Candidates for Trustee-at-large: Roger Peele, M.D.

Due to public policies and managed care, more psychiatrically ill are now in jails or prisons than in hospitals. Of those not incarcerated, many are on the streets. Of those neither incarcerated nor on the streets, managed care has left many only partially treated, still in pain or still disabled. Change should focus on people with psychiatric illness need for three basic rights:

APA must fulfill the reason this organization was formed 162 years ago: To provide direction to the professions and to the public as to how best to provide humane care and effective treatment for people with psychiatric illnesses. It is essential that we achieve this original purpose. As much as anyone, I've been part of motions to return APA to this purpose, but more must be done. Almost monthly, there is a substantial clinical development about which APA is silent. An organization cannot provide clinical leadership unless its promulgations are current. APA's promulgations, e.g., its practice guidelines, often do not remain current.

We want each APA member to feel that they are within reach of APA's governance. The Assembly has representatives from each district branch and representatives of early career psychiatrists, Asian-American psychiatrists, African-American psychiatrists, Hispanic psychiatrists, IMGs, MITs, gay/lesbian psychiatrists, and American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian psychiatrists—and representatives of all substantial subspecialty psychiatric organizations. In 1980, 57 percent of the APA voters said“ yes” to a petition to change the APA constitution to make the Assembly the policymaking body of APA. That petition failed because it was short of the 67 percent needed to change the constitution. So, an incremental approach to enhancing the Assembly's power is indicated, in order to move the decisions of APA closer to the APA members.