Psychiatric Service Dog Partners

Psychiatric Service Dog Partners' purpose is to promote the mental health of people using service dogs for psychiatric disabilities by educating, advocating, providing expertise, facilitating peer support, and promoting responsible service dog training and handling.

Our goals to achieve this mission include: (1) Expanding and revising the content and resources available to the public on our website and through social media to satisfy the different needs of those with psychiatric disabilities and those who, for example, need to understand their business's obligations, (2) Effecting positive political change in ways that are just and good for those with disabilities and everyone else, (3) Responsively serving the peer support needs of those with mental health disabilities involved with psychiatric service dogs, (4) Providing in-person meetings for peer support and service dog training facilitation that are as accessible to and successful for our population as they can be.

These goals are aimed at helping those with mental health disabilities to engage with the world in healthy ways they might not otherwise, promoting not only their growth but the growth of their broader communities.

Our strategies are in line with our enumerated goals above:

(1) We are in a continuous state of brainstorming and drafting articles and other content for our website; we regularly produce such resources and announce them through social media. We employ Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools, as well as regular peer guidance group/listserv surveys, to discern the needs and desires of our community and the greater public. We adjust our focus toward producing those resources that best align with consumer needs and our capabilities.

(2) Our leadership stays connected with federal regulators, state disability rights groups, and other advocates across the globe. These connections enable us to remain alert to political proposals involving service animals and disabilities, and we thereby may nimbly respond when bills are drafted or regulations proposed. We submit well-researched, well-reasoned, fair-to-all-sides comments on these issues, encouraging our community members and others to do the same. We also actively work toward coalitions and community solidarity so our intertwined causes can pull more weight toward common goals.

(3) Our peer guidance group/listserv leadership enforces well-forged rules for a safe community. They have also been regularly enlisting the help and feedback of other members through interpersonal communication and group surveys, allowing them to continuously adapt in ways the community requires and is best served by.

(4) The crown jewel of our year is our annual convention for psychiatric service dog handlers. This allows for a depth of development and support not afforded by online means. As much as possible, we try to provide scholarships so that various members of the community are able to attend and our conventions are better for the diversity. We also try always to repeat the successful strategies we've learned and carve out any less helpful aspects of past conventions.

An all-volunteer board of directors runs Psychiatric Service Dog Partners. Each member of the board is either psychiatrically disabled, physically disabled, or both, bringing both insight and passion. These qualities have directed the board in its multiple collective decades of leadership in psychiatric service dog related nonprofits.

As above, we will enumerate our capabilities in line with our enumerated goals:

(1) Everyone on the board contributes to the production of website content—as do other community members—as each person has unique insights to offer. Many of the articles have been drafted or edited by a board member who taught critical reasoning and persuasive writing to students at a top university with great success. Many have also been drafted by another board member with research and teaching experience from earning her PhD, also at a top university. Beyond academic credentials, each board member brings experience to bear on our content that immeasurably strengthens it and increases its popular appeal, keeping us relatably grounded.

(2) It is difficult for a small group to follow the relevant political developments of a single nation, let alone many. We rely not only on technology, but also on informants to keep apprised of these developments. In service of these relationships, we continue to grow in our peer groups' esteem as board members give individual and joint presentations, such as with Disability Rights California and at guide dog conferences. We have also been developing a powerful reputation as a group to contact when a letter needs to be written to create change. Our board members' research, reasoning, and writing capabilities are perfectly suited to engaging in this process.

(3) Our peer guidance group/listserv leadership has been providing a safe, supportive environment for members of psychiatric service dog listservs for over a decade. Our survey and oft-received non-survey feedback afford us opportunities to respond to the developing needs and desires of our community members. We have explanatory pages and a contact form on our website, and our all-volunteer staff speedily returns listserv inquiries.

(4) Our annual convention is planned so that in the absence of external financial support, the low registration fee can be used to fully finance the convention. Extra support/donations allow us to offer scholarships for deserving individuals who may not be able to attend without facing economic hardships. We are experienced at negotiating the right location for the right price.

Again, our responses here are in line with the goals enumerated above:

(1) We have provided well above four new website items in the past six months. We have also assessed website user-friendliness and made appropriate changes, which we continue to keep an eye on. Our search engine rankings have increased through the methodical use of search engine optimization software and systemwide strategies. We have used data, feedback, and increased design knowledge to update our site presentation so it is more effective at providing the assistance people need. This includes creating survey-style tools to help individuals get the tailored answers they need.

All of these specific points are just to say that we are making excellent progress toward better addressing and serving the public through our website, and that we are well-poised and progressing toward ramping up that progress.

(2) We have had many successes regarding political change. Among these are stopping a harmful service dog standards development process in Canada and staying in contact with USDOT about flight access law updates. We conducted a 926-response survey at DOT's request for data, the results from which we are using to advocate for updates that end disability-based discrimination and help in other ways. We have had more partners in tracking political change join us to keep us informed, and we are continuing our relationships with other organizations to bring the solidarity movement forward.

This all means that as much as we are able, we are making wonderful progress at shaping a just political landscape for everyone.

(3) Our peer guidance group continuously receives stories along the lines found in our "Personal Impact" and "Work & Task Stories" sections of our website (links below). These kinds of stories are our great and uplifting joy. We are also happy to report an average of one rule enforcement action a month, signaling that the community remains safe.

https://www.psychdogpartners.org/can-help/personal-impact

https://www.psychdogpartners.org/resources/work-tasks/work-task-stories

(4) The last results compiled from our anonymous convention survey ranked the overall convention at 4.86 out of 5. Past comments have included “Thank you so much for the best part of my year!" & “I can't wait for the next one!", and we had no significantly negative remarks. At least 70% of the participants have been to a previous convention. Past planning had revealed many opportunities for improvement, so we have conscientiously striven to improve each time over about a decade of planning this kind of event. This has positioned us well to incorporate new, pandemic-related safety protocols after canceling our 2020 convention.

We love to hold our annual convention, and the participants clearly love to attend! Convention-goers find the education and memories invaluably helpful and inspiring.