NYACP Announces 2021 Dues Reduction

Dear NYACP Members and Friends,

The NYACP Board of Directors is very excited to announce a reduction in membership dues for 2021. In response to input from our members, and after considerable research and serious consideration, the Board voted last week to reduce dues 30% to $595 per year. The reduction acknowledges the need to continue to make NYACP leaner and more responsive to our member’s needs, while insuring the organization’s fiscal health.

The reduction was attainable by the savings recognized by moving to Capitol Hill Management Services and other cost cutting measures taken last year. However, since total dues income for NYACP will be significantly less, it will be imperative for the organization to recruit members to sustain the training and programming our members have enjoyed since its inception. The reduction of the cost of membership will hopefully encourage those who are interested in collaborative divorce to join and entice past members to rejoin. We will be looking to our current members to assist with recruitment and actively participate in the effort so we can maintain the new dues level, or even reduce it further in the years to come.

While the Board has been discussing a dues reduction for a number of years, given the impact that the Coronavirus has had on the membership, we felt the timing was imperative to meet the needs of our members. The Board will continue to be monitoring and evaluating the financial condition of the organization to insure its fiscal health.

NYACP President, Andrea Vacca, spoke for the entire Board, commenting “We listened to our members about the cost of membership and we responded. But now our goal must be to encourage member growth, and greater member participation, in our committees, at our events, and more full teams employing the collaborative process.”

Andrea added “I’m always impressed at how a collaborative team works for the betterment of our clients. However, I know there is more we can do. We need more collaborative professionals assisting couples and families during their transition no matter their skin color or how they identify sexually, and we also need to find a way to offer the collaborative divorce process to families with more modest socio-economic backgrounds.”

To that end, the new workgroup that is investigating how NYACP can utilize a Streamlined Collaborative Process has begun working to bring this flat-fee process to the organization which will have the added benefit of creating more cases for our members.

Additionally, because of the pandemic and our inability to offer our own in-person basic collaborative interdisciplinary training this year, NYACP will be accepting the IACP’s virtual Basic Training (https://www.collaborativepractice.com/iacp-events) for the remainder of 2020.

These actions and others to still come will make the NYACP more accessible, collaborative, innovative and successful.

Please spread the word about all these exciting developments!

If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the Board members, or the office.

NYACP Board of Directors

Andrea Vacca, President
Kenneth Novenstern, Vice President
Melissa Goodstein, Secretary
Nancy Kaye, Treasurer
Margaret Clark, Immediate Past President

Board Members:
Neil Cahn
Ellen Jancko-Baken
Michelle Lewis
Robert Raymond
Jeffrey Steiger
Meg Sussman