Sat 3/19/2005 12:27 PM
Dear MFT Colleagues,
The Connecticut
Legislative Committee on Education will vote on our bill #6920 on
Monday, March 28th. This bill is " An Act Concerning
Certification of Marital and Family Therapists" that would
allow MFTs to be certified to work in the schools as
employees.
On Wednesday, March 16, The Connecticut Legislative Committee
on Education heard
testimony on our bill to allow MFTs to be certified to work in the
schools as
employees. Senator Thomas Gaffey, Co-chair of the committee, was
not positive
toward the idea, because he believes that it will cost schools
more money by
forcing them to hire MFTs. THIS IS NOT THE CASE – IT WILL ONLY
PROVIDE A
SCHOOL DISTRICT THE OPTION OF HIRING AN MFT.
We need people in his district (Meriden, Middletown,
Middlefield, and Cheshire
areas) to contact him about the bill and encourage him to vote in
favor of the
bill to move it out of Committee. If you live in his district,
please call,
write, or e-mail him to let him know that his constituents wish
for him to allow
the bill to come out of committee. When you contact him, refer to
the bill
number (Raised Bill No. 6920 – “An Act Concerning
Certification of Marital and
Family Therapists”) and let him know that you are a constituent.
Here is his
contact information: Senator Thomas P. Gaffey
Co-Chair, Education Committee Legislative Office
Building
Room 3100 Hartford, CT 06106-1591
860-240-0425, or toll-free
1-800-842-1420 Gaffey@senatedems.ct.gov
I have also attached a list of other committee members. It
would be helpful for
you to contact the legislator that represents your district to
encourage him or
her to vote favorably on moving the bill forward to the General
Assembly. PLEASE
NOTIFY ME IF YOU MAKE A CONTACT WITH A LEGISLATOR.
The committee will be voting on bills within the next week or so.
Time is of
the essence!
You can also contact your legislator who is NOT on the committee
to ask for
their support of the bill.
Some helpful tips: Many legislators do not know about MFTs or our
qualifications. Be brief, but let them know that MFTs are licensed
as
independent practitioners by the Department of Public Health and
also have a
state civil service classification for MFTs, etc. The main reasons
for MFTs to
be allowed to be hired in the schools are: (1) MFTs are already in
the schools
as contractors and consultants, and have proven themselves to be
effective in
improving the quality of student participation and relationships
among schools
and parents; (2) Many school administrators would like to hire
MFTs but cannot
because of a lack of certification; (3) MFTs are the only licensed
profession
that do not have certification to work in the schools; (4) MFTs
offer unique
services DIFFERENT from the other special services disciplines,
their area of
expertise being at working at forging better working relationships
not only
within families, but between the families, teachers,
administrators, and
external systems. They also overlap with other disciplines in
being able to
provide individual and group counseling and to provide behavioral
assistance to
teachers.
The bill and listing of Education Committee members are attached
below. Please
don’t be shy – this effort will help you directly with your
career path! BE
PROACTIVE!
Ralph Cohen, Ph.D., CAMFT Advocacy Committee Co-Chair
Gracie1994@aol.com 860-832-2122
THE BILL:
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6920
January Session, 2005 LCO No. 4475
*04475_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on Education
Introduced by: (ED )
AN ACT CONCERNING CERTIFICATION OF MARTIAL AND FAMILY
THERAPISTS. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2005) No later than July 1,
2006, the State
Board of Education shall certify marital and family therapists
employed by local
or regional boards of education. On or before April 1, 2006, the
State Board of
Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Public Health,
shall adopt
regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of
the general
statutes, to provide standards for the certification of marital
and family
therapists who are employed by local or regional boards of
education. Such
regulations shall (1) include certification requirements to be met
by either (A)
completion of a prescribed course of study, or (B) such other
experience as the
State Board of Education deems appropriate for the position of
marital and
family therapist, and (2) contain standards to certify individuals
who are
certified by another state that has requirements equal to or
greater than the
requirements in this state.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the
following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2005 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Department of Education to develop a certification
program for
marital and family therapists to enable them to work in public
schools.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS and their e-mail addresses.
District Name Position
S13 - Gaffey, Thomas P., Co-Chair-D
Gaffey@senatedems.ct.gov
018 - Fleischmann, Andrew M., Co-Chair-D
Andrew.Fleischmann@cga.ct.gov
S01 - Fonfara, John W. Vice Chair-D
Fonfara@senatedems.ct.gov
130 - Reinoso, Felipe Vice Chair-D
Felipe.Reinoso@cga.ct.gov
S08 - Herlihy, Thomas J. Ranking Member-R Thomas.Herlihy@cga.ct.gov
131 - Labriola, David K. Ranking Member-R
David.Labriola@housegop.state.ct.us
083 - Abercrombie, Catherine Member-D
Catherine.Abercrombie@cga.ct.gov
143 - Boucher, Antonietta Member- R
Toni.Boucher@housegop.state.ct.us
053 - Cardin, Michael J. Member- D
Mike.Cardin@cga.ct.gov
24 - Clemons, Charles D Member- D
Charles.Clemons@cga.ct.gov
117 - Davis, Paul Member- D
Paul.Davis@cga.ct.gov
S22 - Finch, Bill Member- D
Finch@senatedems.ct.gov
090 - Fritz, Mary G. Member- D
Mary.Fritz@cga.ct.gov
104 - Gentile, Linda Member- D
Linda.Gentile@cga.ct.gov
023 - Giuliano, Marilyn Member- R
Marilyn.Giuliano@housegop.state.ct.us
034 - Hamm, Gail K. Member- D
Gail.Hamm@cga.ct.gov
016 - Heagney, Robert W. Member- R
Robert.Heagney@housegop.state.ct.us
101 - Heinrich, Deborah Member- D
Deborah.Heinrich@cga.ct.gov
112 - Hovey, DebraLee Member -R
DebraLee.Hovey@housegop.state.ct.us
114 - Klarides, Themis Member -R
Themis.Klarides@housegop.state.ct.us
S27 - McDonald, Andrew J. Member- D
Mcdonald@senatedems.ct.gov
045 - Mikutel, Steven Member- D
Steve.Mikutel@cga.ct.gov
024 - O'Brien, Tim Member -D
tim.obrien@cga.ct.gov
042 - Reynolds, Tom Member -D
Tom.Reynolds@cga.ct.gov
S30 - Roraback, Andrew W. Member -R
Andrew.Rorabeck@cga.ct.gov
144 - Shapiro, Jim Member- D
Jim.Shapiro@cga.ct.gov
109 - Wallace, Lewis J. Member- D
Lew.Wallace@cga.ct.gov
068 - Williams, Sean Member- R
Sean.Williams@housegop.state.ct.us
017 - Witkos, Kevin Member- R
Kevin.Witkos@housegop.state.ct.us
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