THE LATEST NEWS FROM ACA

Senate Introduces the Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2021

Mar 22, 2021

Under current regulations, psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers and psychiatric nurses are currently recognized to offer covered mental health services under Medicare.

On March 18, 2021, Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announced the reintroduction of the S. 828, the Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2021. This bipartisan bill addresses mental health care gaps for seniors by expanding the network of providers that can deliver mental and behavioral health services to Medicare beneficiaries. By providing mental health professionals the opportunity to participate in the Medicare program, this bill expands the number of mental health providers available to millions of Americans.

“Improving access to mental health services is vitally important,” said Barrasso. “Our bipartisan Mental Health Access Improvement Act will expand the number of mental health professionals able to care for our nation’s seniors. This is critical for Wyoming and the rest of rural America, which often face the greatest shortage of mental health providers.”

“So many older Americans are in urgent need of behavioral health services as a result of isolation and stress from the COVID-19 crisis,” said Stabenow. “Our bill gives seniors a greater choice of mental health providers so they can get the mental health care they need.”

Under current regulations, psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers and psychiatric nurses are currently recognized to offer covered mental health services under Medicare. This does not include mental health counselors or marriage & family therapists who have the same training and education but are not able to be reimbursed by Medicare. This bill would close that gap by adding those providers to the list of those accessible to Medicare beneficiaries.

The American Counseling Association has been advocating for the inclusion of licensed professional counselors for years. Last year, we gained historic bipartisan support for the bill with 123 cosponsors in the House and 31 cosponsors in the Senate. Through our advocacy efforts, we were also able to get the Mental Health Access Improvement Act voted out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Help your profession break the congressional cycle of leaving counselors out of important policy conversations. The world is in a health crisis, and both our profession and clients are unnecessarily suffering due to the lack of federal policy that supports your needs. We need you to be the change. You have the expertise to empower your legislators with the information they need to include you in policy decisions. The American Counseling Association is calling on the counseling community to help us push this bill over the finish line.

If you have questions or would like to become involved in ACA’s advocacy efforts, please contact the ACA Government Affairs and Public Policy team at advocacy@counseling.org.

Retrieved from: https://www.counseling.org/news/updates/2021/03/22/senate-introduces-the-mental-health-access-improvement-act-of-2021

Chi Sigma Iota Upsilon Nu Chi presents…

A Webinar Series on Trauma-Informed and Culturally Responsive Counseling Practices
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Navigating Microaggressions in the Counseling Profession

by Dr. Shreya Vaishnav
Monday, March 29, 2021 at 5:30 PM EST

To register, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/navigating-microaggressions-in-the-counseling-profession-tickets-145811892295

This presentation is entirely free and open to the public. The chapter is collecting donations; 70 percent of donations will be allocated to a community partner in the Greensboro, NC area. Registration will close at 5 PM EST on Monday, March 29, 2021. Registrants will receive the Zoom information to join the day prior to the event.

Session Information:
Microaggressions are verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities that convey negative slights, insults, or derogatory remarks towards individuals based on their marginalized identities. While often unintentional, microaggressions are harmful to those on the receiving end. Microaggressions are prevalent in academia and clinical settings and have been observed in classrooms, interactions with faculty and peers, social spaces, campus environment, and counseling spaces. Given the negative consequences that result from experiencing microaggressions, it is important to understand ways to navigate and respond to microaggressions that take place within the counseling profession. During this webinar, we will explore research around the harmful impact of microaggressions, identify effective approaches in responding to microaggressions, and develop tools and strategies to create an inclusive space in your professional environment.

Information about the Presenter:
Dr. Shreya Vaishnav is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Palo Alto University. She graduated with a master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Arizona State University and a doctorate in Counseling and Educational Development from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Dr. Vaishnav is a 2020-21 WACES Emerging Leader, 2020-21 CE&S Fellow, and 2018-19 NBCC Foundation Doctoral Minority Fellow. She is currently the co-chair for the ACA Graduate Student Committee and the Awards Committee Chair for the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD). In addition to her leadership experiences, Dr. Vaishnav has led several research projects on the impact of microaggressions on students from marginalized identities and facilitated workshops on navigating and responding to microaggressions in academia. Her research has also focused on effective mentoring practices for students and faculty, strengths-based approaches in working with students from marginalized backgrounds, and social justice advocacy.

About the Webinar Series:
“When Counseling Leaders Transform Community Engagement: Piloting a Trauma-Informed and Culturally Responsive Virtual Speaker Series”

The CSI Upsilon Nu Chi chapter received funding from the CSI International Chapter Development Grants to offer this series to highlight the efforts of counseling leaders engaged in trauma-informed, antiracist, community-engaged, and culturally responsive practices. This series is catered to communities of counseling practitioners, students, faculty members, and community stakeholders. As a result, we are promoting the series to a large audience of community stakeholders and allocating 70 percent of the donations to a community partner in the Greensboro area.

