We would like to extend our gratitude to all the APA Convention 2023 presenters and attendees. What an inspiring time we had together in Washington, D.C. for the 2023 APA Convention! It was a wonderful experience to be able to come together in person to share knowledge and experience in our nation’s capital. The Social Hour and Award Ceremony were special highlights, with time for friends and colleagues to reconnect and new relationships to form!

The program through SCCAP was remarkable. We had the opportunity to learn about “wicked problems” from our SCCAP President, Dr. Yo Jackson. Dr. Stephen Hinshaw, our Distinguished Career Award winner, provided us with a broad view on developmental psychopathology, stigma in mental health, and the need for science and humanization to address youth/young adult mental health. We also were inspired towards identifying a path for innovation and progress through a talk given by our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Bruce Chorpita.

Our student and early career members expressed excitement over the new knowledge they had gained through listening to presentations from our speakers and interacting at social and mentoring events through the SCCAP suite programming as well. If you were not able to attend the Main Stage and Feature Stage programming, you can still access presentations at https://convention.apa.org/ on demand if you registered for APA. We are hopeful that these presentations and the knowledge you gained at APA 2023 will help you stay intellectually engaged until next year’s convention!

2024: Looking forward to Seattle and looking back over 25 years as a unique Division!

APA 2024 is planned for August 8-10 next year in Seattle, Washington. In 2024, we are thrilled to add Co-Chair, Kelsie Okamura, Ph.D., to the convention programming team! Dr. Okamura is an implementation researcher at the Baker Center for Children and Families and has expertise in the areas of youth internalizing disorders, evidence-based innovations, and dissemination and implementation science. We appreciate the tremendous contributions her unique perspective will bring to the team. 

The 2024 APA Annual Convention will be a very special year for SCCAP as we will celebrate our 25th year as a unique division in APA! Conference programming for 2024 will include historical perspectives on the impact of work that has come from our division as well as opportunities to come together to envision a path for the future. We look forward to a special panel of past SCCAP presidents who will offer us a unique developmental perspective on the division and its growth over time. We also welcome submissions of proposals that align with division themes and provide perspectives on translational science, developmental psychopathology, innovative clinical or therapeutic approaches, or prioritize the needs of underrepresented populations.

Posters, Symposia, Discussions, and Skill-Building Sessions: Due Date TBA (early 2024)

We look forward to receiving proposals for a range of presentation types, including posters, symposia, discussions, and skill-building sessions. Our community benefits greatly from perspectives from BIPOC and members of underrepresented groups, and proposals that represent the unique need of underserved and/or underrepresented populations. Individuals across settings and degree status (i.e., trainees, early career professionals, practicing psychologists, researchers, and academics) are all welcomed to participate through proposal submission—your contributions to learning within our community is truly important!

Be on the lookout for the 2024 Call for Proposals portal on the APA website in late October/early November. Please feel free to reach out to us at our SCCAP conference email address: APAConvention@sccap53.org. We are happy to give feedback and provide more information as you prepare your proposals.