2022 CPA Accomplishments

Administration

Weekly Electronic Newsletters: The pandemic has highlighted the fact that our industry and the regulations that govern it are changing more quickly than ever. Consequently, CPA has responded by making news and upcoming event information available to our members each week.

RxP Fundraising through Programming: To fund the additional lobbying efforts required for the Prescriptive Authority legislation to be introduced in 2023, the RxP Committee worked hard to find programming to raise funds for this initiative. They were able to add 4 CE webinars with all proceeds allocated to the RxP lobbying effort.

APA Grant: CPA submitted a grant request to APA to assist with expenses of the RxP lobbying effort and received $5,000.

CE Approval: As an approved provider by APA, CPA approved 13 courses offering continuing education for psychologists. 9 of the 13 courses were programming organized and offered by CPA to members.

Ethics Committee: The CPA Ethics Committee provides education and support services that will aid in addressing questions regarding the professional practice of psychology. They take up to 10 consultation calls from members per month. This service continues to be a valued benefit to CPA members.

Disaster Resource Network Committee: Efforts continued into 2022 to support victims of the Marshall fire. CPA solicited psychologists to offer reduced rates or pro bono therapy to victims.

Membership: CPA was able to maintain membership numbers despite the pandemic, as opposed to other professional associations that experienced a decrease in membership. 

Education: Increased on-demand learning in the Learning Center by 50%.

Advocacy

The 2022 legislative session was incredibly active for CPA. We focused on efforts on legislation to clean up HB19-1120, Colorado’s age of consent law. CPA was specifically concerned that youth were being asked to consent to treatment even when seeking services with their parents. There was also confusion surrounding the unique duty warn provisions within the age of consent statute. After discussions with the Colorado Department of Human Services and the Governor’s Office, we were able to amend our changes into HB22-1278: Behavioral Health Administration during the House Public and Behavioral Health and Human Services Committee hearing.  The bill passed on the second to last day of session and was signed by the Governor so our changes are now law.   

There were several bills CPA worked to amend as well:

  • HB22-1240: Mandatory Reporters, by the Office of the Childs Ombudsman, reformed the existing mandatory reporting law for child abuse and neglect. The bill also created a taskforce to analyze best practices and recommend changes to training requirements and reporting procedures, specifically with regard to the impacts of mandatory reporting on families of color and under-resourced communities. After initial review, CPA was concerned that there was not any representation from the mental health provider community on the taskforce. CPA was able to successfully advocate for a position on the taskforce and secured it via amendment in the first committee.
  • HB22-1256: Modifications to Civil Involuntary Commitment, was a comprehensive overhaul of the 72-hour hold system in Colorado that came together after 18 months of stakeholder work by Mental Health Colorado. The bill included CPA’s negotiated language which expanded who can release holds as long as the professional has two years of experience in behavioral health safety and risk assessment working in a healthcare setting. CPA also worked with Mental Health Colorado to further bolster language on discharge planning although the end language wasn’t as strong as CPA hoped. CPA submitted written testimony in both chambers and the bill passed through the process on May 10th. 
  • HB22-1354: Protecting Injured Workers’ Mental Health Records, was introduced by Representative Lindsay and Michaelson Jenet and Senator Winter was brought forth at the request of a constituent. The bill amends the Workers’ Compensation Act of Colorado to limit the disclosure of records related to a claimant’s mental health. CPA amended the legislation to ensure that only the patient can authorize the disclosure of information by the insurer to an employer.
  • SB22-181: Behavioral Health-care Workforce, bill required the Behavioral Health Administration to collaborate with multiple state agencies to create and implement a plan to improve the behavioral health care workforce. The introduced version of the bill included references to unlicensed providers and CPA worked with the social workers to remove those from the bill.