I have so enjoyed during the last 9 months engaging in Washington State Music Therapy issues:
“Music & Creativity, Inspiration For Healing: MusicWorks4Veterans.org enhances quality of life for our Veteran community by leading experienced, all-inclusive music jam programs that encourage creative expression along with peers, in a safe, fun and friendly environment.” From all these experiences I have come to realize a need for research and writing on the topic of Trauma Informed Music therapy. Time is precious to me. My life with my husband is also precious to me. With these words I find that I must step down from advocacy efforts, from Task Force efforts and any volunteering that takes time away from my research, writing and my husband. I have faith in Music Therapists of Washington State to find time to engage in some part of moving forward the practice and access of music therapy. I will continue with Task Force activities during licensure efforts - end of January 2019. After which I shall be focusing on research and writing. Thank you all and I do hope to hear from many of you soon!
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(Retrieved 12/11/12 from http://www.minnesotanonprofits.org/nonprofit-resources/public-policy-advocacy/day-on-the-hill)
A Day on the Hill is an opportunity for your supporters to see that they are part of a bigger and significant effort, that their voices are an important part of the power behind your key messages in support of or opposition to a policy. Constituents will be able to have direct contact with their own House and Senate members which shows that their input has significant impact on the responsiveness of the leaders in their own district. Hill Day is a wonderful opportunity for us WA music therapists as a whole to show our ability to recruit, inform, engage, and mobilize supporters for a policy position as well as demonstrate our centrality on the issue = MUSIC THERAPY RECOGNITION THROUGH LICENSURE. How can you participate in Hill Day? We are scheduling our Hill Day to be late January/early February 2019. Once we finalize the date, we will send you the link to RSVP for your participation and a guide for how to request a meeting with your district's legislators! Our Task Force members had a meeting with Senator Darneille (D-27) early October to seek guidance for what direction we music therapists in WA as a whole should head to regarding music therapy recognition in WA. Sen. Darneille has been a long-standing supporter of our advocacy effort since its early stage back in 2008.
We explained our recent successes including significantly-increased number of music therapists in the state, ongoing additions of music therapy programs, and the upcoming expansion and addition of Medicaid waivers to cover music therapy. We also addressed challenges of following the Sunrise Review recommendations to increase access to music therapy and obtain regulatory support to include music therapy language at the state level. Sen. Darneille shared with us that one of the legislative focuses in the upcoming session will be the expansion on mental health services among youth and agreed that the benefits of music therapy could potentially support this agenda and opened a door for music therapy to be more recognized. At the end of our meeting, she recommended introducing a music therapy licensure bill in the upcoming session that resumes on January 14, 2019. Our National team is currently preparing for a bill draft for the Sen. Darneille's office to review. We will continue to closely collaborate with Sen. Darneille's office and solicit support from other legislators to sponsor the bill in the coming weeks. Here we would like to explain different levels of regulation that music therapy can seek at the state level.
