Letter from PRA Chair, Lisa Razzano

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Commissioners, we hope that your new year is off to a great start and that the promise of spring continues to inspire us all.

Many activities are underway at PRA, most notably ongoing preparations for the upcoming 2013 PRA Annual Conference June 9-12, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. I am thrilled to announce that Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Dr. Carl Bell, Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research at University of Illinois at Chicago, the Birthplace of Psychiatry, and Dr. Benjamin Druss of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, will each deliver Keynote addresses at the conference. They are all inspiring, trailblazing leaders in our field and all are sure lead compelling sessions… I hope that, like me, you are excited about these outstanding choices.

With six conference tracks chock full of training and education, you’ll be able to choose from an incredible array of opportunities. Whether you’re new to PSR or an experienced professional, whether you are in an operational management role or are a senior executive, the 2013 PRA Annual Conference delivers content that is perfect for your needs and requirements. As a CPRP myself, I rely on PRA’s annual conference not just for my continuing education needs each year, but also for the incredible inspiration it provides. In addition to amazing content, there will be considerable opportunities for networking and… well, just plain fun. I can’t wait to see you there.

Speaking of the conference, if you’re planning to take your CPRP exam, one of the conference tracks is a complete CPRP prep course and the entirety of the course is included in the conference registration. Many of you have been preparing for the CPRP examination and will be completing the test in the coming months; best of luck to all of you and I welcome you in advance to the CPRP family. Never before has the value and impact of CPRP’s been more acute.

Recently, PRA joined other mental health associations, advocates, and stakeholders in support of the Mental Health in Schools Act of 2013. Based on information from sources such as a report from the Institute of Medicine in 2009, the bill proposes early intervention, integrated services between mental health and educational systems, supports related to the impact of experiencing trauma and violence in schools, and how to address these needs within culturally diverse and competent contexts. All of these factors – prevention and early intervention, services coordination, and cultural competence – are fundamental principles within psychiatric rehabilitation and represent components of the CPRP practice domains. This legislation also would focus on support for the mental health needs of youth and young adults, individuals who also have benefitted from psychiatric rehabilitation services.

PRA has an array of other critical initiatives that make for an ambitious agenda for 2013 that I want to share with you. We continue to forge our Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal partnership with the American Psychological Association, with announcements for papers on special topics in psychiatric rehabilitation to be featured over the coming months. One key area where PRA continues to grow has been in our commitment to influencing mental health policy. We continue to work to identify the ways in which the Affordable Care Act and mental health parity will evolve in the coming year; as such, we are working to establish our presence on Capitol Hill and will have another Capitol Hill Day this fall. We will soon announce our 2013 training schedule which will continue our successful children’s certificate program, CPRP training, and other new and exciting training initiatives.

As the organization that represents and trains the workforce of recovery, initial and ongoing training is at the core of what PRA must provide to its growing community of stakeholders. As psychiatric rehabilitation practitioners we have the opportunity to impact the lives of individuals of all ages and in a myriad of settings; individuals in recovery themselves, as well as their families and social networks. We accomplish this not only by providing direct care, but also as agents of change for policies that promote quality, availability, and affordability of mental health services for all individuals who need them.

We have an amazing year ahead of us and I do hope you’ll join us for the 2013 PRA Annual Conference in Atlanta. It is always an inspiring event for me… don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and exchange ideas while taking away tools that can be immediately implemented to help you make an even greater impact in the lives of others. I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta in just a few months!