About APHSA

• APHSA’s Mission
• Issue Areas and Key Contacts
• APHSA Leadership
• Membership Benefits
• Training & Technical Assistance/Organizational and Professional Development

Founded in 1930, APHSA is a nonprofit, bipartisan organization of individuals and agencies concerned with human services. Our members include all state and many territorial human service agencies, more than 1,200 local and federal agencies, and several thousand individuals who work in or otherwise have an interest in human service programs. APHSA educates members of Congress, the media, and the broader public on what is happening in the states around welfare, child welfare, health care reform, and other issues involving families and the elderly.

The association’s mission is to develop, promote, and implement public human service policies that improve the health and well-being of families, children, and adults. APHSA is also an umbrella for several component groups. First among these are the National Council of State Human Service Administrators and the National Council of Local Human Service Administrators. APHSA’s affiliate groups include the American Association of Food Stamp Directors, American Association of Public Welfare Attorneys, American Public Human Service Association–Information Systems Management, Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, National Association of Hearing Officials, National Association for Program Information and Performance Measurement, National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, National Association of State Medicaid Directors, and the National Staff Development and Training Association.

APHSA also serves as secretariat to the Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance. The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) was established by a cooperative agreement grant to APHSA from the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) in September 1993.

APHSA is governed by a 16-member Board of Directors, appointed or elected by the general membership and various constituencies within APHSA and from other public or private organizations. Policy is made by the board and the National Council of State Human Service Administrators. Policy positions and recommendations are also developed by the National Council of Local Human Service Administrators. APHSA staff serve constituent member agencies and individual members through a variety of programs, including

• the development and analysis of social policy at the local, state, and national levels;
• training and technical assistance to states and localities;
• publications, including the professional journal Policy & Practice, the weekly Washington report This Week in Washington, the annual Public Welfare Directory, the bimonthly legislative alert W-Memo, the Medicaid Management Institute’s MMI Bulletin, the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators’ Network, Bridges (the newsletter of the Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance), and professional and policy monographs;
• conferences and seminars, management training seminars, and staff training workshops in specific program areas;
• research and demonstration projects in the human services to extend knowledge, improve service delivery and management, and provide technical assistance in program improvement and change.