Education Government Relations Office

Key Policy Areas

• Community Health Centers

  APA advocacy efforts related to access to primary health care services — and integrated mental and behavioral health care — for individuals in medically underserved urban and rural areas.

• Early Childhood, K-12 and Higher Education

  APA advocacy efforts related to psychology’s role in education programs to improve teaching and learning — from testing and curriculum development, to violence prevention in schools and colleges.

• Graduate Psychology Education

  APA advocacy efforts related to GPE, the only federal program dedicated to the education and training of psychologists. Grants for APA-accredited programs bring mental health care to underserved populations.

• Federal Program Spending

  APA advocacy efforts related to funding for federal programs critical to the deployment of psychological practice and research in the service of promoting health and human welfare.

• National Health Service Corps

  APA advocacy efforts related to NHSC, a federal program that recruits health care professionals to serve in high-needs, community-based systems of care in return for scholarship or loan repayment assistance.

• Workforce Development

  APA advocacy efforts related to workforce issues concerning psychologists — shortage of qualified mental health professionals, availability and funding of federal programs.

News & Events

• ESEA Reauthorization a Priority Initiative for 114th Congress

  Key congressional committees are holding hearings and advancing legislation intended to re-evaluate and renew ESEA.

• Congress Increases Graduate Psychology Education Program to $7.9 Million in FY 2015

  The Omnibus Resolution includes a $1 million increase to the GPE Program, thanks in large part to our members’ advocacy efforts.

• FY 2014 Campus Suicide Prevention Grantees Announced

  SAMHSA announced the recipients of the 2014 Campus Suicide Prevention Grants.

• Effect of Midterm Elections on Appropriations

  The 2014 midterm elections — and the resulting string of Republican victories — will have both a short- and long-term effect on the congressional appropriations process.

• Congressional Briefing Highlights Role of Geropsychology in Integrated Health Care Teams

  APA partnered with the Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA) and the Senate Special Committee on Aging in coordinating a congressional briefing, “It Takes A Team: What We Will Need to Meet The Needs of Older Adults and Their Family Caregivers.”

• FY 2014 Behavioral Health Workforce Education Training Grantees Announced

  Seven doctoral psychology internship programs receive federal funding to expand training opportunities for graduate students and improve access to mental health for young adults.

• ELC Attendees Advocate Increased Funding for the GPE Program

  Nearly 100 attendees from APA's 2014 Education Leadership Conference advocate additional federal investments in psychology education and training programs.

• Higher Education Act Reauthorization: Starting Anew in the 114th Congress

  APA recommendations to Congress for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

• Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., Reaffirms Longstanding Support for GPE

  Congresswoman addresses 2014 Education Leadership Conference.

• HRSA Announces FY 2014 GPE Grantees

  The Health Resources & Services Administration has announced the full list of 40 FY 2014 Graduate Psychology Education Program grantees.