NEWS FROM APA'S PUBLIC POLICY OFFICE

VOLUME 30, NUMBER 8 September 1999

The following are highlights of the activities of APA's Public Policy Office (PPO), which coordinates the federal advocacy efforts of the association's Science, Education and Public Interest directorates.

Advocacy in Congress:

Preserving basic research programs. As the Monitor goes to press, Congress is considering annual legislation appropriating funds to the Department of Defense (DoD), including its basic and applied human-oriented research programs. The Senate has already passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2000 DoD spending bill, which would restore $6.9 million in human-oriented research funding cut by the Air Force. The bill will also mandate a year-long study of DoD's behavioral research programs across the military services. The House is set to debate its own DoD spending bill, and then the two versions will need to be reconciled in a conference committee.

Seeking training funds. PPO education advocacy staff won inclusion of training dollars for psychology in the Senate bill to renew the Older Americans Act. Efforts are under way to have the House do the same. PPO staff arranged meetings between APA members, subcommittee chairs and ranking members of both houses. APA is also garnering support from the chair and committee members of the Senate Special Committee on Aging to hold a hearing or briefing on "aging successfully" to highlight psychologists' work.

Improving students' mental health. APA is working to strengthen the mental health provisions of the Safe Schools/
Healthy Students Initiative, which seeks to provide children and communities with educational, mental health, social service, law enforcement and juvenile justice system services that promote healthy childhood development and prevent violence and drug abuse. The initiative is part of the Senate's "Youth Drug and Mental Health Services Act."

Boosting mental health services in schools. PPO is working with other mental health organizations to increase the mental health services available to students through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESSA). APA seeks to expand Title I of ESSA to include the School Counselors Demonstration Act, which will provide more money for identifying and treating students' mental health needs. APA also seeks revisions to Title II of ESSA, the Safe and Drug Free Schools Program to ensure that school mental health service providers are included in professional development activities and to include the provision of mental health services as an authorized use of funds.

*Reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. This bill remains stalled at the pre-House-Senate conference stage after different bills passed in the House and the Senate. The major issues in question involve the emphasis to be placed on preventing juvenile crime versus punishment for delinquent and criminal acts.

Hate Crimes Prevention Act. In 1991, APA adopted a hate crimes resolution supporting government collection and publication of statistics on hate crimes and bias-related violence, provision of services for victims and their loved ones, and interventions to reduce and eliminate hate crimes and violence. This bill was added to the Senate's Fiscal Year 2000 Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill although at press time, the House of Representatives appropriations bill did not yet include a similar amendment.

Helping people with disabilities. By extending insurance benefits, the proposed Work Incentives Improvement Act would eliminate barriers that keep people with disabilities from returning to the workforce. (Under current federal law, insurance benefits are often terminated when a person with a disability goes back to work.) This bill passed the Senate in June. PPO will continue its work to ensure that the bill passes the House in the fall.

Advocating for services for vulnerable people. Funding for the Social Services Block Grant program--which supports mental health and case-management services for children, the elderly and people with disabilities--has been cut by more than one-third in the last four years (declining from $2.8 billion to $1.9 billion). PPO is working with other advocates to restore funding for this program.

Confidentiality for psychologists on campus. APA has succeeded in getting favorable language into the proposed Campus Crime provisions of Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA). APA was able to get the measure to exempt psychologists from reporting campus crimes revealed to them through counseling sessions. Of particular interest to those in academia, the U.S. Department of Education has developed regulations on all sections of HEA, which are being made public in the Federal Register this summer and fall. APA will respond to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the HEA regulations as they become available.

Work with federal agencies:

Improving access to mental health care. APA is closely monitoring the new State Incentive Grant Program to ensure that psychologists are placed in underserved communities in six participating states. Advocacy staff continue to work with the National Health Service Corps on expanding opportunities for psychologists through its "100% Access Initiative." It provides states with technical assistance for achieving the goal of 100 percent access to health care, including behavioral and mental health, for underserved populations. APA is also taking the lead in a coalition formed to work on draft legislation for the upcoming reauthorization that increases attention to nonphysician providers in underserved areas.

Yes, researchers do influence policy. In July, nine behavioral researchers from all over the country came to APA open-minded but skeptical about their ability to influence science policy. Members of the group conduct research relevant to aviation safety funded by NASA or the Departments of Defense or Transportation. APA staff briefed the group about relevant legislation and how to communicate with members of Congress before sending the scientists to meet with members of Congress and key staff. The group returned from their Hill meetings pleasantly surprised with their newfound knowledge on influencing policy, and eager to use new congressional contacts to become better advocates.

Education policy staff brings training to you. Teaching members how to advocate for education issues on Capitol Hill has been a priority for APA's Education Advocacy staff. The staff has conducted workshops at the National Council of Schools of Professional Psychology meeting in Charleston, S.C.; the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology Programs meeting in Clearwater, Fla.; the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs spring meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla.; and the California Psychological Association Annual Meeting in San Diego.

In May, staff teamed with the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students to present a training workshop at the Western Psychological Association spring conference held in Irvine, Calif. Aimed primarily at psychology graduate students, this workshop provided tips for establishing campus-based advocacy networks that increase student

For more information on Public Policy activities, visit PPO's web page at www.apa.org/ppo/topic.html.

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