Following the tragic mass school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, policymakers at the national and state levels are considering policies both to restrict access to guns and to increase access to mental health and student support services. Most notably, President Obama released a broad set of proposals in mid-January that included
Category: Washington Update
Hours after the start of the new year, Congress and President Obama agreed to a package of tax cuts, tax increases and spending changes to avert the major policy changes scheduled to take place under previous law. The Senate passed the package — the American Taxpayer Relief Act (H.R. 8)
In the national elections held in November, voters largely kept in place the lawmakers they currently have, including President Obama and members of Congress. As a result, the nation will continue to operate with the House of Representatives being controlled by Republicans, and the presidency and the Senate in the
Counselors across the country are trying to become certified under new requirements for participation in TRICARE, the health care program operated by the Department of Defense (DoD) for active-duty military personnel, dependents and retirees. In some cases, the process appears to be working, but many counselors are running into problems.
Federal Fiscal Year 2013 started Oct. 1, and to avoid a potential government shutdown, Congress passed legislation at the end of September to maintain funding for federal agencies at current levels until the end of March. Although the partisan disagreement in Washington between the two political parties is at historically
In August, American Counseling Association staff participated in two national meetings, hosted by the Department of Education, that focused on school climate issues. The third annual Bullying Prevention Summit featured discussions about current research and initiatives to support bullying prevention in the upcoming year. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told participants
More than 130 counselors attending the American Counseling Association Institute for Leadership Training took a day out of their schedules on July 27 to lobby their senators and representatives on Capitol Hill. Direct constituent contact is the most effective way of reaching lawmakers, and the lobbying day has become a
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 28 that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional, save for a provision regarding Medicaid expansion. The American Counseling Association applauds the ruling because it will allow implementation of the legislation — the nation’s first attempt to establish a functioning health care system providing essentially
Although most education policy discussions center on teachers and principals, the staff working at the U.S. Department of Education is beginning to hear more about — and from — school counselors. The American Counseling Association and the American School Counselor Association (a division of ACA) have been in frequent discussions with
The American Counseling Association has been fighting for years with frustratingly little success to get counselors hired as mental health clinicians within veterans hospitals, facilities and Vet Centers. It now appears that even the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA’s) own analysts are frustrated too. In a report released at the