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 is a core value for counseling
- Advocacy is the promotion of the well-being of individuals, groups, and the counseling profession within systems and organizations
- Advocacy seeks to remove barriers and obstacles that inhibit access, growth, and development
- A.7.a Advocacy defined in the ACA Code of Ethics
Upcoming Advocacy Committee Meetings
- Monday, November, 2, 2020 @ 6:45 pm- virtual
- Monday, September 21, 2020- virtual
Public Statements
Upcoming Events
- MCA Pre-recorded conference sessions can be viewed and purchased for CEs until January 2021
- MCA Conference begins October 9, 2020
Legislative Actions
- Bills you can write to your elected representative for encourage
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- 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.
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- Bills needing a cosponsor from MD elected official:
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- 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)
Voting in Maryland
- All about voting in Maryland
- Maryland voting registration deadline is: October 13, 2020
- List of all candidates for the November 2020 election
- You can use Early Voting Centers for 2020 GENERAL ELECTION
- Ballot Drop Box Early Voting Locations, information from Maryland Attorney General's site.
- How to vote your ballot by Hand Delivery at local Board of Elections
MCA Advocacy Day 2021
Please contact Advocacy Chair, Roni White (Advocacy@MDCounseling.org) if you are interested in MCA's Advocacy efforts!
