens in new window) APA Advocacy staff led an in-person training on August 2, 2023, for select psychologists who were in Washington, D.C., for APA 2023 and wanted to develop the skills they need to advocate for access to mental health in schools.
Kenneth Polishchuk, APA’s senior director for congressional and federal relations, and education policy lead; Stefanie Reeves, deputy chief of public policy and engagement; and Doris Parfaite-Claude, director for grassroots engagement, instructed participants on how to engage in advocacy work, best practices in communicating with officials directly or through social media, and current federal policy opportunities to advocate for school mental health services and the psychology workforce. Some of the policies discussed included legislation providing funding for state and local education agencies’ efforts to recruit school-based mental health professionals, student loan forgiveness, and more.
Participants received materials to help support their future advocacy work in this space, including examples of APA-supported federal programs and billsopens in new window (PDF, 390KB) that help address shortages of school-based mental health providers, information on the current state of youth mental healthopens in new window (PDF, 410KB), and resources for advocating on social mediaopens in new window (PDF, 450KB). In a feedback survey, participants shared that they found the training highly informative and hoped to use the skills they developed to advocate for issues important to them personally, including mental health services in schools, the need for climate change education in schools, and discipline or caseload issues.
To learn more about trainings offered by the Advocacy Office, contact Doris Parfaite-Claude.
