Do you want a "voice" in legislative matters? Matters that affect the psychiatric nursing profession and/or mental health care in our state and nation? If you want to be heard and you're willing to work at it, the California Chapter needs your help!
AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
Legislative advocacy has been an important APNA activity since 1997, when the Association launched its first legislative initiative. Various members contribute to our updates on legislative issues. We inform members about pending federal legislation that could affect the practice of psychiatric nursing and/or consumer access to mental health care -- and we tell them which Congressmembers, Assemblypersons or Senators to contact to advocate for or against legislation.
For the latest Action Alert on Federal legislation, please visit the APNA national web site www.apna.org and click on "Legislative Lookout."
AT THE CALIFORNIA STATE LEVEL
The California Chapter has been active in legislative advocacy efforts since 1997. We've carried out letter-writing and phone-call campaigns supporting pending legislation on both the state and federal levels. In addition, for many years now, we've also emailed Action Alerts to members on the CalAPNA list serve. These Action Alerts let members know when an important legislative issue is pending before the U.S. Congress or California State Assembly, advise members of APNA's and/or the California Chapter's position on the issue, and provide them resources -- contact information for their elected representatives in government and sample letters -- to help them voice their support or opposition. (Most members are already on the list serve, but if you're not and you would like to be, please send an email to rsherwood@calapna.org and asked to be added.)
To help support this activity, the California Chapter has a Legislative Committee, which is currently chaired by Cathy Osborn. This standing committee is responsible for monitoring the APNA national web site for legislative Action Alerts, keeping abreast of pending California state and federal legislation that could affect psychiatric nursing practice and/or consumer access to mental health care, apprising the incoming President and other Board Members in a timely way about Action Alerts and other opportunities to engage in legislative advocacy relevant to the purposes of the Chapter, and helping to inform all Chapter members about pertinent legislative issues by writing articles for the Chapter newsletter and web site.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
If you'd like to give our Legislative Chairperson Cathy Osborn a hand and become an activist along with her, contact her and let her know that you'd like to join APNA California Chapter's Legislative Committee. You can reach Cathy by sending an email to: cathyzok@aol.com .