California

AAMFT-CA Advocacy Committee

The Legislative and Advocacy committee is now being re-created under the California Interest Network.  If you have any interest in becoming involved in legislative and advocacy efforts in California, please feel free to send a message to california.aamft@gmail.com

Structure

Decisions are guided by our Purpose and Mission Statements, which were carefully crafted by the CA Interest Network's Advocacy Committee.

Mission Statement

Because a profession is more than a license, in California AAMFT has a professional system to maintain and to grow. All healthy systems grow toward complexity. Part of this growth requires that in California we partner with legislators and that we think critically about the political frame that defines mental health, intervention, and reimbursement. Therefore, AAMFT-CA embraces political advocacy and professional partnership to move into the future of the MFT profession in California.

The CA Division Board of Directors has committed to keep the membership informed about the Advocacy decisions and efforts that are being made. We seek to create an exchange through ongoing updates to the membership. While we inform you about what we are doing, your input and concerns are always welcomed and appreciated.

Purpose Statement

Advocacy for the profession and support of the profession in advocating for families and for relational issues.

Policy Protocol

Policy Areas:

It seems prudent to limit our involvement on social and public policy to the following areas as set forth by the Board of Directors. We wish to find parity with AAMFT protocols and recommend that any issue we are going to advocate should have direct relevance to our profession or to the clientele we serve.

  • Practice/Professional Issues
  • Family Relevant Issues

Considerations for Relevancy

How we will determine if an issue merits a position from the Advocacy Committee:

  1. Potentially significant impact, such as LPC licensing and keeping our professional status separate and unique from other mental health providers.
  2. Moderate impact, such as BBS tweaking of hours of professional experience in different specialty areas.
  3. Of interest but with minimal impact, such as immigration laws.

Procedure for Determining a Position

The Advocacy Committee will determine, by discussion, whether a policy position is necessary and proceed to take action from three options:

  1. An ad hoc fact finding task force that will review the significant issues and create an e-blast membership survey.
  2. A recommendation to the Executive Board for a public statement on moderate to significant issues.
  3. A proposed public statement for minimal issues as in an e-blast.

National Advocacy

Information about advocacy efforts on the national level

Links/Resources

- AAMFT Position on Family and Couples
- CA Board of Behavioral Sciences
- Official California Legislation Information