ADVOCACY

The Maryland Counseling Association, Inc. promotes the professionalism of the field of counseling and encourages equality of stature in the mental health arena.

Importance of Advocacy:

Advocacy Updates on Bills

MD GEneral Assembly

• Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed Counseling Compact
• HB736- COUNSELING COMPACT: PASSED House Floor (135-0)
• HB123- PRESEVE TELEHEALTH: PASSED in House Floor (135-0)
• SB571- COUNSELING COMPACT: Passed Senate committee Education, Health &  Environmental Affairs 
• SB003- PRESERVE TELEHEALTH: PASSED Senate (47-0) sent to the House

Upcoming Advocacy Committee Meetings

Public Statements

• Position_statement_GovHogan_evictions_signed.pdf
  
• MCA_MCSJ_ Statement of Solidarity_NAACP_082020.pdf 
• MCA_MCSJ_ Statement of Solidarity_NAN_2020.pdf
  

Upcoming Events

Legislative Actions

• Bills you can write to your elected representative for encourage 
• H.R. 125 - Police Training and Independent Review Act of 2019
• Police Training and Independent Review Act of 2019 This bill authorizes the Department of Justice to award grants to states that do the following: (1) require law enforcement officers to be trained on diversity and sensitivity, and (2) require an independent prosecutor to be appointed to investigate and prosecute an alleged offense involving the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer that results in a death or injury.
•    H.R. 4882 - Community Safety Act of 2019
• To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to provide training to improve police responses for people with mental illness and intellectual and developmental disabilities, to increase the authorization of appropriations for mental health awareness training grants, and for other purposes
•  H.R. 7120 - George Floyd Justice in Policing Act-
• Justice in Policing Act of 2020 This bill addresses a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability.
•  S. 1464 - Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2019
• Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2019 This bill directs the Office of Justice Programs within the Department of Justice to award grants to law enforcement agencies for behavioral health crisis response training.

• Bills needing a cosponsor from MD elected official:
• •   In the Senate, the Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2019, S. 286 was introduced by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
  • In the House of Representatives, the Mental Health Access Improvement Act, H.R. 945 was introduced by Representative John Katko (R-NY) and Mike Thompson (D-CA)

MCA Advocacy Day 2021

• FEDERAL HILL DAY 2021: JULY 26th and 28th of 2021- Virtual Event
• REGISTRATION for FEDERAL HILL DAY 2021
• MCA organized as professionals in our field and met with and shared our concerns, recommendations, and expertise to our Mayland elected officials in our MD General Assembly.
• Date- FEBRUARY 24, 2021- completed successfully 
• Location- virtual
• There was an Advocacy Day training/prep virtual session on Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 9:30 am-10:30 am.

• See if your elected representative signed up. Use this listing to determine if the elected representatives in your district are attending Advocacy Day.
  

Please contact Advocacy Chair, Roni White (Advocacy@MDCounseling.org) if you are interested in MCA's Advocacy efforts!