NYS CASAC Association:
CASAC Advocacy for
CASAC Professionals
Elevating the CASAC Voice Statewide
CASAC advocacy: The NYS Association of CASAC Professionals ensures no counselor stands alone in the fight for recognition, fair pay, and growth. Through organized, proactive advocacy in New York, we amplify voices, protect credentials, and strengthen both the CASAC profession and the communities we serve.
What Advocacy Means to Us
Advocacy is more than lobbying—it is the collective effort of a profession to define its value and protect its future. For CASACs, this means working together to ensure addiction counselors are recognized as essential contributors to behavioral health systems statewide.
The Association’s approach to CASAC advocacy in New York includes informing members about legislative issues, organizing grassroots mobilization, and building coalitions with allied organizations. By combining these efforts, we transform individual frustrations into collective power. Advocacy ensures that policies reflect the realities of frontline practice while protecting the integrity of the CASAC credential.
Most importantly, advocacy benefits members directly. Whether it is securing fair compensation, ensuring professional protections, or expanding job opportunities, our work is designed to make a tangible difference in your daily practice and long-term career.
Policy Priorities That Drive Change
At the heart of CASAC advocacy in New York are four key policy priorities. Each priority reflects the lived challenges of our members and offers solutions that strengthen both professional standards and community care.
Legislative Recognition
For too long, CASACs have provided critical care without the same recognition as other licensed professionals. Legislative recognition means achieving parity with social workers, LMHCs, and psychologists, ensuring CASACs are fully integrated into the behavioral health workforce.
This recognition benefits members by expanding professional credibility, increasing access to leadership roles, and ensuring inclusion in decision-making processes. It also opens doors to new career pathways, making CASACs eligible for positions and responsibilities that were once out of reach. Achieving legislative recognition is not symbolic—it is a cornerstone of equity and respect for the work counselors perform daily.
Fair Compensation
CASACs are frontline workers, yet many face wages that do not reflect their training, licensure, and responsibility. CASAC Advocacy for equitable pay ensures members can build sustainable careers without being forced to leave the field due to financial instability.
By pushing for higher reimbursement rates and fair salary structures, CASAC advocacy in New York supports both workforce retention and counselor well-being. Members benefit directly from better wages, but so do clients, who are more likely to receive consistent care from experienced professionals who can remain in the field for the long term. Fair compensation means valuing CASACs for the lifesaving work they provide every day.
Licensing Protections
The CASAC credential is a hard-earned achievement, but without strong protections, its value can be undermined. Licensing protections ensure clarity in the scope of practice, professional mobility across clinical settings, and safeguards against misuse of the credential.
For members, this means confidence that their professional identity is protected and respected across New York State. It also ensures that CASACs have clear pathways for renewal, continuing education, and career advancement. CASAC advicacy means protecting the credential, not just about regulation—it is about safeguarding the profession’s integrity for current and future counselors.
Civil Service Inclusion
CASACs possess the expertise necessary to contribute to government and public health systems; however, they have historically been excluded from civil service job titles. Advocacy for civil service inclusion ensures CASACs are eligible for positions in state agencies, correctional systems, schools, and other public health institutions.
This expansion benefits members by creating broader career opportunities, providing access to competitive salaries, and enabling them to influence public policy from within. It also ensures that government systems addressing addiction have the specialized knowledge of CASAC professionals at the table.
How CASAC Advocacy Benefits Our Members
Every priority connects back to member benefit. Legislative recognition elevates professional credibility. Fair compensation secures financial stability. Licensing protections guarantee professional integrity. Civil service inclusion opens new doors for advancement. Together, these priorities ensure that CASAC advocacy in New York delivers results that counselors can feel in their paychecks, career paths, and daily practice.
Members also benefit from being part of a collective movement. By joining the Association’s advocacy efforts, counselors gain access to policy updates, advocacy days, scripts for contacting legislators, and opportunities to participate in grassroots campaigns. Advocacy transforms members from isolated professionals into a powerful, unified voice capable of driving systemic change.
CASAC Advocacy: The Bigger Picture
“CASAC advocacy is about more than policy—it’s about valuing the people who change lives every day. Our counselors deserve recognition, fair treatment, and a unified voice, and this Association is committed to making that a reality.”
President
Join the NYS Association of CASAC Professionals.
Advance your career. Unify with peers. Advocate for the profession. Gain access to training, certification support, and a statewide network that strengthens both you and the CASAC workforce
