1. APA Department of Government relations: Resources and Engagement
Craig Obey, Chief of Government Relations, APA
Erin Philp, Director, State Government Relations, APA

2. APA’s Political Action Committee Congressional Advocacy Network
DGR COMPONENTS:
State Government Relations
Federal Government Relations
APA’s Political Action Committee
(APAPAC)
Congressional Advocacy Network
(CAN)
DRG’s job is to leverage the expertise of our psychiatric membership and evidence-based research to influence government action on mental health and physician practice for the best interests of our patients, our members, and the association.
DGR includes four basic categories of work, which reinforce each other in varying ways.
Federal Affairs: Interfacing daily with Members of Congress, their staff, and the Administration to inform decisions on difficult policy questions by providing APA insight and assistance. We constantly work to build and refresh relationships with key policymakers and staff, to become a trusted source of information. We respond to inquiries from Capitol Hill, seek out champions for our issues, lobby members of congress and staff to support, oppose, introduce or amend legislation, etc.
State Government Affairs: Our SGR program assists DB/ SAs in driving psychiatry’s message forward in all 50 states and building critical relationships with state and local policymakers. We provide strategic counsel, toolkits on issues like scope of practice and telepsychiatry,
APA’s Political Action Committee (APAPAC): Supporting lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to provide psychiatry with an additional platform to advance APA priorities in the healthcare policy arena
APA Congressional Advocacy Network (CAN): Organizing thousands of psychiatrists through both mass activation and individual connections to build robust relationships and ensure psychiatry’s voice is heard

3. APA’s approach to Advocacy
Use mutually reinforcing tools and pathways to promote APA priorities.
Surround lawmakers with unified messages important to psychiatry and mental health locally and nationally.
Break through the noise by engaging at national and local levels through education, relationship building, and political action.
Lawmaker
APAPAC
Local Meetings
Constituent Calls & s
Letters to Editor & Social Media
APA Gov Affairs
The advocacy game is constantly evolving. But when you break it down to the fundamentals, it comes down to identifying who has the power to give you what you seek—the lawmaker; convincing them your idea is worth doing; and motivating them to be your champion or otherwise support your efforts.
For you audiophiles, I like to think of this as surround sound advocacy. The more your targets see your messages and the more channels through which they encounter our advocacy, the more potential we have to get their attention.
So, making constituent calls, writing s, organization and requesting meetings locally with your representative and their staff, sending letters to the editor and social media, and getting involved politically as a donor to their campaign through APAPAC, are all vital tools for advocacy. They are the grease that lubricates our lobbying efforts.

4. APA’s Federal Advocacy
Monitors legislative and regulatory activity .
Identifies opportunities.
Leverages APA member expertise to educate policymakers and their staff. 
Persuades policy makers and their staff to propose, amend or oppose policy initiatives
Works with other departments to drive public messaging and policy.
Lawmaker
APAPAC
Local Meetings
Constituent Calls & s
Letters to Editor & Social Media
APA Gov Affairs
As for our lobbying, APA’s Federal government relations is our primary everyday face with Congress. We monitor and analyze legislation introduced every day; we cultivate relationships with members of Congress and their staff; we work with APA members and leaders to build those relationships and reach out to congress; we educate Congress and other organizations about our priorities and build support for them. We draft legislation and amendments, seek champions for our efforts, and work with our members strategically to oppose initiatives that could harm psychiatry and our patients. And, of course, we work with other departments, such as policy and communications, to assess initiatives, determine whether they are consistent with APA policy, and communicate in the press, through psych news, and through other tools.

5. APA At Home—local engagement
Members of Congress who don’t stay in touch back home generally become EX-Members of Congress.
Contact from a constituent who represents other constituents (e.g., psychiatrists and your patients) has much influence.
You represent your patients and staff to a lawmaker.
Relationships Matter! Build trust before a crisis.
Lawmaker
APAPAC
Local Meetings
Constituent Calls & s
Letters to Editor & Social Media
APA Gov Affairs
Relationship building and connections in a lawmaker’s home state or district are fundamentally important to our advocacy. DB’s obviously focus enormous effort in-state, on your state governments, including building strategic relationships in-state. But the best way to influence Federal lawmakers doesn’t start in Washington, DC—it starts in their own backyard.
DGR has a host of tools and resources to help you cultivate relationships with your federal lawmakers, so they know you and learn about our issues before there’s a crisis. You have knowledge they lack and understanding they need to make informed policy judgments. And if you’re not talking to your representatives, you’re leaving a void that will be filled by others with different interests—possibly adverse interests.
Your new positions give you a ready platform to get to know your national legislators. Reach out to them. Invite them to your practice or to another place in your community where they can see and learn what you do and what you and your patients need.
I just had lunch with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell from Michigan. Her first comments at the lunch were about how she had just finished touring an emergency department at a Detroit hospital and how they were describing the challenges they’re having finding psychiatrists. That provided an opportunity for us to discuss the impediments to expanding the psychiatric workforce and she told her staff she wanted to explore potential solutions to the issue.
APA’s government relations staff can help you—whether you need materials, talking points, suggestions, advice on meetings, tours or roundtables that might attract your legislator, etc.

