Ms. Deppe is the director of state advocacy in the Government Relations and Public Policy division at ASHA. In that capacity, she coordinates the priorities of ASHA’s state advocacy team, serves as the ASHA liaison to states in the Central/ Midwest region under ASHA’s state outreach initiative and provides assistance and support to further state legislative and regulatory efforts, and administrative and management issues. She monitors credentialing, health and education legislation and regulations in states, and represents ASHA at federal and state meetings. Janet works with states and government agencies to maintain quality standards for speech-language pathologists and audiologists and to assist state associations in developing resources and models for dealing with persistent vacancies in health and education settings. Janet is the ex officio for the School Finance Committee whose focus is to help members understand and access complex federal, state and local funding mechanisms.