A number of OSRP members have contacted the OSRP Board about the upcoming Case-Based Assessment (CBA), part of the CRPO’s ongoing Quality Assurance (QA) Enhancement Project.

This is something that will, at some point, affect every CRPO Registrant, so even if you are not currently aware of the upcoming CBA, we want to help you learn more. Your association wants to help inform and empower all members as much as possible.

The OSRP/CRPO Committee does not currently have a Chair, so the Executive Committee of the Board has absorbed this responsibility. We have posted a job description for a newly-created position – OSRP Liaison to CRPO.

In the meantime, we have taken some action with regard to the CBA. 

The OSRP is a member of a larger, umbrella group of fellow associations called the PRPA: the Partnership of Registered Psychotherapist Associations.

The PRPA collectively represents one-third of all 11,000+ CRPO Registrants.

We have been working with the Chair of their standing PRPA CRPO Committee to bring items forward to the CRPO. We have raised all of the questions and concerns you shared with us (anonymized, of course). The PRPA, in consultation with OSRP, has focused its interventions with CRPO on seven areas:

• What led the CRPO to implement the CBA as part of its “Right Touch” efforts?
• How does our College compare to others, including those whose members practise the Controlled Act of Psychotherapy, in terms of:
  a) number of complaints received, and
  b) assessment/QA of its members?
• Can the CRPO explain to all Registrants:
  ○ who will be asked to take the CBA,
  ○ when they will be asked to take it, and
  ○ how it fits in with their overall QA schedule?

(NB: Most recently, the CRPO advised those who just did their regular bi-annual QA that the CBA will be randomly applied to 20% of all Registrants per year. It seems that every Active Registrant will be asked to do the CBA once every five years.)

• Is the CRPO certain that accessibility needs of neurodiverse, BIPoC, differently-abled, Senior, and other Equity-seeking Registrants have been met in all aspects of the CBA (even in the practice questions section of the CRPO website, which currently offers no accessibility supports, unlike the pilot CBA which offered multiple opportunities to obtain accessibility supports)?
• Is there a way for CRPO to know if there is an impact on neurodiverse, BIPoC, differently-abled, Senior, and other Equity-seeking Registrants (with reference to anxiety and other barriers)?
• Will the CRPO be offering alternate modes of assessment such as an open-book oral exam, if requested by Registrants?
• Registrants are aware of  the Ontario Human Rights Code and other protections. Has the CRPO had the opportunity to evaluate the administration of the CBA through this lens, or do an “accessibility audit” of materials?

We expect that the answers to the above questions, and others, will be found in upcoming CRPO communications to all Registrants.

Further, the Protect SubCommittee was established by the OSRP Board on Feb 17, 2023. 

Its mandate is to:

• help RPs, RP(Q)s and Students to protect themselves by identifying common ethical challenges and self-education around practising safely and ethically.
• initiate programs including webinars, newsletter articles etc. that help protect members before an ethical breach happens, from which complaints to the CRPO may arise
• drive discussions in Community groups for RPs
• propose topics that make impact (changemakers) 

In light of the upcoming CBA, we have chosen our first Seminar as follows:

PS: protect yourself Protect Seminar #1

RISK MITIGATION FOR PSYCHOTHERAPISTS

Analysis of the most common causes for complaints and lawsuits, with advice on how to avoid mistakes, and minimize the risk of discipline or malpractice judgments

Date: Thursday, April 6, 2023

Time: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Location: Central YMCA, 20 Grosvenor St, Toronto (Grosvenor Room) and Online via Zoom

Presenter: Lisa E. Hamilton, Partner, Temple Bell LLP, Litigation Lawyers.

This seminar includes:

• A slide presentation on risk mitigation and an opportunity for Q&A from in-person, and virtual attendees.
• Information from members about the CRPO’s upcoming CBA (Case-Based Assessment)

This will give all members an opportunity to work through the CBA practice questions in community, with supports and guidance from members who have completed the open-book pilot CBA when it was three hours long (now it’s four hours for the same number of multiple-choice questions (30), with an option to make an advance request more time as needed).

We hope many of you who have taken the pilot CBA might be able to attend, or anonymously submit comments in writing beforehand to mail@psychotherapyontario.org, to offer your wisdom to others.

