From the NYCCAT Board-Answers to your Questions

[Guest guest]

Greetings to All,

In an effort to monitor and address with relative frequency the

questions posed to the Board on the NYCCAT e-group, I have been

elected to the position of Corresponding Secretary. I shall endeavor

to address with the board any new questions that may arise, or direct

inquiries to the appropriate sources of information. Additionally I

shall communicate to the e-group important information from the Board.

I also ask the e-group members to monitor their emails regularly, so

as to avoid reiteration, and perhaps pay particular attention to

emails posted by the board members, which should be indicated in their

subject headings. If you don't have time and it is a long email (like

this one), I might suggest flagging it for later review.

The following email is a response from the NYCCAT Board to the

concerns of the membership, as well as an update on the coalition's

current activities.

Recently questions were posted regarding the call for funds and the

outcome of that effort.

The funds were requested with regards to four specific objectives:

1. Re-hiring our Lobbyist

2. Updating the NYCCAT website

3. NYCCAT becoming a dues paying membership

4. NYCCAT becoming a 501 ©4 organization

Several emails from the Board in recent months have detailed our

current course. If you would like to read these postings or others I

have listed several places to start below.

May 23rd, 2008

Message Title: The Future of NYCCAT: From the NYCCAT Board

Submitted by: Chriss Berk, Board Member

Re: Detailed outline of the four topics stated above.

September 2, 2008

Message Title: The Immediate Need of NYCCAT-Building Together

Submitted by: Chriss Berk, Board Member

Re: Response to Stacie's inquiry regarding the call for funds, and

general update of the Board's activities.

October 14th,2008

Message Title: NYCCAT News

Submitted by: Alan Pottinger, Treasurer

Re: Dues paid, update on current financial situation.

In short:

Lobbyist:

To date, insufficient funds have been raised to maintain the lobbyist,

Jim Carr, with whom we have previously been affiliated and who

functioned as liaison to the State Education Department. He requires a

retainer of $25,000.00, (information only recently provided to the

board) which we are currently unable to provide.

A question was posed recently pertaining to the coalition that had

worked for licensure. This coalition splintered following the passing

of the legislation, because everyone then wanted to represent their

own interests, and not necessarily pay for a lobbyist that would have

to split his time working for aims which would benefit another

professions specialty. With the division of the coalition, comes the

division of funding.

Alan Pottinger is our current Treasurer, and you may read his most

recent update on the posting cited above.

Our other three objectives:

1. Updating the NYCCAT website

2. NYCCAT becoming a dues paying membership

3. NYCCAT becoming a 501 ©4 organization

These topics are currently being addressed by the Board and are in the

process of coming to fruition. The Board asks of its membership to

have patience and bear with us as we are passionately working to meet

these aims, and work with the funds and resources we have at this time.

With the retaining of a lobbyist currently out of reach, the website

is our top priority at this point as it would be the most accessible

means of communication for all our current members and also reaching

out to new members in the future.

Recent Questions:

While the information posted above should answer many of the questions

posed recently on the e-group, there are a few additional topics to be

addressed.

Topics:

1. Funds which were allotted to mental health practitioners for

reimbursement by the state, rendered for services provided in the wake

of 9/11, and the advocacy for CAT's with respect to this matter.

* Alan Pottinger acting as a strong and necessary advocate in

collaboration with his colleague assembled an impressive book of

research and relevant materials and presented this to the relevant

bodies. While this was an action strongly supported by NYCCAT, it was

not an action taken on behalf of NYCCAT specifically. We intend to

follow up with more information on this topic in the near future.

2. Interfacing with CAT graduate programs.

* NYCCAT has formed a Student Liaison Committee, whose aim it is

to contact existing CAT graduate programs and reach out to students

regarding the goals of NYCCAT and address topics relevant to the

current state of our profession. As a member of this committee I can

say that we have initiated contacts with existing programs, and will

be active in engaging their students in the Spring of 2009. Certainly

if any department representatives are reading this email and are

interested, you may post a comment saying so, and the committee shall

happily respond.

3. Working with other organizations.

* On a regular basis NYCCAT invites members and organizational

representatives to attend our open board meetings. In the past 3

months two of these meetings have been held, on September 18th, 2008,

and October 28th, 2008. We intend on hosting more open board meetings,

and certainly encourage those who do not live nearby but who would

like to be involved in some way from a distance to contact the board

and we can discuss it. Additionally if the membership has ideas they

would like to offer regarding motivating or mobilizing other

organizations to participate in NYCCAT activities, we would welcome

those as well.

4. Frustration with licensing issues.

* Certainly with this topic there are no easy answers, and there

have been a lot of exasperated feelings on the whole regarding the

changes that have taken place since the passing of the licensing

legislation. As always, the best and most current information can be

elicited from Hamilton himself, or by a member of his office,

whose contact information can be obtained on the New York State

Education website : http://www.op.nysed.gov/mhp.htm. We would

encourage the membership to regard the information posted on this list

serve as valuable, though anecdotal.

5. Upward movement and job hunting.

* I would also like to note that I received a question from a

newly graduated student who is reading our e-group and instead of

becoming enthused and passionate about our profession, has become

confused and disheartened. I believe her voice to be applicable to

many others in her situation and it relates in part to the discussion

of ladders for LCAT's in OMH facilities and the like.

* To her I responded with a private email, however after

discussing it with the Board I was encouraged to provide my response

with the entire e-group.

* " I can say that I think things are going to get better not

worse. Recently I saw 4 postings for LCAT positions on the 3-tier

system at Kings County Hospital, offering 63,000.00 per annual

starting salary for Tier III. So don't be discouraged. In 2010 things

will get better in one respect, because LCAT positions will be forced

into the Hospital systems and also OMH will have to start paying them

what they deserve on a more frequent and wide- spread basis. However

the currently " exempt " organizations at which newly graduated students

may earn hours towards their licenses, will no longer be able to do

that (unless by that time they have acquired the necessary operating

license). Meaning that the LCAT will be stronger, but also harder to

get. I say get your hours and your license now. Don't wait. If you

enter the year 2010 with your license, you are already in a position

to earn more money, and can be more competitive. "

* While the advice offered reflected my personal opinion and not

necessarily the opinion of every NYCCAT board member, the postings for

the positions and the salary are factual and accurate. They represent

a " laddered " system for LCAT's and they also show that monetarily

employers are beginning to take notice. I for one am happy and made

hopeful by this.

I hope that this email has addressed a number of your concerns, and

thank you for your patience.

On behalf of the NYCCAT Board,

a Mac MPS, ATR-BC,LCAT

Licensed Creative Arts Therapist

NYCCAT Corresponding Secretary