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The following notes highlight discussion and action from the June 6-7, 2020 CAMFT Board of Directors meeting virtually held.
The Board discussed the financial and operational impact that COVID-19 has had on CAMFT. CAMFT remains in the black and no program or staffing cuts have been necessary to date.
The biggest member benefit modification has been transitioning live CE events to virtual. To learn more about CAMFT’s virtual educational opportunities, click here.
CAMFT staff has temporarily gone remote due to state Executive Orders and safety precautions. While some operational procedures have had to be modified, most processes have had a fairly seamless transition.
CAMFT’s legal line has seen many upticks throughout the last few months due to member’s questions related to COVID-19 and their practice; including telehealth, insurance reimbursement, BBS waivers, and health safety protocols. To learn more about these issues, please see CAMFT’s COVID FAQ.
Executive Director Nabil El-Ghoroury updated the Board on the progress made on each of the strategic priorities: chapter health, social policy, and scope of practice.
Over summer, a board Social Policy Task Force will assess and prioritize social issue topics, as well as positions for recommendation to the Board. This will come back to the Board in September 2020.
El-Ghoroury updated the Board on the impact COVID-19 has had on advocacy.
The state legislative process was essentially frozen for two months; and while the process has now opened, legislators were asked to prioritize and cut many of their sponsored bills. Most state bills moving forward are related to COVID (health and/or economy) in some manner.
Federal legislation has also been mostly focused on COVID related matters. CAMFT is hopeful that MFT Reimbursement for Medicare could attach to a COVID relief package in 2020.
The majority of advocacy over the last three months has been focused on ensuring waivers from health plans, the BBS and other agencies to allow MFTs (and pre-licensees) to continue to practice in a manner that complies with the law, as well as ensure health protections for patients and providers.
El-Ghoroury announced CAMFT’s push to go green, including electronic voting (as approved by the membership). CAMFT will begin sending out “opt in” requests to the membership to allow communications, announcements and voting to be electronic (online) versus snail-mail paper communications.
The Board also discussed how best to comply with California election law while ensuring candidates have equal access to the membership. Interested candidates can begin applying for the Board of Directors by contacting Jamie Strauss at jstrauss@camft.org.
The Board discussed possible member educational opportunities, focusing on COVID-19 and systemic racism.
The Board discussed and voted on Committee appointments for the 2020/2021 year. Members interested in serving on Committees, can learn more here.
The Board discussed and provided feedback to the Executive Director.
The next Board of Directors meeting will be held September 12-13, 2020.