For questions, please contact Brittany Gerringer, Chi Sigma Iota Upsilon Nu Chi President, at bcputnam@uncg.edu or Dr. Christian D. Chan, Chi Sigma Iota Upsilon Nu Chi Chapter Faculty Advisor, at cdchan@uncg.edu.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weaponizing-white-feminism-with-dr-ebony-white-saliume-walo-roberts-registration-146420544791?aff=PromoFlyer

Traughber Junior High School in Oswego is currently looking for someone to fill a school counseling position while a counselor is on maternity leave. The link to the job posting is here: https://www.applitrack.com/d308/onlineapp/default.aspx?all=1&AppliTrackJobId=10319&AppliTrackLayoutMode=detail&AppliTrackViewPosting=1 .

DePaul will be hiring two non-tenure track counseling faculty members next year. We will be inviting candidates to campus over the next couple months. As graduate counseling students, you have the opportunity to virtually meet each candidate in a small group setting and are invited to attend their virtual teaching presentations. This is a very important decision and we welcome and value your input.

We have included information below for today’s interviews and attached candidate CV. You are welcome to join us via zoom.

Date: Friday, March 19

Candidate: Carlos Medina

Teaching Presentation Topic: Sexuality and working with clients from 2:45-3:45pm via zoom: https://depaul.zoom.us/j/96573834860

Teaching Evaluation Form: https://forms.gle/2tjeot4xwrdmaHYG9

Student meeting from 3:45-4:15pm via zoom: https://depaul.zoom.us/j/91863091598

Student Meeting Evaluation Form: https://forms.gle/AnkwTfNwE4djDFvk9

We hope you have a chance to meet these candidates and provide important feedback for the search committee. If you participate, please complete the feedback forms on the day of the interview.

DePaul will be hiring two non-tenure track counseling faculty members next year. We will be inviting candidates to campus over the next couple months. As graduate counseling students, you have the opportunity to virtually meet each candidate in a small group setting and are invited to attend their virtual teaching presentations. This is a very important decision and we welcome and value your input.

We have included information below for today’s interviews and attached candidate CV. You are welcome to join us via zoom. 

Date: Wednesday, March 17

Candidate: Marcus Smith

Teaching Presentation Topic: Ethical & Cultural considerations in Assessing Special Populations for Testing & Appraisal from 2:45-3:45pm via zoom: https://depaul.zoom.us/j/95116842490

Teaching Evaluation Form: https://forms.gle/QRdPgw9Hm2RSY23Q6

Student meeting from 3:45-4:15pm via zoom: https://depaul.zoom.us/j/93857549864

Student Meeting Evaluation Form: https://forms.gle/65LDsrNtjyuc3HRQ6

We are writing to ask for your help by submitting a witness slip in support of HB171. This is bill revises language from “guidance counselor” and “school guidance counselor” to “school counselor throughout the bill. This is a significant step in clarifying school counselor identity in Illinois.

Here is a direct link to the bill – HB1719: – https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=1719&GAID=16&GA=102&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=130401&SessionID=110.

Filing a Witness Slip and is only a few clicks away. Here is the process:

1. Go to the Illinois General Assembly website https://my.ilga.gov/Hearing/HearingDetail/18021.
2. Find HB1719 in the list of bills – Sponsor Deanne M. Mazzochi
3. Click on the icon at the end of the row – Create Witness Slip.
4. Enter your information and then select “proponent” and “record of appearance only” in order to submit your support of this bill.

This bill is scheduled to be heard on Weds. 3/17/21, please submit your witness slip Today. YOUR VOICE MATTERS!!!

CES Program Trainee:

We would like your assistance in the development and validation of a new scale, the Decolonizing the Counseling Curriculum Scale (DCCS). The DCCS is a survey designed to examine cultural and antiracist practices within counselor education programs. Data generated from this study will be used to determine the DCCS’s structure, scoring method, reliability and validity.

It is our hope that the DCCS, once validated, can serve as a program evaluation tool for interested CES programs. Your voice as a CES trainee is incredibly important in validating this scale.

In order to have a rigorous scale, the development and validation of the DCCS will take place over multiple phases. For each phase of the study, you will receive a similar recruitment email. We appreciate your participation in any or all of the phases!

To review the study further, here is the informed consent document.

Access the survey packet here https://unlv.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6fJ7D8JtkJ80nhI?program=DEPAUL

On Thursday, April 15, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity will host a virtual conversation with Robin DiAngelo on white fragility. All are welcome to RSVP and attend.

DiAngelo is the author of the award-winning book, “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism.” Organizers of the event hope to generate conversations around structural and systemic racism, whiteness, and white privilege and fragility. As a consultant, educator and facilitator for more than 20 years, DiAngelo’s work focuses on these topics.

Thursday, April 15
3 p.m.
RSVP

This event is co-sponsored by the Women’s Center, The Theatre School and Academic Affairs.