• Deck and video available post-seminar for all member attendees and OSRP members who choose the “Next Best Thing” or “Flex Pass” options.

To register for this PS: Protect Seminar, and/or the other four offered in 2023, please visit: https://osrp.ca/events 

Thank you for your ongoing support as we work through this addition to the CRPO QA. The OSRP is trying to mitigate the impacts on all members, with special consideration for those who struggle with anxiety, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD and other forms of neurodiversity, and the impacts of oppression such as racism, classism, sexism, ageism, and ableism in all its forms.

We will continue to try to support and advocate for all members as best we can.

Please contact us directly at mail@psychotherapyontario.org if you are one of the 20% of Active Registrants randomly selected to do a CBA this May and you require additional supports. 

Also, if you want a sense of overall advocacy by the OSRP Board on behalf of psychotherapists, please visit a new feature on our website, Advocacy Corner.

Sincerely,

The Executive Committee of the OSRP

The Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists (OSRP) calls on Government to Take Action now that three parties have expressed support

The Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists (OSRP) calls on Government to Take Action now that three parties have expressed support

TORONTO, March 15, 2023 — An association of 1,200+ psychotherapists across Ontario calls on the federal government to remove the inequitable GST/HST requirement for counselling therapists and psychotherapists by immediately passing legislation to make therapy services tax-free in Canada. 

This month, bipartisan calls to end the bureaucratic semantics behind this tax have reached a crescendo of consensus. 

The March 2023 FINA Report from the Standing Committee on Finance, Chaired by Liberal MP Peter Fonseca, recommends that the Minister of Finance: "Exempt counselling therapy and psychotherapy from the application of GST/HST."

On March 9 2023, MP Stephen Ellis, Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, introduced his own Bill C-323 to exempt all mental health professionals from GST/HST. As he noted, “It makes no sense for psychotherapists and mental health counsellors to be subjected to this kind of taxation when physicians, psychiatrists, registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, and social workers are all exempt.” 

In December 2021, a bill was tabled by NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen to amend the Excise Tax Act and make psychotherapy services tax free — Bill C-218 — but a budgetary bill also must be tabled to make the change, something noted in the Coalition’s petition, signed by nearly 14,500 Canadians, and tabled this past March 6. The government has 45 business days from the tabling of the petition to respond in writing, but the Coalition hopes for action, not just more words, as soon as possible. 

“Now more than ever, Canadians deserve a mental health care system that provides them with the resources and supports they need in an accessible, and affordable fashion,” said Ms. Mathyssen. “I am pleased to be sponsoring a Bill to make that a reality, and to be supporting this campaign.”

Members of three national parties appear to have aligned on this issue. As noted in Ellis’ announcement: “According to Health Canada statistics, nearly one-quarter of Canadians over the age of fifteen self-report having unmet mental health needs. The services of a psychotherapist or a mental health counsellor are just as important to the health of Canadians and their families as those of a nurse or family doctor.”

And the toll of mental illness is an economic one as well. The Mental Health Commission of Canada estimates that the economic cost of those living with untreated mental health struggles is more than $50 billion annually.

“Increasing access to mental health services by eliminating this tax will result in saving far more money than would be taken out of the GST/HST revenue,” says Dr. Natasha Tuletta-Bowman, Co-Chair of the OSRP’s Advocacy Committee.

“Given everything that Ontarians from all regions, including BIPoC, LGBTQ+, Differently-Abled, Senior, Youth and Child Ontarians, have been through in the past few years, this is something that matters now more than ever,” says Rachel Fulford, a member of the National Coalition for Tax-Free Therapy.

“The government can easily demonstrate its commitment to supporting the mental health of Canadians by eliminating the tax on psychotherapy and counselling therapy services.” 

