Education

• To educate mental health consumers, providers, and the general public about Psychiatric Service Dogs

Advocacy

• To empower consumers with Psychiatric Service Dogs to advocate on their own behalf
• To assist the legal community in advocating for the rights of Psychiatric Service Dog handlers
• To help ‘gatekeepers of public access’ understand their obligations under the law
• To partner with other mental health organizations in advocating for our rights

Research

• To document efficacy of Psychiatric Service Dog partnerships
• To understand how Psychiatric Service Dogs are being used and by whom
• To identify Psychiatric Service Dog teams 'best practices'
• To establish inclusion/exclusion criteria for prospective Psychiatric Service Dog handlers
• To identify training strategies that work well with mental health consumer populations
• To identify barriers to Psychiatric Service Dog team success

Training Facilitation

• To assist professional dog trainers in learning how to train a Psychiatric Service Dog
• To develop a nationwide resource of qualified Psychiatric Service Dog trainers
• To connect mental health consumers to a Psychiatric Service Dog trainer in their area
• To connect Psychiatric Service Dog consumers with each other for peer support