Chapter News



NYRCA / NRCA State Chapter

2011 News and Activities

Licensure Efforts

NYRCA continues to focus its efforts on the Rehabilitation Counseling Licensure Bill in the New York State Legislature. Our licensure committee consists of Chairperson Dr. Patricia Livingston, whose remarkable work and decades of dedication are moving this effort closer to success, along with committee members Al Gaudioso, CRC, Gerald From, PhD, CRC and Wendy Hersh, CRC, LMHC. The committee visited and has established ongoing communication with a State legislator who is a primary supporter of the bill in the Assembly. Sadly, our State Senate supporter, Thomas P. Morahan, passed away last year. We lost a praiseworthy civil servant and friend. Challenges come and go but our determination to get this passed is unwavering. For reference, our Bill Numbers are A01011 and S03476 (NYS Legislature 2009 - 2010 Session). Please stay tuned. We welcome information, comments and above all, participation. Remember there’s strength in numbers! I encourage all interested NRCA members in the Empire State to contact Dr. Livingston (pl6@nyu.edu) or other NYRCA Board members and to volunteer to help with these efforts. Our contact information is listed on our website nyrca.org.
 

Rehabilitation Counseling Week in May

We celebrated Rehabilitation Counseling Week the first week of May, as suggested by our National offices. This year it fell on May 2 through May 8, 2011. Al Gaudioso coordinated efforts with me and other NYRCA Board Members to obtain proclamations from various government officials throughout New York. We are proud to report that we received proclamations from the following counties and cities: City of Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown (see Buffalo proclamation); New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (see NYC proclamation); City of Syracuse in a joint effort with the County of Onondaga, Mayor Stephanie A Miner and County Executive Joanne M. Mahoney (see Syracuse proclamation); Rockland County, C. Scott Vanderhoef County Executive; and Westchester County, Robert P. Astorino, County Executive. We are grateful to these officials.

We also want to thank members and friends of the Board who take time from their busy schedules to support our Rehabilitation Counseling Week in their regions. Special thanks to the main coordinator of this effort, our board member extraordinaire and Organizational Chair, Al Gaudioso, who has done this for three decades. Consistent efforts from Board members like Al and Pat have put our profession on the radar screen of New York State Legislators. Thanks to Al and Elle for trying to secure a Gubernatorial Proclamation. No doubt next year we will obtain one, as we did a few years ago. Thanks also to Board member Lise Mayo, CRC, (Central New York RCA representative) from the City of Syracuse. Special thanks to Arletta Hoffman, CRC (President of the Central New York RCA) from Syracuse and Mary Gangl, CRC, Supervising Counselor Chemical Dependency from the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo for diligently writing and successfully securing proclamations.

We hope Rehabilitation Counselors everywhere are inspired to do the same in their city or county in 2012. This annual event is a great opportunity to educate your community and government officials about supporting people with disabilities and the indispensible role Rehabilitation Counseling professionals play in that process. We encourage events that include consumers, colleagues and legislators. The accompanying pictures show members of the Central New York RCA in Syracuse and of the NYRCA Board at the Wasserman Center at New York University proudly holding proclamations.

From left to right: Mr. Charles (Chuck) Brooks, Program Counselor for Supported Employment ACE Project; Mrs. Lise Mayo, CRC, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Counselor Supervisor for Supported Employment from St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center; Mrs. Arletta Holmes, Rehabilitation Counselor II for Hutchings Psychiatric; Ms. Nancy Jamieson, Counselor for the Rescue Mission at the Crossroads; Ms. Dana Carlson, Vocational Specialist for Onondaga Case Management; and Mr. Brian Cappon, Vocational Services Supervisor.

From left to right: Michele Buoninfante-Blainey, CRC, AVRASA representative; Dayra Bernal-Lederer,CRC, NYRCA President; Paula Lee, CRC, (Metro NY-NRA Representative); Jessica Battisti (Student Representative from Hunter College); Elle Abel, CRC (Membership Chair and Webmaster); Dr. Gerald From, CRC (Treasurer); Al Gaudioso, CRC (Organizational Operations Chair & Secretary); and Dr. Arnold Wolf (President Elect).

 

New Board Members

Thanks to the persuasive skills of Dr. Patricia Livingston, we have new board members to welcome. Dr. Arnold Wolf from Hunter College joined the NYRCA Board as President Elect. Arnie is a remarkable and prolific academic in Rehabilitation Counseling with extensive works in the field. We look forward to working with a professional of his caliber. Michele Buoninfante-Blainey, CRC, joined us as AVRASA representative. She has impressed us with her admirable enthusiasm and professionalism. We are also delighted to have a new Student Representative, Jessica Battisti, from the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at Hunter, an exceptional student and great professional in the making. Welcome all! We look forward to seeing what the future brings for our Board with such a great and diverse group. The profession is stronger and richer because you have joined us.
 

