Metro NY Chapter of NRA, Inc. |
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Legislative News |
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 ACTION NEEDED ON LICENSURE BILL
ALERT, ALERT, ALERT – Start calling and writing today!!! A967-C (Kellner) and S6092B (DeFrancisco) 1.) It's important that all interested parties start flooding their assemblyperson's office with Emails and more effectively, by personal phone calls. (Also the senate side needs to be contacted.) Your local contacts should be encouraged to support the bill and sign on as co/sponsors. 2.) Indicate to the local contacts that letters of support have been received from NYSRCA, AVRASA, NRA, and other rehabilitation professionals, as well as the Public Employees Federation (PEF). 3.) Assembly person Glick, Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, office should also be called. When calling, please use this format “Hello my name is_______________, state where you live and work, and ask for their support for the passage of the assembly bill. Do the same when contacting your senator's office. (Please support passage of Assembly bill 967-C and Senate Bill 6092-B) Useful Email contacts for specific information: www.ny.senate.gov, www.assembly.state.ny.us, http://www.xmarks.com/site/public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cgi the sample letters provided by NYS Rehabilitation Counseling Association click here 4.) Stress that these bills protect the public from untrained people who hold themselves as rehabitation counselors. There are, according to the Department of Labor, over 17,000 rehabilitation counselors in New York State, yet CRCC only acknowledges about 1,000 CRCs in NYS. Remember, there will be no cost to the state to create and administer a licensure exam, since the CRC examination is slated to be used in place of a state examination. 5.) Have your family members, friends and colleagues call their local represenatives to get support for the bills. 6.) Today, ACCES-VR Assistant Commissioner, Debora Brown Johnson, has agreed to accept copies of letters of support about the rehab counseling legislation. I plan to write one on behalf of the Metro NY Chapter. If you need more information, please contact Gerry From, Legislative Co-Chair, NYS Rehab Counseling Association, at rehabdoc100@optonline.net, or 845-352-5537. Also, please check out Pat Enriquez’s website at http://www.nyceda.org. It is extremely helpful. Please get calling and writing.
Respectfully, Tony Anthony Spinelli, M.S., CRC
President, Metropolitan New York Chapter, Inc.
National Rehabilitation Association
(Office - 646-428-3789) (Cell - 347-551-4382) Meanwhile, the good news is that our very helpful Assembly sponsor, Michah Z. Kellner, will continue to work with us to secure passage. The Metro Chapter of NRA recognized Mr. Kellner's numerous legislative actions in support of individuals with disabilities at the NERA conference in July (See the picture alongside this). Dr. Patricia Livingston, Coordinator of the New York State Rehabilitation Counseling Licensure Committee, represented the Metro Chapter in presenting the award to him. For any questions about licensure, contact Dr. Livingston at email (p16@nyu.ed) or phone (212/998-5292). See the words of Assemblyman Kellner himself below: Kellner Receives Award from the National Rehabilitation Association On July 18th, I was proud to be recognized by the National Rehabilitation Association for my work on behalf of people with disabilities. The award was presented at the Northeast Regional National Rehabilitation Association Conference, which took place on Roosevelt Island.
I am particularly proud, this year, to have passed legislation that will protect millions of New Yorkers with chronic, and life-threatening diseases from prescription drug price gouging, prohibiting insurance companies from creating so-called "specialty pricing tiers" in their prescription drug formularies. This means that patients with HIV/AIDS, cancer, kidney disease, MS, Crohn's disease, Alzheimers, and many other serious conditions will not be faced with massive increases in the cost of the medications they need. This important bill passed the legislature in June and has now gone to the Governor for his signature. But for all our successes, much remains to be achieved. And one major task before us is to ensure that rehabilitation counselors are finally recognized in law as the professionals that they truly are. There is currently nothing in the law that defines the title "Licensed Rehabilitation Counselor" or sets guidelines for the profession of rehabilitation counseling. One of the major concerns of the Americans with Disabilities is to do with improving opportunities for productive employment for people with disabilities. These opportunities should not be squandered through the use of vocational rehabilitation personnel with inadequate or inappropriate qualifications. This is why I sponsor legislation to protect people with disabilities and their families from the danger that could arise when untrained individuals use the title of Rehabilitation Counselor. I have worked closely with the National Rehabilitation Association in developing and advocating for Assembly bill A.1011, which will guarantee that those who call themselves Rehabilitation Counselors and offer vocational rehabilitation services to people with disabilities must meet minimum professional standards in order to practice under this title. I was disappointed that this bill did not pass the Assembly this session, but I will continue to fight for its passage in the next legislature session.
National Level
The Board of Directors of the National Rehabilitation Association (NRA) passed a resolution on July 15, 2010 supporting state licensing of Certified Rehabilitation Counselors. Their resolution is particularly directed at the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), the federal agency that oversees the personnel standards of the Rehabilitation Act. A task force has been set up between NRA and RSA to achieve this goal. To read a copy of the resolution, please click on here .
NRA is following closely the status of WIA (Workforce Investment Act) and is supporting a version that most will impact on persons with disabilities and the persons who work with them. To follow this developing story, link to www.nationalrehab.org. |
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The Metropolitan New York Chapter of the National Rehabilitation Association, Inc.
133 East 13th Street, 2nd Floor, Mail Code 8820 - New York, New York 10003
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