To learn more, and to send your letter of support calling on the government to remove the GST/HST requirement for counselling therapy and psychotherapy (almost 2,000 have already been sent via the site), visit www.taxfreetherapy.ca/

-30-

Media Inquiries: Rachel Fulford, Co-Chair, Advocacy Committee  advocacy@psychotherapyontario.org

For more evidence, and the story behind this inequitable tax, please visit: RESOURCES @ TaxFreeTherapy.ca

____________________________

^[1] Recommendation 32, p. 53 Committee Report No. 10 - FINA (44-1) - House of Commons of Canada

^[2] Video: Bill C-323 read in House of Commons by MP Stephen Ellis

^[3]https://www.conservative.ca/conservatives-introduce-bill-to-relieve-canadians-of-financial-burden-when-accessing-mental-health-services/

^[4] Mental Health Commission of Canada (2018 & 2014). Making the Case for Investing in Mental Health in Canada and Strengthening the Case for Investing https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/resource/strengthening-the-case-for-investingbackgrounder/ 

^[5] Ensuring all mental health services are tax exempt would result in a financial cost of 0.0004% of Canada’s total estimated budgetary revenue in 2023-2024 (15 Million per year). https://www.taxfreetherapy.ca/_files/ugd/b625ef_d3a5f6065d7e46fcb665b6a50d3bf672.pdf

Bill became a member of OSRP in 2009 and was very involved with RPIC on behalf of OSRP. For information about this ongoing campaign, please visit: https://rptherapybenefits.ca/

He was a very determined and dedicated therapist who was very passionate about the work he did for/with his clients. Bill passed away unexpectedly, at home on Sunday, December 25, 2022 at age 61.

Bill was a big man with a big heart whose laughter and lust for life touched many. For over 30 years, he dedicated himself to helping those damaged by the world, bringing his care and his wit to help them find a way through. His rough edges found their home in the world of rugby, often centred around the Aurora Barbarians RFC, where he found so much joy throughout his life, both on and off the field, as a great player and wonderful coach.

As a son, a little brother, an uncle, and cousin he was a charismatic maker of mischief who made everyone's life more interesting for having him in it. Both wise and innocent, warm and sharp, sometimes crass but always caring. Bill will be deeply missed by his family and his many friends.

The OSRP Board offers its sincere condolences to Bill's family, former colleagues and clients.

You can read more about Bill's life and legacy here https://www.hannahfuneralhome.com/obituary/Bill-McLaughlin

Please email us re: the passing of OSRP members so we can commemorate them, and please make a plan for someone to let us know in the event of your passing at mail@psychotherapyontario.org

With respect and appreciation for her service to our profession and the OSRP, we wish to note the passing of Mary Beatrice Greey, a founding member of OSRP.

Mary Greey trained and practised as a psychotherapist in the early days of the profession in Toronto. She was first a founder, and later — at 70 — became President of the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists. She was also a founding faculty member of the Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy. Though retired for 20 years from her professional activities, she is still remembered with warm respect by those who knew her as therapist, clinical supervisor, teacher/trainer, or colleague.

The OSRP Board offers its sincere condolences to her children, grandchildren, former colleagues, clients, students and supervisees, and her beloved spouse of 32 years, OSRP Clinical Member Pat DeYoung.

You can read more about Mary Greey’s life and legacy here: MARY GREEY Obituary (2023) - Midland, ON - Toronto Star (legacy.com) 

Please email us re: the passing of OSRP members so we can commemorate them, and please make a plan for someone to let us know in the event of your passing at mail@psychotherapyontario.org

All of us should have received this email in late January –

“This is a reminder that CRPO’s annual registration renewal period will be opening on February 1, 2023. Your renewal will be due by March 31, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. EST.  Please login to the registrant portal (https://crpo.ca.thentiacloud.net/webs/crpo/service/#/login) and complete your renewal.

Please see the Renewal page (https://www.crpo.ca/renewal/) for more information. If you have questions about the Health Professions Database (HPDB) Questions or renewal, please see the Renewal FAQ (https://www.crpo.ca/registration-renewal-faq/).”

We are advising ALL members to plan for this process early, because it is not a simple, or easily-affordable, undertaking for many of us.

