News
NAPSA Signs on to Letter to Congress Promoting Mental Health Services
On December 7, 2021, NAPSA signed on to a letter urging Congress to pass FY2022 appropriations legislation with significant investments to address mental health workforce shortages. NAPSA was joined by NASISP and over 50 national and over 70 state organizations.
To view the final letter, click here.
NAPSA Signs on to Letter to Congress Supporting the Passage of FY2022 Appropriations Bill
On November 9, 2021, the National Alliance of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (NASISP) sent a letter to Congress urging the swift passage of a Labor-HHS-Ed FY 2022 Appropriations bill, which contains historic investment and long overdue increases for public education. As a member of the alliance, NAPSA proudly signed on to the letter, which was sent to Sen. Patrick Leahy, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair; Sen. Richard Shelby, Vice Chair; Sen. Patty Murray; and Sen. Roy Blunt.
The letter states that “[w]e (NASISP) believe the federal government has a responsibility to make meaningful investments in programs that help ensure all students have access to the academic, social- emotional, and mental and behavioral health services they need to thrive. We are grateful for the significant investments Congress provided to our public education system to help schools, students, and families recover from the impact of COVID-19. However, those investments are no substitute for long term, predictable federal investments in key education programs that states rely on to serve their students. The passage of a year long CR would be devastating to our students, and further delay in the passage of FY 2022 appropriations inhibits states and LEAs from engaging in meaning financial planning to address the needs of their school community. We urge Congress to fulfill its responsibility and pass an FY 2022 appropriations bill as soon as possible with [the requested] funding levels.”
Those levels are as follows:
ESEA
-Title I-A (ESSA) Education for the Disadvantaged. Requested: Minimum $36.7B.
-Title II-A (ESSA) Supporting Effective Instruction. Requested: Minimum$2.3B.
-Title IV-A (ESSA) Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants. Requested: Minimum $2.0B.
OSERS
-Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part B, Grants to States. Requested: Minimum $15.5B.
-IDEA Part B Preschool Grants. Requested: $598M.
-Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C, Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, $732.2M.
-State Personnel Development. Requested: Minimum of $42M.
-Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities: $300M.
**Many thanks to NAPSA Legislative and Public Policy Advisor Dr. Richard Scott for his continued advocacy for NAPSA and those in the field of pupil services!**
NAPSA’s 55th Annual Conference Re-cap
On October 25-26, 2021 NAPSA returned to the conference circuit with its 55th Annual Conference which, in the interest of safety and to make it convenient for all to attend, was held by virtual means only. Since the vast majority of those wishing to attend have been recently inundated with issues related to the surge in the COVID-19 Delta variant, in addition to streaming the conference live NAPSA also provided all attendees with link to a recording of the conference in its entirety.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Administering Pupil Services with a Focus on Trauma, Resilience, and Support.” Thus, sessions offered focused on resilience, trauma-informed care and behavior strategies, restorative practices, mentoring, and legal issues relating to pupil services.
The outstanding line-up of speakers provided some terrific information that expanded the knowledge base of attendees. Overall, participants rated the conference experience at a collective 93.4%, the online experience at 92.77%, the relevancy of topics at 94.55%, the overall flow of the conference at 90%, and the overall rating of the conference at 94.55%.
Those who attended the conference were emailed links to the entire conference recording. They also received links to other conference resources from presenters.
As a special treat, random drawings were held to award attendees chosen with a gift compliments of executive board members. Each gift contains goodies representing the state from which each executive board member hails. Winners were Shannon Akin, Paul Barbato, Shontria Carrington, Leigh Dalton, Garcia Dixon, Andrea Farina, Lauren Fleicher, Marissa Gallagher, Terry Martin, Mandy McKinnon, Kimberly Myers, Brittany Sanchez, and Donna Stelzer.
Two participants have also been chosen for a free membership based on the length of time they were in attendance during the conference. Those winners are: Garcia Dixon and Sara Hoffman. Naturally, given the success of this year’s conference, we are looking towards 2022! So, be sure to mark your calendars for the 56th Annual NAPSA Conference, which is scheduled for October 16-19, 2022 at the Drury Plaza Pittsburgh Downtown in Pittsburgh, PA. At this point, the plan is for an in-person conference with an option for virtual attendance.
NAPSA Holds Annual Business Meeting
On October 28, 2021, NAPSA held its annual business meeting via Zoom. In addition to a financial report, which showed a healthy bank account, the results of the 2022 election for leadership positions were approved. This year, we elected a NAPSA Secretary and two NAPSA Executive Board Trustees. The successful candidates will assume office beginning January 1, 2022. The following candidates were successful:
Kim Stevens – Secretary
Dr. Timothy Luff – Trustee
Rodney Bennett – Trustee
Once approved, the minutes of this meeting will be made available upon request.
To view the 2020 NAPSA Business Meeting minutes, click here.
Check out other happenings in the field by using the links found in the column to the right.