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Connecticut sets
legislative priorities
(July
2007 Issue)
By Ami Albernaz
With the legislative session recently ended, the Connecticut Psychological
Association has its priorities set and its work cut out for it.
Chief among these priorities says Christine Farber, Ph.D., co-chair
of the association's legislative committee, is to ensure that proposed
plans for universal health coverage include mental health services.
These services, she says, add a crucial preventative component.
"People's physical health can suffer when mental health goes unattended.
We're trying to educate people that it really doesn't cost much
more to include mental health care in plans," Farber says. "The
preventative aspect offsets later costs."
Lack of mental health coverage in insurance plans can also be "demoralizing"
to people who have overcome the initial reluctance to seek out psychological
services, she adds.
Also high on the agenda are services for children. The CPA is advocating
for anti-bullying legislation with educational and preventative
components. Referring to research on what works to prevent bullying,
Farber says that a comprehensive anti-bullying program would include
systemic changes, such as clearer school policies with spelled-out
consequences, keeping better tracking of bullying incidents, increasing
students' assertiveness skills and instructing students who witness
bullying how to intervene and report incidents to adults.
Another priority is raising the age at which a youth is considered
a juvenile offender, an item on which the association has collaborated
with other entities. (Currently, 16- and 17-year-olds are tried
as adults). "We know in terms of psychological research that 16-
and 17-year olds' brains are not as formed as adults', in terms
of higher functioning, impulse control and planning ahead," Farber
says. Research has suggested that young people who are tried as
adults are more likely to commit more serious crimes in the future,
she adds.
Farber and legislative co-chair Barbara Bunk, Ph.D., also have
restarted the effort toward granting psychologists prescribing privileges
- an effort which, Farber says, "really hasn't gotten off the ground."
A working group that also includes members of the Public Health
Commission will take steps toward this goal. The association is
also working with the state's Board of Examiners to mitigate some
of the challenges to becoming licensed in Connecticut.
The legislative committee monitors all state legislation relevant
to the practice of psychology, Farber explains. "We can act as a
resource and provide information, whether to other psychologists
or through giving testimony or meeting with senators and representatives."
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