Educational Activities

We had several well-timed educational activities over the months. On April 12, 2011 NRCA and NRA West/Rock cosponsored a training titled, “Job Placement Issues & Strategies for Individual with Disabilities Including Psychiatric, Intellectual and Physical Impairments” held at the Helen Hays Hospital in Westchester/Rockland. Dr. Bruce Lowenstein, Bob D’Enrico, Marlene Becker and Michael Miriello provided more than half a day of educational enrichment in the area of Behavioral Medicine, Psychiatry, Advocacy and Job Placement. Continuing Education was provided to CRCs and other Allied Health professionals. On June 16, we had a luncheon titled: “Todays Veteran: The Unique Concerns of Veterans with Disabilities Returning from Post War Experiences” presented by Jerry Donnellan, Commissioner of Rockland County, Veterans Service Agency at the Casa Mia Manor House in Blauvet, NY. Thanks to the West/Rock chapter for such great event and for their continued support. New educational events are coming up. Possible ethics training sessions are in the works, so please stay tuned. If you are interested in visiting New York or need CEUs for your re-certification, we encourage you to attend our events. You can also contact theses other regional rehabilitation organizations that support our mission: West/Rock NRA chapter, Metro New York Chapter of NRA at http://www.nymetronra.org and AVRASA at http://www.avrasa.org.
 
For more information visit our website at nyrca.org. The website is kept up to date and looking sharp thanks to our webmaster, Elle Abel, CRC. To our colleagues in New York State, your emails and comments are always welcome. The website is a great place to connect with members of our profession statewide. Please take full advantage of it!
 
Last but not least, we extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to Dr. Livingston. Pat, your spunk and brilliance are invaluable in advancing the mission of NYRCA. We miss you and can’t wait to have you back!
 
If you join us, we become a stronger profession. Please do so! As NRCA logo states, “There’s a place for you in NRCA” to which we would add “. . . especially in New York State.” Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you.
 
Submitted by Dayra Bernal-Lederer, CRC, NYRCA 2011 President


     

New York

News Summary January – July 2010
In preparation for Rehabilitation Counseling Week (May 3 - May 9, 2010) the following cities and counties have approved resolutions recognizing our profession: New York City (link opens PDF document), Rockland and Westchester County. Also the Syracuse region and Onondoga County Rehabilitation Counselors were honored by a joint proclamation (link opens PDF document) from Onondoga County, proclaiming May 3-7 as County of Onondoga and City of Syracuse Rehabilitation Counselors Week. Our thanks to NYRCA Board members, Al Gaudioso, CRC, (Organizational Council Chair and Secretary) in Westchester and Rockland, Ellie Abel, CRC (Membership Chair/Web Master) in Syracuse and Dayra Bernal-Lederer, CRC, in New York City, for securing these resolutions. The Westchester/Rockland Chapter is hosting a half day informative workshop on May 4th at Helen Hays Hospital, “Overview of the Healthcare System – Redefining Chiropractic: Joint Movement as the Key to Pain Control and Alternative Medicine: Therapeutic Benefits of Massage.” Continuing Education units will be provided to Rehabilitation Counselors and other allied health professionals.
Onondoga County recognized March as Developmental Disabilities and Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month. Once again, our gratitude to Elle Abel, in Syracuse, for procuring this joint proclamation. Governor Paterson, of New York, proclaimed March as Developmental Disabilities month and presented to the ARC of Central New York. Administrators, clients and rehabilitation counselors attended the event. Our Upstate colleagues are constantly finding ways to support our clients while making our profession more visible and strong. Their passion is inspirational!
In our ongoing efforts to obtain support for the Rehabilitation Licensure bill, members of the NYRCA Board, headed by our tireless Dr. Pat Livingston and our President, Wendy Hersh, CRC, met with the Higher Education Committee chairs in their NYC office. Some lawmakers indicated that the bill has merit; however, the legislators were preoccupied with the budget. It is an uphill battle; however, we don’t give up. Please stay tuned. We welcome your support or suggestions to Dr. Livingston or NYRCA Board members. If you have skills in this area, don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you!
We would also like to extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to Wendy Hersh, our President.
If you are interested in visiting NYC in July and wish to obtain CEUs for your re-certification, we encourage you to attend the Northeastern Rehabilitation Association (NERA) Conference at NYU. For more information check the Metro New York Chapter of NRA or http://www.nymetronra.org/ under events/training and conferences.
Last but not least, just a reminder to visit us on the web at nyrca.org. Again, thanks to Elle! Visits and comments are always welcome. This is a great place to connect with other members of our profession statewide. Please use it!


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