Legislative Committee

The purpose of the CPS Legislative Committee is to focus on policies that impact psychiatrists, their patients, and the communities they serve, and to promote the CPS legislative agenda at the local, state, and federal levels. This work includes:

  • recommending legislative priorities to the CPS President,
  • advocating for the agenda as identified by the CPS President,
  • educating CPS members about ways to engage in advocacy,
  • collaborating with other advocacy organizations.

Committee Chair: Kiki Kennedy, MD 

Read more about Dr. Kennedy.

 

Legislative Committee Teams:

Education/
Outreach Team		 Liaison Team Testimony Team
Focuses on engaging and training more CPS members in advocacy, especially residents and fellows. Focuses on developing relationships and connections with other organizations, especially here in CT e.g. CSMS, AACAP. Focuses on assembling a cohort of CPS members who will be prepared and available to provide oral and written testimony to the CT General Assembly, and also engage as needed with their state legislators.
  • Caroline Correia
  • Christopher Hammel
  • Lakshit Jain
  • Carla Schnitzlein
  • Carolina Vicéns Cardona
  • Melissa Welby
  • Dave Gammon
  • Christopher Hammel
  • Lakshit Jain
  • Velandy Manohar
  • Caylan Bookman
  • Paul Bryant
  • Lakshit Jain
  • Marco Michael

If you are a member of this committee, click below to access committee resources. Member login is required, and as a reminder, your username is your email address (email associated with your APA membership). If you need to reset your password, click here.

Legislative Committee Resources (login required)

 

Katherine Kennedy MD is a Board-certified Adult Psychiatrist in private practice in New Haven, Connecticut, with a practice focus in psychodynamic psychotherapy. She serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Yale University School of Medicine where she leads the Legislative Advocacy Program, co-leads the Advocacy Track for the Department of Psychiatry’s Social Justice-Health Equity Curriculum, and supervises psychiatry residents in long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. In 2017, Dr. Kennedy was awarded the Yale Department of Psychiatry’s “Outstanding Clinical Faculty Award.” Dr. Kennedy is Chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Council on Advocacy and Government Relations. She is Chair of the Committee on Psychotherapy for the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP). She is an elected member of the American College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Kennedy presents at national conferences and publishes on advocacy, psychotherapy, and supervision. She is the co-editor for the 2020 book, A Psychiatrist's Guide to Advocacy, and lead editor for the 2023 book, Supervising Individual Psychotherapy: the Guide to Good Enough.