Federal & State Issues

ACA funded this landmark legislative project to allow counselors to practice across state lines. We anticipate the application for privileges to practice will be available to counselors within member states starting in 2024. Thanks to the dedication of our members, we are currently at 33 member states who have enacted the Counseling Compact legislation. To learn which states have enacted this legislation, please visit counselingcompact.org

ACA works with our members, national coalitions, and state branches to support advocacy efforts addressing social determinants of health within mental health and the counseling profession. A recent successful campaign with many branches was the "Racism Is A Public Health Crisis" campaign. Declaring racism a public health crisis at the state and local levels (cities/counties) allows authorities and agencies to appropriate funds and resources towards addressing the issue.

We continue to see backlash at the state level regard counseling ethics and educational standards including multicultural counseling, books and resources which have been the national standard for decades. ACA works with our members to support their efforts in obtaining the necessary materials and resources for best practices.

ACA has worked for years with our members to facilitate discourse on Conversion Therapy Bans – a successful state-by-state movement. Twenty-six (26) states, as well as Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and over 100 municipalities have banned the practice. Despite this, we face continued resistance in certain areas of the U.S. This includes legislation seeking to mandate insurance coverage of conversion therapy, despite the fact that every behavioral health profession defines this practice as illegitimate with no empirical data support its methodology or need. It is not considered a disorder to identify as non-heteronormative. Therefore, conversion therapy, which seeks to "treat" this as such is proven to be harmful to clients and counselors within the LGBTQIA community. 

In addition to Coversion Therapy Bans, LGBTQIA bills continued to be introduced in state legislatures at an alarming rate. Legislatures and our members face a landscape with historically high numbers of bills that would adversely impact the LGBTQIA community, reaching around a thousand bill annually across the country. Many directly impact the counseling field and ACA works with branches to ensure they have the support necessary to build broad and effective coalitions during this unprecedented time.

Tip Sheet: How to Contact Your State Attorney General on LGBTQ+ Laws

ACA works to align states through promotion of consistent ethical and educational standards within the counseling profession and through regulatory support and relationships with boards, branches, and officials, as necessary.

The ACA policy team also closely monitors bills that impact our profession in partnership with national coalitions and our members, including: 

• provider autonomy,
• client/doctor privacy, 
• student loan repayment for counselors, 
• telehealth flexibilities, 
• insurance parity, 
• school counseling, 
• career counseling and
• appropriations and funding for vital community-based mental health services that highlight violence prevention, suicide prevention, and work with vulnerable groups including veterans, those residing in extremely rural areas, underserved communities, and drug use disorder programs.