Federal Advocacy

Despite treatment advances and better early identification, most youth with mental illnesses do not receive treatment. Some of the barriers to treatment include: a sever shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists, lack of adequate coverage of services within health care systems, lack of research funding, lack of community mental health services. AACAP has a legislative agenda to help eliminate these barriers.

Click here to access our Legislative Action Center!
Correspond with your elected Senators and House of Representative members.

Advocacy Alerts and Updates
AACAP Congressional Statements
Click here for more information on the AACAP Congressional Fellowship Program.

State Advocacy

AACAP State Legislative Bill Tracking
AACAP State Government Advocacy Manual
Understanding Your State Legislator

Advocacy Resources

Model State Workforce Legislation
Children's Mental Health Fact Sheet
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Workforce Maps by State
State Data Cards
Cost Effectiveness of Prevention and Early Intervention Fact Sheet
Organizing Forums on Children's Mental Health
Scope of Practice Advocacy Toolkit
To access the toolkit, please click here (member log-in is required).
Counseling Patients About Firearms Advocacy Toolkit
To access the toolkit, please click here (member log-in is required).

State Budgets

• Sample Letter to Legislators
• Sample Letter to the Editor

Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet

Bullying

• Policy Statement: Prevention of Bullying Related Morbidity and Mortality
• Bullying Fact Sheet
• Check out these examples of strong bullying laws:
• Delaware
• Florida
• Kentucky

Other Useful Information and Helpful Links

Bill of Rights for Children's Mental Health Disorders and their Families
All families deserve access to quality mental health treatment. This Bill of Rights for Children's Mental Health Disorders and their Families was developed by a coalition for children's mental health facilitated by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. It is an important guide for families and their physicians to use when advocating for what families living with mental illnesses should expect from treatment.

AACAP Policy Statements
Fact Sheets
Regulatory Issues
Special Reports
THOMAS - Legislative search engine
House, Senate - to access congressional member and committee Web sites
Legislative AACAP News Articles