6. GRASSROOTS RESOURCES Join APA-CAN (APA Congressional Action Network)
Become a go-to psychiatrist for advocacy
Subscribe to APA’s Advocacy Update
Monthly updates on federal, state and regulatory issues – sign up!
Advocacy Action Center (
Federal/State Action Alerts
Federal Member of Congress/State
Legislator Look-up
Help us help you!
In addition to just giving us a call, I hope you’ll take advantage of the other resources we provide to help you build relationships with and easily contact your members of Congress, as well as stay connected to current developments.
BECOME A MEMBER OF THE APA CONGRESSIONAL ACTION NETWORK.
THE CONGRESSIONAL ADVOCACY NETWORK (CAN) IS A PROGRAM DEVELOPED TO TRAIN AND ENERGIZE A NATIONAL NETWORK OF PSYCHIATRISTS WHO WILL COMMIT TO COMMUNICATE AND BUILD PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND SPEAK ON BEHALF OF APA ON ISSUES FACING MENTAL HEALTH CARE.
CONGRESSIONAL ADVOCATES SERVE AS “KEY CONTACTS” FOR THEIR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SO THAT WHEN IMPORTANT ISSUES COME UP BEFORE THE US CONGRESS, APA CAN QUICKLY GET ITS MESSAGE/REQUEST TO TARGETED MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THROUGH DIRECT, PERSONAL COMMUNICATION.
APA CAN IS WORKING TO MATCH A COMMITTED PSYCHIATRIST WITH EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS, WITH A STRATEGIC EMPHASIS ON MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEES IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE THAT ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO OUR WORK.
YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT ONGOING EFFORTS IN DC AND IN THE STATES BY REVIEWING THE MONTHLY APA ADVOCACY NEWSLETTER OR VISITNG THE ADVOCACY ACTION CENTER ON THE APA’S WEBSITE. SO, PLEASE SIGN UP TO RECEIVE THE MONTHLY UPDATE IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY.
And be sure you go to our Advocacy Action Center to sign up for Federal and state action alerts, as well, so you can engage in advocacy when its important for us to mobilize our members.
And remember that APA STAFF are ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY SPECIFIC QUESTION YOU MAY HAVE.

7. Political tools for success: ApaPAC
Key bipartisan tool on Capitol Hill.
Combines our personal contributions into significant and strategic election campaign contributions to:
Members of Congress friendly to psychiatry
Congressional leaders who control our issues
APAPAC is only as strong as its membership!
Lawmaker
APAPAC
Local Meetings
Constituent Calls & s
Letters to Editor & Social Media
APA Gov Affairs
The Government Relations Department also operates APAPAC , or APA Political Action Committee. APAPAC enhances psychiatry’s bipartisan voice on Capitol Hill. The PAC is funded solely by voluntary contributions made by APA members. The money raised through the PAC is used to build relationships and champions in Congress, so we have friends who will fight for psychiatry on issues like mental health parity, prior authorization, telepsychiatry, and scope of practice.
APAPAC is a democratic tool to shape Congress with more friends of psychiatry – 95% of candidates supported by APAPAC won re-election in 2018
APAPAC is one of the most important tools available to you in advocating for your profession and your patients. APAPAC is only as strong as its membership and psychiatry must show strength in numbers to be successful. If you are interested in becoming a member, DGR staff can take your contributions during the break, or you can drop by the PAC booth at the bottom of the escalators.

8. Federal and State Advocacy Conferences

9. Federal advocacy conference
100 psychiatrists converged on Capitol Hill to raise the voice of psychiatry and our patients.
Began with intensive day of training on key issues.
Then dinner with CAGR

10. APA’s Federal Parity Legislation 42 CFR Part 2 Legislation
Fly-in agenda
APA’s Federal Parity Legislation
42 CFR Part 2 Legislation
Appropriations for crisis services, workforce, Minority Fellowship Program, etc
Workforce Legislation/GME
Health Care Reform Principles; Medicare Shortcomings
Advocates participated in trainings on day one and flooded the Hill in white coats on day two.

11. Fly-in Training and Events
Congresswoman Doris Matsui receiving the Jacob Javits Award.

12. Apa members on the Hill

13. Apa members on the hill

14. Federal advocacy conference
Dr Patricia Westmoreland will take a few minutes to provide her perspective as a participant in the federal advocacy conference and in last fall’s state advocacy conference.

15. Federal advocacy conference

16. Federal advocacy conference

17. State advocacy conference
2018 Conference: Park City Utah
2019 Conference: Time and Location TBD
Likely Central or Eastern Part of the Country
Likely Late Summer/Early Fall
STAY TUNED AND SIGN UP!