Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act
LaMarr
Legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate
seeking to increase the number of children's mental health
professionals in the U.S. , including both school counselors and
licensed professional mental health counselors. Representative
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) introduced "The Child Health Care Crisis
Relief Act of 2007" (H.R. 2073) at the end of April, and Senator Jeff
Bingaman (D-NM) introduced an identical bill in the Senate (S. 1572)
on June 7th. The legislation is a successor to nearly identical
bills, which were introduced last year.
If enacted, the Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act would provide
assistance with education expenses for child mental health
professionals, including: psychiatrists, psychologists, behavioral
pediatricians, professional counselors, school counselors, psychiatric
nurses, social workers, school social workers, school psychologists,
and marriage and family therapists. In order to be eligible for loan
repayment assistance, participating individuals would need to have
received specialized training or clinical experience in child and
adolescent mental health, and agree to be employed full-time for at
least two years in providing mental health services to children and
adolescents. Loan repayment assistance would be available only for
individuals who are already licensed or who have less than one year
remaining before completion of training or clinical experience.
ACA strongly supports the legislation, and is working in coordination
with other mental health advocacy organizations to help gain its
enactment. You can help promote the legislation by asking your
Representative to cosponsor H.R. 2073, and asking your Senators to
cosponsor S. 1572. Sample wording for letters, calls, or e-mails is
on our advocacy website at http://capwiz.com/counseling. For more
information, contact Chris Campbell at 800-347-6647, ext. 241, or by e-
mail at: ccam...@counseling.org.
House Panel Approves Significant Funding Increase for School
Counseling Program
On June 7th, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health
and Human Services, and Education approved a spending bill that would
boost funding for the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling
Program (ESSCP) to an unprecedented $61.5 million for fiscal year
2008. Should this funding level be enacted, it would be a $26.8
million increase over the current year's allocation of $34.7 million.
Funding ESSCP at $61.5 million would allow federal support of
counseling services in middle and high schools for the first time
ever. Under current law, the first $40 million in funding for the
program must be devoted to elementary school counseling programs and
services. That $40 million funding level has never before been
reached.
This is a significant step forward, but it is important to note that
approval of the Labor-HHS-ED spending bill by the House Appropriations
Subcommittee is only the first step in the annual appropriations
process.
Go to http://capwiz.com/counseling to send a message to your Senators
and Representative to urge them to support a funding level of $61.5
million for ESSCP in the fiscal year 2008 Labor, Health and Human
Services and Education appropriations bill. For more information,
contact Chris Campbell at 800-347-6647, ext. 241, or by e-mail at:
ccam...@counseling.org.
Christopher C. Campbell, M.A. Ed.
Assistant Director of Public Policy and Legislation
American Counseling Association
5999 Stevenson Avenue, Suite 200
Alexandria, VA 22304
703.823.9800 x241
703.823-0252 fax
703-405-9671 mobile
www.counseling.org
ACA 2008 Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, March 26-30, 2008
Register Online Now!