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Chairperson: Dr. William Mobley

Advocating for children and families is a major goal of both AASP and NASP. Through our daily work, we are most familiar with advocating for students with special needs and with other challenges to their school and personal success. We can enhance our professional success in this area through increasing our visibility, to let people know that we are available and how we can assist them. Working to support public policy or relevant legislation, such as the IDEIA 2004, is under the purview of this committee. More specifically, our goal for this year is to increase our collaborative participation on committees within the state, i.e., to join forces with other efforts already in progress for children and families. We are working more closely with the Arizona Department of Education on such projects as RTI training and grant components. We attend the bimonthly Special Education Advisory Panel meetings. We have also collaborated with the Az. Psychological Association to coordinate relief efforts and training for Hurricane Katrina victims. Crisis response requires tremendous coordination among agencies across the state and we need to be prepared.  

A more specific advocacy goal within Arizona is to increase our cultural competence and relevance of service to our populations, such as to ELL students. Stay tuned for future trainings with this emphasis. Mini-grants will also be offered to encourage our members to focus on meeting the basic needs of students and providing access to mental health services. Parent training institutes are also being discussed. An Interdisciplinary Pupil Personnel Coalition is also being formed to increase our coordination and collaboration on mutual goals within student services. Let us know if you work with a colleague in related fields, such as counseling, social work or nursing, who might participate on this statewide council. 

Also, the NASP SPAN Coordinator, Eva Prince, is a member of this committee. The School Psychology Action Network (SPAN) serves as the communication between NASP and AASP to encourage members’ participation on legislative issues impacting students, their families, and our profession. Contact Eva at:  eprince@asdb.state.az.us.  

Please contact William Mobley if you have an interest in joining the Child and Family Advocacy Committee and let us know your areas of interest.  

Child & Family Advocacy Committee