Advocacy Services
Are you still grappling with
a professional problem after trying every option you could think
of? Consultation from colleagues and friends, lots of "Googling" on
the Web, dozens of phone calls and e-mail messages, a file cabinet full of
letter copies and their form letter replies! Don't despair. One invaluable benefit of
Pennsylvania Counseling Association
membership is advocacy
services. (The PCA makes this service available to non-members, as
well, provided that it stands to benefit PCA members and the larger
professional
counseling profession.)
Examples of situations when PCA assistance might be helpful are (but
not exclusively) ...
- being denied third-party payer
empanelment only for lacking an LCSW or Psychologist state license
(i.e., LPC state license not being recognized)
- having your job application
rejected due to being a professional counselor and not a social worker
or psychologist
- being unable to provide your
school-based client adequate counseling services because of an
overload of administrative duties totally unrelated to counseling
- having your psychological test
purchase form returned unprocessed due to the test publisher's
(antiquated) policy that limits purchases to psychologists
- having to refer low-income clients
out because Pennsylvania's Medicaid program only covers the
independent clinical services of physicians (psychiatrists) and nurses
(psychiatric nurses)
The last example above is an example of a legislative advocacy
issue and would be best handled by one of the PCA's legislative advocates.
Presently, there are three such advocates, and they sit on the PCA
Government Relations Committee. To arrange this type of advocacy,
or to simply find out more about it, please contact committee chair Lauren Sonnenberg, M.A., at
gov@pacounseling.org or at (570) 346-1392 (outside the U.S.: country code is "+1").
For all
other types of issues, or if in doubt as to which category your problem
falls under, please contact PCA Public
Relations & Advocacy Committee chair Michael R. Espina, M.Ed., at
pr@pacounseling.org or at (412)
983-7734 for an initial confidential consultation. After this
initial consultation, Mr. Espina will have you complete and return the
PCA Advocacy Request Form provided below. Should
the committee determine that your situation would be appropriate for the
PCA to take on as an advocacy case, a case will be opened. If, on the other
hand, the determination is that the PCA cannot activate an advocacy case
for you, he will attempt to connect you with a more suitable resource.
Disclaimer: The Pennsylvania Counseling Association's advocacy services do not
constitute legal services. Only an attorney
who is licensed in the state that is relevant to your situation can provide
that type of service. If you need a
referral to a Pennsylvania-based attorney, log on to the
Pennsylvania Bar Association Web
site or call (717) 238-6715.
PCA
Advocacy Request Form
Note: This form is provided in Rich Text
Format (RTF) and can be used with most word-processing
applications; if you have difficulty down-loading
this form, contact the
PCA
Webmaster.
For additional information, please contact either the
PCA Public Relations & Advocacy
Committee or the PCA Government
Relations Committee.
