DENVER— Chosen from a national pool of state legislators,
Senator Moe Keller (D-Wheat Ridge) was named by the American Psychological Association (APA) Practice Organization as 2008 State Legislator of the Year.
Keller will be presented with an award by the organization on March 10 at the State Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. Keller is recognized for her leadership in successful legislation related to mental health equality and sponsorship of several bills directly benefiting citizens and consumers of psychological services in Colorado.
“Even though we have made a lot of progress in Colorado, there is still a lot of work to be done,” Keller said. “I would like to expand community based mental health treatment for individuals and their families and implement a triage program to handle the mentally ill taken to hospital emergency rooms.”
In 2007 Keller passed an extension of mental health parity coverage in Colorado to include nine additional mental disorders: PTSD, drug and alcohol disorders, dysthymia, cyclothymia, social phobia, agoraphobia with panic disorder, general anxiety disorder, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
“Considering her long-standing efforts to improve the mental health system in Colorado, I believe that she is an outstanding candidate for this distinguished award,” said John Mahalik, Ph.D., M.P.A., legislative committee chair & board member-at-large for the Colorado Psychological Association (CPA). “In addition to her legislative efforts towards updating and expanding mental health parity, Sen. Keller has demonstrated a passion for recognizing and improving human services in Colorado.”
Last year, Keller was presented an award by the APA as the 2007 CPA State Legislator of the Year.
