<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body dir="auto"><div><br><br>Sent from my iPhone</div><div><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><b>From:</b> Victoria Kress <<a href="mailto:victoriaekress@GMAIL.COM">victoriaekress@GMAIL.COM</a>><br><b>Date:</b> April 17, 2015 at 9:52:06 AM EDT<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:OCA-L@LISTSERV.KENT.EDU">OCA-L@LISTSERV.KENT.EDU</a><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>House Bill 64: Budget Updates</b><br><b>Reply-To:</b> Victoria Kress <<a href="mailto:victoriaekress@GMAIL.COM">victoriaekress@GMAIL.COM</a>><br><br></div></blockquote><div><span></span></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>OCA Members, Hello! <br><br>It was a busy week in Columbus! <br><br></div>Attached you will find OCA testimony that is being presented today to the House Finance Committee. There are two budgetary issues for which OCA is advocating: <br>School Counselor Funding and Child Mental Health Identification and Intervention Funding. <br><div><br><p class="MsoNormal">First, the OCA would like a<span style="">
</span>re-instatement of language that was included in an earlier version of HB 64 regarding<span style="color:black"> school counselor funding.<span style=""> </span>Specifically, the school counselor provisions
would:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> </span></p>
<ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">Charge the
Education Standards Committee to develop standards for school counselors;</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">Charge the
State Board of Education to develop a model for school counselor
evaluation; and </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">Allocate up
to $1 million per year for training on best practices for career
counseling for school counselors.</span></li></ol><br>Next, the Executive Budget for Early Childhood Mental
Health Counseling programs was cut in half (from $5 million to $2.5 million) in the<span style=""></span><span style=""> </span>House Substitute Bill. Naturally, we want the full budget reinstated. <br><br><div>Our testimony is attached for your review. <br><br>We will not know the outcomes of our advocacy efforts until June, but we will keep you posted! Please know that the OCA leadership and lobbyists are fighting for your interests! <br></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><br>Victoria Kress Ph.D., LPCC-S (OH), NCC<br>OCA President <br><br><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"></span></div></div></div>
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