A few things to note about your CRPO Renewal:

• You won’t be receiving an invoice, not even within your CRPO portal/website.
• The only way to pay is with a Visa credit card, or MasterCard credit card.
  ○      If you have neither, the only option the CRPO suggests is to buy a temporary Visa or MasterCard gift card.
  ○      These can be purchased from your bank, or from a chain store like WalMart, Shoppers Drug Mart, Best Buy etc.
• When you get to your dashboard, you can correct your personal information on the landing page (a separate activity than your renewal), but don’t scroll down to the list of invoices - it won’t be there.
• Go to the left menu and pick “Renewal.”
• There are no accessibility accommodations for neurodiverse registrants, registrants with visual impairments etc. on the Renewal portal, or in the Ministry of Health database questionnaire.
  ○      If you require accommodations to complete your renewal, please do not hesitate to email the CRPO directly (and promptly, since their response may take time) at info@crpo.ca
• You will be asked to confirm your currency hours (750 or more Direct Client Contact (DCC) hours for any of the Active categories).
  ○      You don’t need to provide documentation, but they may ask for it later, so good to have – even your own Excel or Word spreadsheet or other tracking document using initials or Unique Client Identifiers (such as numbers), not client names, addresses or any other identifying details, in case the CRPO asks for it later

• The Ministry of Health questionnaire, completed as part of your CRPO Renewal process, takes time and reflection as well. 
  ○      It asks you to divide your total number of hours worked (your DCC plus other hours, like teaching, supervision or research) into percentages, to give them a breakdown.
  ○      So you might say – 60% of my hours are direct client contact hours, 30% are administrative, 10% is research – or whatever is most accurate for you. There are no right or wrong answers.

Please plan for the $$$ cost of CRPO Renewal.

List of fees: CRPO Fees – College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario

• Registrants who do not renew their registration by 11:59 p.m. on March 31, 2023 will have a late fee of $150.00 + HST applied to their account.
• Registrants who are late and do not renew (including paying the late fee) on or before 11:59 p.m. on April 30, 2023, may be suspended.
• Suspended individuals are no longer able to practise the profession and the suspension is reflected on the Public Register.
• The fee for lifting a suspension is $350.00 + HST.

The OSRP may be posting a brief video webinar for members interested in a “share screen” opportunity to be guided through the renewal process, to be shared with all members.

The OSRP Board is thrilled to announce the appointment of Michael Diotte, OSRP Clinical Member in good standing, who has an Accounting degree as well as Bookkeeping and extensive Board/Not-for-Profit experience, to the role of Acting Treasurer. The Board appointed Michael in accordance with the OSRP bylaws and in consultation with our Parliamentarian. His email is treasurer@psychotherapyontario.org

Please join us in welcoming Michael to his new role, until the next Special General Meeting or Annual General Meeting of the Members, at which time we hope he will be willing to stand for election with the slate of 2023-24 Board Directors.

Now, we have another vacant position to fill: Executive Committee Secretary to the Board of Directors. We would welcome a member with strong communication skills and an eye for detail.

The OSRP is growing and developing as an organization representing a diverse group of RPs across Ontario. We intend to increase BIPoC and LGBTQ2S+ awareness and engagement at the OSRP. We need your voices. Please consider if having a seat on our Board as Acting Secretary would be a good fit for you.

If you are interested, or even “Board-Curious,” please email with your questions to nomination@psychotherapyontario.org and let’s talk!

RESOURCES & RE-Sources: BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Black History Month, recognized and celebrated here since 1995 following the initiative of the Honourable Jean Augustine, Canada’s first Black MP, who represented her Ontario riding for 13 years, is an opportunity for psychotherapists to continue resourcing ourselves for the work we do, and the experiences we have, all year long. We encourage all members to research (and re-re-re-search) the best sources for you.

We do have a few ideas to share below, and would love to hear yours. Please send your favourite resources to mail@psychotherapyontario.org and you may see them posted on our website.

To resource, or “re-Source” ourselves, is appropriate for Ontarians. After all, the word “Ontario'' comes from the Iroquois “kanadario,” meaning “sparkling” water. Lakes and rivers make up one-fifth of Ontario’s footprint. Each lake and river is continually re-Sourced and re-Freshed by springs, aquifers, reservoirs, ponds, streams, estuaries, ice, rainfall, and waterfalls of all shapes and sizes, including at Niagara. These sources continually oxygenate and revive our water – an essential source of vitality for all human, animal and plant life. Continuous flow and circulation, and re-circulation, makes our water safe and effective. So must we as RPs, RP(Q)s, Students and Retired Members continually dip our toes, and occasionally take deep dives, into new sources that re-Fresh and re-Vive our learning and our lives.

