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)
NEXT REGULAR BOARD MEETING TENTATIVELY SET FOR Monday May 7, 2012 at NYU Wasserman Center at 5:00pm
The week of April 29th through May 5th 2012 is Rehabilitation Counseling Week in New York State. We expect the Mayor to issue a proclamation for New York City.
Upcoming Training Conferences
NERA will co-sponsor with NJRA, on Friday, June 1, 2012, at UMDNJ in Scotch Plains, NJ the 2012 Northeast Rehabilitation Association Conference. For registration, click here .
The next training conference of the Chapter will be on Thursday, June 14, 2012 from 8:30am to 4:00pm at NYU Wasserman Center, 2nd Floor. The conference title is: 60 Years of Leadership and Beyond. We will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of our Chapter. We are inviting to attend gratis all Metro Past Presidents who will be honored at this conference. Rehabilitation Counseling students are especially welcome. The Board is also seeking nominations for awards. See those described on this website. A discussion of licensure from the perspective of ACCES-VR will led by Asst Commissioner Debra Brown-Johnson. Representation from the national office of NRA will be there. Finally, credit will be available for ethics training. More information will be provided shortly about this training session.
On Friday, October 26, 2012, AVRASA and NRA will co-sponsor a collaborative conference entitled: Effective Integration of Rehabilitation Counseling also at the NYU Wasserman Center. More information to follow. Contact Obie Nicols at obie.nicols@palladiainc.org
The 2013 National NRA Convention which is bein hosted by our Chapter will take place at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel August 22 thru August 27th 2013. More information will follow over the coming months.
