The strategic plan for the Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP) includes four pillars: (a) membership, (b) education and career development, (c) science and practice, and (d) advocacy. The 2024 presidential initiative of Cynthia Gerhardt was to strengthen advocacy efforts, as the division worked to achieve its mission, promoting the health and psychological well-being of all children, youth, and families. Because advocacy had received less attention and resources relative to other strategic areas in the division, a presidential task force was convened to develop recommendations for the board of directors on how to best accomplish its advocacy goals.
First, the board hosted a virtual advocacy townhall to solicit input from membership on the perceived importance of advocacy and areas of focus. Next, a task force was comprised of division members, who were in elected or appointed positions related to advocacy, such as APA council representatives or SPP liaisons to national organizations and committees. Monthly meetings have focused on defining the scope of work and goals of the task force. Early in the process, the task force decided to survey SPP members to determine the extent and nature of their advocacy activities, barriers to advocacy, and resources needed to support their efforts at the local, state, and national levels. The survey will be released soon and will also ask SPP members to rank advocacy priorities for the division in alignment with APA’s priorities.
The board had no idea how important advocacy would become in 2025. Recently, the task force worked with SPP’s association management company and communications committee to quickly curate advocacy resources for a member webpage, such as links to APA advocacy training and action alerts. The division’s annual conference in April now includes advocacy programming, panel discussions with division council representatives and liaisons, an advocacy station with resources and APA PAC information, as well as a postcard campaign to help members contact their legislators about key issues affecting pediatric psychology.
The work of the task force will continue this year with plans to create a member-at-large position to advance SPP’s advocacy goals and coordinate efforts with the division’s council representatives and liaisons. A liaison policy will be developed, as well as a process to respond quickly to statements and requests from coalitions and partners. Advocacy priorities will also be delineated for the board of directors as a guide for future work.
The primary aim is to support division members to answer the call to action for psychology education, science, and practice, but most importantly, to serve as a voice for children and families around the globe.