FROM:
Eleanor H. Abel RPA, MS, CRC
Membership Chair- NYRCA Board, NRCA Member
Email: [email protected]
Currently we have a proclamation promised from the office of Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and Legislator Joanne Mahoney of Onondoga County to celebrate National and Regional Rehabilitation Counselors Week! Send a fax to the Governors office requesting his support of the rehabilitation counseling profession and thank him for supporting improved acces to resources such as education and vocational supports!!! (Fax 518-473-1112)
LETTER TEMPLATE TO SUPPORT GUBRANATORIAL PROCLAMATION
Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor, New York State
New York State Executive Chamber
State Capitol Building
Albany, New York 12224
[DATE INSERT]
To The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo,
May 1-May 7 2012 is denoted as National Rehabilitation Counselors week across the nation. The purpose of this letter is to request that the office of Governor Cuomo provide a proclamation for May 1-May 7 to be designated as National Rehabilitation counselors week in the Empire state.
As a trained medical and rehabilitation counselor at the Upstate medical center I am acutely aware of the need for continued and improved access to rehabilitation services for people with disabilities. We need to retain the specialty trained providers to assure availability of services and access to services for people of all ages with disabilities including children, adults, the elderly, veterans of our services, people with brain injuries and physical and mental disabilities.
It is crucial that we continue to educate, recruit and retain in New York State qualified rehabilitation counselors so that adequate numbers are available to be able to continue to serve the public. Every year rehabilitation counselors join at the local, regional, state and national level to bring awareness to the public of the need for continued advocacy and provision of services to the persons with disability. Rehabilitation counselors are specifically trained to provide these services through assessment, case management, service coordination and advocacy, and through working as a team member- assuring that resources for persons with disabilities are available in their area and across the state.
The purpose of NYRCA is to advance the role and function of rehabilitation counseling in the rehabilitation of all persons with physical, mental or other disabilities. NYRCA encourages educational and scientific endeavors to better serve the needs of persons with disabilities, promote independence, and enhance professional rehabilitation counseling. NYRCA endorses, among our goals, to increase public understanding of the role of rehabilitation counseling in assisting all persons with disabilities to become, to the extent possible, self-sufficient, self-supporting and contributing members of society.
SUGGESTED TERMINOLOGY FOR NYRCA PROCLAMATION:
Whereas Rehabilitation Counselors provide vocational and educational and counseling services in the great Empire State to the citizens who have disabilities, having prepared for their role by completing a masters or higher education degree and having completed a rigorous and specialized program focusing on acquiring the education and skills to provide these specialized services, and
Whereas, among the elements of personal and professional responsibility every Rehabilitation Counselor embraces the goal to provide high quality and dedicated service and improved access to services including vocational, educational, health and mental health services, counseling and mentoring, as well as consideration for necessary accommodations to enhance their function, as our greater society benefits when our citizens thrive in all areas of endeavor; and
Whereas Rehabilitation Counselors have completed the national certification exam and obtained the CRC credential, and as a result of their education and experience are especially qualified to provide services to veterans of wars, patients and clients with brain injury and trauma, physical and mental disabilities, emotional and mental problems and dually-diagnosed individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues, and
Whereas many Rehabilitation Counselors are employed in areas of the private and public sector and have proven themselves to be an important element in the infrastructure of health care, mental health, vocational and education services in hospitals or treatment centers, private or public clinics where they focus on providing quality care and services to the citizens of this great state, and their families, ensuring positive and dedicated support in the provision of those services that assists and inspires our citizens to become well-educated, confident and productive citizens; and
Whereas the Rehabilitation Counselors have demonstrated that they have met the rigorous standards of practice to serve their clients best interests, and having achieved appropriate specialized education at an approved program meeting the requirements of the New York State Department of Education and national certifying body for Rehabilitation Counselors (CRCC), and
Whereas we recognize and support the efforts of Rehabilitation Counselors and other rehabilitation professionals in their role in creating a foundation of supportive advocacy in providing vocational and educational services to persons with disabilities, and we recognize the need to retain and recruit Rehabilitation Counselors to provide services to our citizens, and
Whereas, it is fitting for New Yorkers to support initiatives that focus on critical health issues that improve overall public health and safety, we therefore request that the week of May 1- through May 7 be designated as Rehabilitation Counselors Week in the Empire State to acknowledge the worthy goals of rehabilitation professionals by proclamation of the honorable Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Thank you for considering this request.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION]