2017 Annual Report

The Foundation for Rehabilitation Psychology (FRP) was established in 2005 by a group of past presidents of the Division of Rehabilitation Psychology (Division 22) of the American Psychological Association (APA). They envisioned the Foundation as the means through which all who care about the future of Rehabilitation Psychology could invest in its vitality and growth through tax-deductible donations and planned gifts.

ACTIVITIES

The Foundation for Rehabilitation Psychology is a charitable 501(c) 3 corporation. In 2013, the FRP Board completed strategic planning resulting in an enhanced mission and vision statement, with specific strategies, goals and timelines delineated for the subsequent five years. The mission is “Advancing the Psychology of Disability and Chronic Health Conditions” with a vision of improving society by making the foundational insights of the psychology of disability and chronic health conditions common knowledge. Specific strategies were formulated and are being pursued including updating the FRP Board composition, better communication of the foundational principles of Rehabilitation Psychology, increasing the donor base, and enhancing the foundation’s research support capacity. During 2017, Dr. Scott Richards worked with Division 22 students, Joshua McKeever and Brent Womble, to enhance the FRP presence on the Division’s website.  Dr. Barry P. Nierenberg is coordinating ongoing submissions of classic papers reflective of “foundations from the Foundation”: the FRP’s strategy of highlighting the field’s academic legacy. Dr. Dana Dunn, FRP Board Member, with the help of the Student Leadership Network (SLN) and Dr. Nierenberg, presented a webinar on 10/13/17 titled “Rehabilitation Psychology and the Foundational Principles”.  Dr. Ehde continues to coordinate the process of soliciting and selecting dissertation and student research award winners. There were two applications this year and one was funded (see next page for details). The Science Committee of Division 22 again provided judging for these awards. The FRP Board recognized the seminal contributions of Dr. Charles Callahan to the Board following his resignation.  The Board also recognized and thanked Gerald Yeo, student representative to the Board for his considerable contributions, as well as those of Dr. Michelle Meade, ex-officio member of the Board who yielded her position to Dr. Joseph Rath, incoming President-elect of the Division.  The Board welcomed two distinguished long-time Division 22 members to the Board: Dr. Suzanne Bruyere and Dr. Kate Brown.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND GOALS

The Board planned on distributing grants when the Foundation’s funds reached $100,000. We reached that level in 2012 after seven years of the Foundation’s existence. Expenditures in 2017 in support of the field were as follows:

ANNUAL CONFERENCE SUPPORT

Over the past seven years, the Board has provided unrestricted support to the Rehabilitation Psychology Annual Conference to help make this important educational meeting more affordable to all attendees.

STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDS

The Foundation provided $1000 for student research awards at the 2017 Annual Conference and committed $1000 for the 2018 meeting. These funds make the educational meeting more affordable for graduate students and recognize their research accomplishments.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP NETWORK (SLN) SUPPORT

The Board provided inaugural resources for establishment of the Rehabilitation Psychology Student Leadership Network and has continued to support it since.

DISSERTATION AWARDS

$7654 was dispersed for dissertation awards from 2016, and $1000 for travel for two prior awardees to present at the 2017 conference.  One new award totaling $3000 plus $500 travel costs was announced this year adding with a total of 15 dissertation awards granted since 2012. The awardee this year is:

Lakeya McGill, M.A., University of Maryland
Dissertation Title: Participation and life satisfaction in individuals with pediatric onset SCI

STUDENT AWARDS FOR THE REHABPSYCH17 MEETING

Oral presentation award:

Hickson, B., Taub, E., Womble, B., Mark, V. W., McLain, A., & Uswatte, G. (2017, February). CI Biofeedback therapy (CIBT) in two patients with initially motor complete tetraplegia following high cervical spinal cord injuries.

Poster Award:

Seagly, K., Millis, S.R., Hanks, R.A. (2017, February). Long-term Trajectory of Life Satisfaction 25 Years Following TBI

*Awardees for 2018 had not been selected at the time this report was written

FUNDRAISING GOAL

The long-term goal is to establish an endowment of $1 million. This endowment will permit investment earnings to substantially underwrite the annual conference and provide graduate student dissertation research grants in perpetuity. The Board spent considerable time this year under the leadership of Dr. John Corrigan, learning about Planned Giving and, when possible, committing individually to some form of legacy gift to FRP.  A major focus for the coming years will be informing and soliciting Division 22 members about Planned Giving to FRP.

FUNDS

In addition to a General Fund, the Foundation for Rehabilitation Psychology has established two special funds that align with our mission and honor two individuals with notable contributions to our field.

The Bernard Brucker Continuing Professional Educational Fund supports the Rehabilitation Psychology annual meeting. Dr. Brucker was a President of Division 22, a founding member of FRP, and a founding member and President of the American Board of Rehabilitation Psychology. He was also an innovative researcher and internationally renowned speaker until his death in 2008. Donations to this fund are dedicated in their entirety to support the midwinter meeting.

The Mitchell Rosenthal Fund provides funds to support doctoral dissertation and student research in Rehabilitation Psychology, as well as the full mission of the Foundation. Dr. Rosenthal was a President of Division 22 and a founding member and President of FRP until his death in 2007. He was also a founding member and President of the American Board of Rehabilitation Psychology. He was a world-renowned leader in the field of brain injury rehabilitation as a researcher, writer, and mentor to hundreds of students and colleagues.

ENDOWMENT FUND MANAGEMENT

The Foundation for Rehabilitation Psychology works with the Columbus Foundation, a large community foundation, to manage the FRP endowment. Their low fees minimize expenses and their organizational structure enables the Foundation to operate without paid staff. The Columbus Foundation has over 70 years of experience and manages over $1.5 billion in assets. They provide expertise in planned giving and can consult with donors for gifting via their wills, life insurance policies, retirement funds and other estate planning vehicles. The Columbus Foundation also enables automatic monthly contributions to FRP.

YEAR-END FINANCIAL SUMMARY FOR 2017

The Columbus Foundation maintains the “Foundation for Rehabilitation Psychology Organization Endowment Fund (2306)” with assets of $134,000 at the end of 2017. The Foundation maintains a checking account for expenses; the balance at the end of 2017 was $7,400.

The Board of Directors extends a sincere Thank You to our generous donors.