As documented in our Annual General Report in November, the OSRP Board was moved by the February 2022 Report released by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, cited in CRPO’s February 2022 Communiqué, entitled "Shining a Light on Mental Health in Black Communities." The MHCC Report spotlighted health disparities in Black Communities that speak directly to the gaps in service and resources that OSRP identified and began responding to in 2021.

Statistics from this report include:

• 38% of survey respondents who are Black, and reported poor or fair mental health, stated that they had used mental health services
• 60% said they would be more willing to use mental health services if the mental health professional was Black
• 35.4% were experiencing significant psychological distress, 34.2% of whom never sought mental health services.

Deborah Adams, Registrar and CEO of the CRPO, responded to the MHCC Report by stating, “The message that these statistics carry is clear: we need to work to reduce barriers like systemic inequities resulting from anti-Black racism and lack of representation in the profession to improve access to much-needed mental health care for the Black community in Ontario.”

Please have a look at the lived experience behind these statistics in “All Booked Up: The Frustration of Finding a Black Therapist” by Alicia Lue from The Walrus https://thewalrus.ca/why-are-there-so-few-black-therapists/

The CRPO has clearly mandated all Registrants to continue developing our cultural competencies. For example:

“Registrants are strongly encouraged to develop their learning on Canada’s Indigenous people and the ongoing effects of colonization.”  

–Indigenous Healthcare Law and Policy section of Professional Practice and Jurisprudence for RPs Professional Practice and Jurisprudence for Registered Psychotherapists – College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (crpo.ca)

“A registrant must not discriminate against any person on any prohibited ground. Examples of discrimination may include the following:

• refusing to accept or continue to treat a new client for a prohibited reason, such as race, gender identity, or sexual orientation;
• making a treatment decision for a prohibited reason;
• insulting a client in relation to a prohibited reason;
• refusing to allow a client with a disability to attend an appointment with a support person, assistive device, or service animal; and
• making assumptions, not based on clinical observation or professional knowledge and experience, about a person’s health or abilities because of their age or another prohibited reason.

It is not discrimination to make clinical decisions for reasons other than prohibited grounds. For example, if an RP does not have the competence to treat or continue to treat a person, a registrant should not initiate or continue therapy with a client. Such a decision to refuse or discontinue services must be made in good faith, communicated sensitively, and documented. It is discriminatory to claim one lacks competence as a pretence for refusing to provide service based on protected grounds.

RPs are similarly entitled to rely on professional knowledge, judgement, and experience to comment upon clinically relevant matters that relate, for example, to a person’s age, gender, or cultural background.”

–Human Rights and Accessibility Legislation section of Professional Practice and Jurisprudence for RPs  - our emphasis in bold Professional Practice and Jurisprudence for Registered Psychotherapists – College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (crpo.ca)

The OSRP Board has taken, and continues to take, our role as your elected representatives in this space very seriously. We have found ourselves and our clinical practices richly re-Sourced this past year by many currents of learning, including the following (all of which are intended for all adults):

1. My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies, a NYT Bestseller by Resmaa Menakem, author, Psychotherapist and founder of Somatic Abolitionism, specialising in the effects of trauma on the human body and the relationship between trauma, white body supremacy, and racism.
   
   My Grandmother's Hands—Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending ... by Resmaa Menakem (Excerpt) - YouTube
   
   An interview with Menakem from “On Being” with Krista Tippett Resmaa Menakem — 'Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence' | The On Being Project
   
   
2. 2022 Giller Prize winner for Fiction, Suzette Mayr’s The Sleeping Car Porter explores a crucial part of Canada’s Black History (also available as an audiobook): The Sleeping Car Porter | Coach House Books (chbooks.com)
   
   An interview/Q&A with Mayr from “The Giller Book Club” with Donna Bailey Nurse, literary critic The Giller Book Club: The Sleeping Car Porter - YouTube
   
   
3. Internal Racism: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Race and Difference by M. Fakhry Davids, author and Psychoanalyst, British Psychoanalytical Society Internal Racism: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Race and Difference by M. Fakhry Davids (karnacbooks.com)
   