(Reference - AMTA/CBMT State Recognition Operational Plan Resources) LICENSURE A license outlines specific education, clinical training, and continuing education requirements and provides title protection, practice protection, and public protection. The general purpose of music therapy licensure legislation is:
A registry is a list of professionals who have met predetermined education, clinical training, and certification requirements and this program provides title protection. The general purpose of music therapy registry legislation is:
A significant difference between licensure and registration is that the level of enforcement for licensure is stricter and non-compliance can result in fines and legal action. Title Protection In theory, title protection legislation should only regulate how individuals hold themselves out to the public (title protection) and should not regulate practice. That is, only those credentialed individuals that meet the requirements for “music therapists”, as defined by the act, may advertise themselves as being music therapists, but nothing would prevent non-credentialed persons from providing music therapy services or otherwise practicing music therapy so long as they do not hold themselves out to the public as being music therapists. The primary purpose of title act legislation is to promote the competent practice of a profession by encouraging individuals to obtain those credentials recognized by the act and to protect the value of a professional title by preventing non-credentialed individuals from diluting the title’s value by prohibiting those individuals from holding themselves out as professionals in a given field. Title act legislation should be viewed as an acceptable alternative to licensure only in jurisdictions where available resources are too scarce to permit a regime that includes the regulation or enforcement components inherent to registry or licensure schemes. State Certification State certification granted to individuals who have met certain education, clinical training, and certification requirements. State certification:
By Megumi Azekawa, MM, MT-BC, WA MT Task Force Co-Chair
As a result of ongoing state agency visits, we have some exciting updates on Medicaid Waiver coverage for music therapy in WA! Here is the nutshell: 1. DSHS DDA CIIBS Waiver (Children's Intensive In-home Behavioral Support) 1) Provider requirement will be "board certified music therapist with 2 years of the experience in the related population", instead of "a board certified music therapist with a master's degree and experience. 2) Music therapy will be as a part of Complimentary Therapy and the CIIBS waiver will possibly set up individual and group session fees. 3) Likely to require data collection and report on client(s)' progress on a quarterly basis. 4) This change will be effective on July 2019 and the CIIBS team is finalizing the contract right now. 2. DSHS ALTSA (Aging and Long-Term Support Administration) COPES Waiver 1) COPES Waiver (Community Options Program Entry) will include a board certified music therapist as a provider type for Client Training. 2) COPES Waiver covers approx. 40,000 residents in WA. 3) COPES Waiver team is finalizing the fee methodology and considering to set up both individual and group session rates. 4) This change will be effective on January 1, 2019. Once we hear the final details of both waivers' amendments, we will surely share the information with you! We Task Force team is also planning to hold another Music Therapy Symposium in Spring 2019 to invite the COPES and CIIBS program managers to introduce these changes and find out how to become a Medicaid Waiver contractor under these waivers. Stay tuned!! By Chloe Smith, Music Therapist Student, Seattle Pacific University #1. Keep up to date with the Music Therapy Association of Washington and Washington Music Therapy Advocacy Task Force Facebook pages! Information is posted there and can help connect to others. #2. Attend local advocacy events. We are planning a Hill Day for early 2019 – contact Chloe Smith or Natalie Shannon for more information. There is also a symposium this month! #3. Attend national advocacy events. Sometimes, national/regional/state conference hosts a free advocacy workshops, CMTE courses for professionals. #4. Send letters to your state representative! Contact Chloe Smith or Natalie Shannon for more information and/or help regarding what to say, timing, etc. By Karla Hawley, M. Ed., MT-BC
Music therapists oftentimes encounter with a situation where music therapy is misrepresented. Below is the summary is what music therapy advocacy is and how the State Recognition Operation Plan has organized its strategy for increasing professional recognition in each state, including how to practice ethical and responsive approaches to handle misrepresentation of music therapy. State Recognition Operational Plan
Rationale
Major Goal
Advocacy Challenges: Points of Opposition
Actions Taken In order to resolve concerns, members of AMTA, CBMT, and Task Forces have:
So, as a professional who may come across what may seem as a transgression to the music therapy profession should first contact their state task force ([email protected]). From there the state task force will take action and if no satisfactory resolution is found then the western regional task force representative will be brought in to assist. If that doesn’t resolve the apparent transgression then the national task force will be included. During the process, the music therapist bringing their concern to awareness will be kept in the loop of progress. Advocacy Ethics: Pre-emptive Ethical Practice & Responsiveness 1.1 The MT will perform only those duties for which he/she has been adequately trained, not engaging outside his/her area of competence. 1.6 The MT respects the rights of others to hold values, attitudes, and opinions that differ from his/her own. 2.1 The MT will strive for the highest standards in his/her work, offering the highest quality of services to clients/students. 4.3 The MT will attempt to establish harmonious relations with members from other professions and professional organizations and will not damage the professional reputation or practice of others. 6.1 The MT will strive to increase public awareness of music therapy. |
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