Mission:
The primary goal is to cultivate and strengthen relationships with each Member of Congress from Michigan. The Federal Advocacy Coordinator serves as an essential key contact on mental health issues before the Congress, and to develop and maintain an effective grassroots network of psychologists within Michigan.

Federal Advocacy Coordinator:
The American Psychological Association (APA) integrates all of its advocacy efforts through its companion professional organization, APA Services, Inc. (APASI).  The Advocacy Coordinating Committee of APASI, consisting of 14 leaders representing the diversity of the field, prioritizes advocacy goals for the disciplines and professions of psychology.  It gathers input from a number of sources including a diverse government relations staff of APA's major boards and system of Federal Advocacy Coordinators (FAC).

The FAC is a volunteer position requiring a high level of personal motivation and dedication to the advancement and preservation of the profession of psychology. The FAC should be familiar with current federal issues affecting the practice of psychology and should have a general understanding of our political system. Most importantly, the FAC should be committed to strengthening the involvement of the psychologists in his/her state in advocating for legislation that advances the profession of psychology.

Each state appoints a FAC to organize and supervise grassroots initiatives for federal issues in their state. It is recommended that states appoint a separate State Advocacy Coordinator to assist in managing the workload when state and federal issues require legislative action at the same time. State association presidents are expected to participate by monitoring grassroots activities and ensuring that legislative requests from the APASI are carried out.

Notification of all federal, legislative, requests-for-action from the APASI come byway of ACTION ALERTS (via email), calls from Government Relations Staff or calls from the Regional Field Staff. The FAC works with the state association executive director to respond to these calls to action upon notification from APASI. Advocacy activity may take the form of letters or calls to Congress, meetings with Members of Congress, attendance at town hall meetings, op-eds, or letters-to-the-editor. 

MPA's advocacy efforts involve monitoring of legislation pertinent to psychology and mental health, initiatives of federal agencies, and Medicare regulations.  Regular updates are provided to members via the advocacy page, listserv or the MPA's Newsletter and Friday Updates.

Representative: Molly Gabriel-Champine, PhD