   An Interview with Davids from “New Books in Psychoanalysis” with Tracy D. Morgan, Psychoanalyst, LCSW-R, M.Phil  New Books in Psychoanalysis: M. Fakhry Davids, "Internal Racism: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Race and Difference" (Red Globe, 2011) on Apple Podcasts
   
   Short video of Davids describing his interest in the geography of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis: Fakhry Davids - YouTube

Also please consider viewing or re-Viewing this OSRP seminar:

Embodied Liberation: Facilitating Healing, Recovery & Transformation, facilitated by Shalyn Isaacs, MEd, Counselling Psychology Candidate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POEk-He5LJo&list=PLYjVEWwVcJEInS0BJ6Ftn_wwmbzhYytfi&index=2

She discussed how:

• Systemic oppression experiences live in the bodies of those from marginalized groups.
• How do we release limiting beliefs to promote healing?
• How can we embody liberation?
• What will happen when you start feeling like your body is a home?
• Utilizing somatic frameworks, participants will create and embody narratives of empowerment.

Other re-Sources, flowing from far and wide:

25 books about being Black in Canada | CBC Books

25 Best Black Therapy Podcasts (chosen by FeedSpot): https://blog.feedspot.com/black_therapy_podcasts/

Some Black Therapist directories:

• Black Therapists in Ontario via Psychology Today
• Black Therapist Directory in Canada

Wishing all OSRP Members a re-Sourceful, re-Circulating and re-Viving Black History Month!

— The above was collected and written by Rachel Fulford, RP, Co-Vice-Chair and Chair of Advocacy, and approved by the Executive Committee.

Dear OSRP Members,

The OSRP Board would like to sincerely wish you and your loved ones all the very best for 2023.  We look forward to continuing to serve you in the coming year.

It seems like a lifetime ago, but we held a very successful AGM on November 18, 2022.

As promised, we are including the below, for every OSRP member who attended and those who were not able to.

NB: Please refrain from sharing this material outside of the OSRP Membership.

Please click below for more Board updates:

• A link to the video of the AGM: 
• Draft minutes of the AGM (which will be voted on at next year’s AGM), including all motions passed and vote tallies.
• A copy of the AGM Zoom chat, from which no member has asked to have their name removed
• A link to updated bios and photos of all current OSRP Directors 
• A list of Executive Committee members who were unanimously elected at the December 9, 2022 first meeting of the 2022-23 Board of Directors, with Dianne Wright unanimously elected as Interim Treasurer (for a 3-month term) on Friday January 6, 2023.
• Following our second Board meeting on Friday January 20, we will be announcing Committee Chairs, with open calls to join committees where there is a need for more volunteers.

Thank you for your support as we establish our new Board, Executive Committee and other new Committees, and prepare to address the mandate you generously gave us at the November AGM.

Wishing all members good fortune and felicity,

The OSRP Board of Directors

HST Exemption UPDATE: Please Share Before January 13

Thank you, amazing OSRP members, for your overwhelming support. The House of Commons Petition now has almost 13,500 signatures, and rising!

If you haven’t had a chance to sign and share: please do so here!

You can also write to your MP to ask them to support the removal of this unjust tax.  Please visit www.taxfreetherapy.ca for a pre-written letter, and a tool to email it to your rep.

All the info you need is at www.taxfreetherapy.ca.

None of this momentum would be possible without engaged members like you. Thank you so much!

PS: You can use the JPG attached & included here, or go here: Resources | TaxFreeTherapy to download our social media shareables, to share with your followers, tagging #taxfreetherapy please!

PPS: Please find celebrity video endorsements here: Media | TaxFreeTherapy alongside statements by MP Lindsay Mathyssen, Party Leader Jagmeet Singh and MP Carol Hughes which you can share as well as the CTV.ca article Psychotherapy should be tax-free in Canada, new campaign says | CTV News endorsing our campaign!

For questions or comments, or to share a response from your MP, please contact advocacy@psychotherapyontario.org

The OSRP office staff is getting ready to wind down for the winter season, and hopes to have time to rest and spend time with loved ones.

The OSRP’s office will be closed from 5 p.m. ET on Friday, December 23, 2022, until 9 a.m. on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, which means we won’t be returning phone calls and emails until January 3 or 4, 2023.

We wish you all the best for a healthy and prosperous new year!