I serve as a Grants and Practice Manager for the Collins Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  Prior to serving The Collins Center, I worked at a non-profit in Miami, Florida that served 3,000 individuals.  I have seen first-hand the vital need for mental health counseling and psychotherapy for children and disadvantaged individuals.  I firmly believe that if you are able to address the underlying issues related to trauma, PTSD, sexual assault, domestic violence, etc., you save money down the road required for financial and medical stability for families and individuals.  Besides being the compassionate and morally-correct response to people in desperate need of mental and emotional assistance, it just makes good financial sense to provide the means for people to obtain help to acheive stability as soon as possible and thereby potentially prevent life-long distress and need for assistance due to unresolved trauma and pain.  Any proposed changes should be ammended to allow that residents-in-counseling and supervisees in social work can provide outpatient psychiatric services, as the pool of qualified providers is already critically small.

Sincerely,

Anita Lunsford