Fellows bring psychological perspective to Capitol Hill

APA's Congressional Fellowship Program is now in its 25th year.

Rebecca A. Clay

Even before she began working on Capitol Hill, Heather E. Bullock, PhD, always had a strong interest in public policy. But now that she's working with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, she realizes how crucial it is for social scientists to understand its impact.

"I've learned how interested in the bottom line people on the Hill are," says Bullock, who will join the faculty of the University of California at Santa Cruz in the fall. "They want to know how many people are being affected by a problem and how many would be helped by a policy change. And they want findings presented as briefly, simply and straightforwardly as possible."

That's just the kind of lesson the APA Congressional Fellowship Program was designed to provide. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the program offers psychologists a chance to learn about public policy first-hand and expose policy-makers to psychology's value. Fellows also attend an orientation and series of seminars on science and public policy sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and monthly meetings with APA program coordinators.

Hands-on work

Bullock is one of four psychologists participating in the year-long fellowship for 1998-99.

Before coming to Washington, Bullock studied the public's attitudes toward poverty and how those attitudes help shape welfare reform and other public policies. She applied to the fellowship program out of a desire to bolster her academic understanding of the issues with a more sophisticated understanding of the legislative aspects.

Bullock has already achieved that goal. Her main project so far has been an antihunger bill that would restore food stamp benefits to all legal immigrants and allow food-stamp recipients to have more valuable, reliable cars without losing their benefits. Putting her research and writing skills to work, she has helped transform the idea into a full-fledged piece of legislation ready for introduction. She also tracks the effects of welfare reform across the nation.

Bullock says she will return to academia newly inspired about the value of her research.

"I've discovered that legislators absolutely do use research to build their case, and I've also learned how important advocacy groups are in pushing legislative issues," she says, adding that the experience will inform the psychology of poverty courses she'll be teaching next year. "It's given me a lot of insight into how the legislative process works."

A newfound passion

David J. Pittenger, PhD, became interested in public policy by example. His representative in Congress is Rep. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), a psychologist. Pittenger and his wife campaigned for Strickland, and his wife became one of his district staffers. With plenty of opportunities to talk with the congressman, Pittenger grew fascinated by public policy's potential for improving mental health services.

"The more I talked to him, the more intrigued I became," says Pittenger, an experimental psychologist who chairs the psychology department at Marietta College in Ohio. "The congressional fellowship seemed an obvious next step."

Housed in Rep. Pete Stark's (D-Calif.) office, Pittenger is working with the Joint Ways and Means Committee and gaining a hands-on education in policy-making. Today he's tackling tasks ranging from answering constituent mail to working on pieces of legislation, many of which affect psychology. One legislative initiative would create demonstration projects to explore long-term care options for people with acute psychiatric disorders; another would expand mental health parity to Medicare beneficiaries. As a psychologist, Pittenger contributes his knowledge of mental health issues, his access to the literature and his ability to assess empirical evidence.

Pittenger's time on the Hill has whetted his appetite for political activity. He plans to resume his volunteer position on a state board that supervises mental health services. He wants to play a greater advocacy role in his state. And he hopes to share his newfound enthusiasm with his students.

Says Pittenger, "I want to help students understand that psychology has a lot to contribute to public policy development."

A long-time commitment

Amy L. Sussman, PhD, has been fascinated by public policy relating to children and families since her undergraduate days. She chose Yale's graduate program because of the presence of the Bush Center in Child Develop-ment and Social Policy. She even volunteered in a day-care center during graduate school.

Armed with the doctorate in developmental psychology she received last May, Sussman now works in the office of Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and the Subcommittee on Children and Families of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Sussman has been tracking bills and working on legislation Dodd wants to introduce, especially a measure that would help prepare children for school. Although Sussman started out working exclusively on child-care and family-leave issues, she has recently taken on managed care and health care.

Sussman is certain that what she has learned as a fellow will serve her well in the future, whether she pursues a career in academia or public policy. "No matter what I do," she says, "I'll probably always keep one foot in the policy arena."

A career shift

The fact that Robert J. Mendoza, PsyD, returns work-related calls at 8:15 on a Friday night provides some sense of what being a fellow can be like--hectic but exciting.

The work he's doing in the office of Sen. Jeff Bingaman
(D-N.M.) is a definite switch for Mendoza, who was a neuropsychologist at Harvard Medical School before coming to Washington. As a fellow, he spends his days writing, tracking legislation, attending hearings and working with advocacy groups. Having chosen Sen. Bingaman's office because of the senator's interest in health-care issues, Mendoza works on topics ranging from mental health parity to violence against women to the Patients' Bill of Rights.

"I work on a whole gamut of things," he says. "It really varies from day to day."Y

Rebecca A. Clay is a writer in Washington, D.C.(ogonek)



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