86th Legislative Session Recap

All in all, professional counselors fared fairly well in the 86th Legislative Session. Your calls, emails and visits ensured that the voices, experiences, vision, and passion of professional counselors continued to be heard right up to the final days of this session. Twenty-three of the bills TCA tracked this session have already been signed by the Governor – including HB 1501, HB 18 and SB 11. More are expected to be signed or enacted without signature. The Governor has until June 16th to veto legislation. If he does not veto a bill, it is enacted. 

Several high priority bills passed, including HB 1501 to continue our licensing boards and HB 18 to promote school counseling and access to mental health resources in school settings. Efforts by the Senate to limit compensation increases were dashed by the House. HB 3 provides a more equitable but less lucrative strategy to provide compensation increases for public school employees, giving school districts great discretion in how to allocate those dedicated funds. SB 426 was debated four times and made it right up to House Calendars. Medicaid funding took a big hit in the budget which may be what impeded our efforts (HB 1094) to expand Medicaid reimbursement to include LPC-Interns. Pay parity for all providers unfortunately didn’t see much traction. Several bills will make it easier to use technology to work with clients. Others will better protect health professionals from adverse and arbitrary action by insurance companies and Managed Care Organizations (MCOs). Student loan defaults may no longer be a deterrent to licensure or a cause for disciplinary action by a licensing board (SB 37). Efforts to protect discriminatory practices based on religious beliefs were much curtailed in the final version of SB 1978. Human trafficking was recognized as a public health issue (HCR 35) and the Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council was established (SB 72). 

What now?

The interim is the perfect time to meet with legislators in their districts! Thank those who worked with and helped us. Educate those who didn’t so next session they will. Engage as resources and help your elected officials understand the work you do and the impact you have within your communities.

School Safety and School Counselors

Governor Greg Abbot signed a series of school safety bills into law last week. TCA Executive Director, Jan Friese, spoke on Spectrum News Austin about how professional school counselors fared in the recent legislative session.

We are launching our new website on July 1st!

Check out this sneak peak....

You will receive email communication later this month with information and instructions on how to update and enhance your membership.

TCA's Professional Awards

Do you know someone doing outstanding work?

Nominate them for an award!

Nominations are open until August 1st. Awards will be presented at the  63rd Annual TCA Professional Growth Conference  , November 13-16 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Awards:

DR. JAMESANNA KIRVEN OUTSTANDING COUNSELOR AWARD

MOLLY GEROLD HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD

OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD

ADVOCACY AWARD

RESEARCH AWARD

PROFESSIONAL WRITING AWARD

LAYPERSON EXEMPLARY SERVICE AWARD

OUTSTANDING TCA CHAPTER AWARD

OUTSTANDING TCA DIVISION AWARD

Early Bird Registration Open!

63rd Annual TCA Professional Growth Conference Fort Worth, TX | November 13-16

Professional counselors is all work settings will benefit from all this conference offers. The complete four-day event draws around 2,000 attendees and will feature around 140 educational programs.

Professional TCA members can save $60 on their conference registration by registering as an early bird! Early bird registration closes June 30!

The Texas Homeless Education Office Barbara Wand James Homeless Student Scholarship: Application Deadline next Monday (June 17)

Students that faced the challenges of homelessness but, nevertheless, graduated from high school, have demonstrated tremendous strength already in their young lives. The Barbara Wand James Homeless Student Support Scholarship seeks to build on that strength by financially assisting homeless Texas students who have been accepted into higher education institutions and other post-secondary programs that prepare youths for successful careers. This scholarship is open to those whose life experiences show tremendous resilience. Applications are due on June 17 by 3 pm. Find more information here.

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Nomination Deadline this Friday for the 2019 Heroes for Children Award

The State Board of Education Heroes for Children award is designed to recognize excellence in advocacy for education and to highlight outstanding volunteers whose efforts represent significant contributions to public school education in Texas.

Any Texas resident who gives time, effort, service, and support to public schools and students, with the exception of elected officials and educational employees, can be nominated for the Heroes for Children award. The nomination period starts  on April 1, 2019  and ends on  June 14, 2019  at 5 p.m. More information.

Learn More About Joining TCA's Divisions

Are you a division member? TCA's 12 affiliated Divisions are segmented by distinct professional interests to address specific mental health populations and counseling issues. Each one of these volunteer led groups focuses on sub-topics impacting professional counselors in Texas. 

Call for Reviewers for the Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research 

The Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research (JPC), the official journal of the Texas Counseling Association, is currently accepting applications for positions on the journal editorial review board team. JPC is an indexed, semi-annual scholarly publication, aiming at providing clinical, theoretical, and empirical guidance to counselors, educators, researchers, and other mental health professionals. Qualifications include a graduate degree and licensure in a counseling field, a record of scholarly publications in peer-reviewed journals, and a commitment to providing prompt and comprehensive reviews of approximately 3-5 manuscripts annually. Becoming an editorial reviewer is a great way to: Impact and guide the profession, build your resume/CV, grow your name and brand in the counseling profession.

Individuals interested in applying are asked to include (a) a cover letter outlining their interest, relevant experience, and reasons for applying and (b) a current CV or resume.

The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs, 5th Edition

With new organization, competencies, domains, strategies and tools, the 5th Edition of the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs has been updated to reflect best practices and statutory requirements for school counseling programs.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2019

May 22

Early Bird Registration opened for the 15th Annual Professional School Counselor Conference in San Antonio

June 20-21

TCA Board and Senate Meetings, San Antonio  

June 30

Early Bird Registration Closes and Pre-Registration Opens for the 63rd Annual TCA Professional Growth Conference in Fort Worth

September 30

Early Bird Registration Closes and Pre-Registration Opens for the 15th Annual Professional School Counselor Conference in San Antonio

November 13-16

63rd Annual TCA Professional Growth Conference, Fort Worth

2020

February 8-10

15th Annual Professional School Counselor Conference

Co-hosted with the Texas School Counselor Association

DISCLAIMER ABOUT PAID ADVERTISEMENTS: Any reference to a product, service, activity, or program in this electronic communication does not imply endorsement by the Texas Counseling Association.