SB251 HD1

Report Title:

Professional Counselors

Description:

Establishes a professional counselor certification program that applies to mental health counselors. (SB251 HD1)

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	251
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to professional counselors.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the Felix v. Cayetano consent decree demands substantial improvement in the children's mental health delivery system in Hawaii. A key component of the decree is the inclusion of basic mental health and case management services. These are areas requiring trained and qualified professional counselors. Presently, a lack of qualified mental health professionals costs Hawaii thousands of dollars in transportation costs when qualified professional counselors already residing on the neighbor islands could provide services at a lesser cost and with more community awareness. Lack of regulation of professional counselors prevents the citizens of Hawaii from the choice of mental health practitioners if they use their medical insurance plans to cover the cost of medically necessary counseling services. It also prevents the State, nonprofit agencies, and providers from seeking third-party reimbursement from insurance plans when a professional counselor provides counseling services.

There is approximately a thirty per cent savings in reimbursement rates to professional counselors compared to the reimbursement rates to licensed psychologists for comparable counseling services. At the same time, professional counselors generally require fewer sessions. It makes good economic sense for the State, and demonstrates a compassionate concern for the mental health needs of Hawaii's citizens, to regulate professional counselors.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Set standards of qualifications regarding education and experience of mental health counselors; and

(2) Require certification for those persons who seek to represent themselves to the public as certified professional counselors.

SECTION 2. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"CHAPTER

PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS

§ -1 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires:

"Accredited institution" means a university or college accredited by a nationally-recognized accrediting agency of institutions of higher education.

"Advertise" means the issuing of or causing to be distributed any card, sign, or device to any person, or the causing, permitting, or allowing of any sign or marking on or in any building, on radio or television, or by using any other means designed to secure public attention.

"Appraisal" means the use of nonstandardized methods and techniques, such as observation and interviewing, for understanding human behavior in relation to coping with, adapting to, or changing life situations of a physical, mental, or emotional nature.

"Assessment" means selecting, administering, scoring, and interpreting instruments designed to assess an individual's aptitudes, attitudes, abilities, achievements, interests, personal characteristics, and current emotional or mental state by appropriately educated, trained, and experienced clinicians.

"Certified professional counselor" means a person who uses the title of certified professional counselor or professional counselor, who has been issued a certificate under this chapter, and whose certificate is in effect and not revoked or suspended.

"Clinical supervision" is supervision applied to all individuals who are gaining the experience required for certification as a professional counselor. Clinical supervision requires extensive involvement on the part of the supervisor to help the supervisee improve and learn new professional counseling skills. It includes but is not limited to:

(1) Case consultation of the assessment and of the presenting problem;

(2) Development and implementation of treatment plans;

(3) Enhancement of the supervisee's counseling techniques and evaluation of the course of treatment; and

(4) Evaluation of the course of treatment.

"Clinical supervisor" includes licensed psychiatrists, psychologists, professional counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists with at least two years of post-graduate experience.

"Consulting" means the application of scientific principles and procedures in psychotherapeutic counseling, guidance, and human development to provide assistance in understanding and solving a problem that the consultee may have in relation to a third party.

"Counseling treatment interventions" means the application of cognitive, affective, behavioral, and systemic counseling strategies that include principles of development, wellness, and pathology that reflect a pluralistic society. Counseling treatment interventions are specifically implemented in the context of a professional counseling relationship.

"Department" means the department of commerce and consumer affairs.

"Director" means the director of commerce and consumer affairs.

"Professional counseling" means the application of mental health, psychological, and human development principles to:

(1) Facilitate human development and adjustment throughout the lifespan;

(2) Prevent, appraise, and treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders and associated distresses that interfere with mental health;

(3) Conduct appraisals and assessments for the purpose of establishing treatment goals and objectives; and

(4) Plan, implement, and evaluate treatment plans using counseling treatment interventions.

The practice of professional counseling includes but is not limited to:

(1) Individual and group counseling;

(2) Assessment and appraisal of persons with mental and emotional disorders using adjunctive resources and consultations;

(3) Plan treatment and counsel persons with mental and emotional disorders using adjunctive resources and consultants;

(4) Crisis intervention;

(5) Consulting;

(6) Research; and

(7) Referral.

The use of specific methods, techniques, or modalities within the practice of professional counseling is restricted to professional counselors appropriately trained in the use of such methods, techniques, and modalities.

"Professional counselor" as used in this chapter means a mental health counselor.

"Referral" means the evaluation of information to identify the needs of the person being counseled to:

(1) Determine the advisability of sending the person being counseled to other specialists;

(2) Inform the person being counseled of such judgment; and

(3) Communicate the information to other counseling services as deemed appropriate.

"Use a title or description of" means to hold oneself out to the public as having a particular status by stating the status on signs, mailboxes, address plates, stationery, announcements, telephone directory advertising, business cards, or other instruments of professional identification.

§ -2 Professional counselors certification program. There is established a professional counselors certification program within the department to be administered by the director.

§ -3 Powers and duties of the director. In addition to any other powers and duties authorized by law, the director shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) Grant permission to a person to use the title or description of certified professional counselor in this State pursuant to this chapter and the rules adopted pursuant thereto;

(2) Adopt, amend, or repeal rules pursuant to chapter 91 as the director finds necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter;

(3) Administer, coordinate, and enforce this chapter and rules adopted pursuant thereto;

(4) Discipline a certified professional counselor for any cause described by this chapter or for any violation of the rules, or refuse to certify a person for failure to meet certification requirements or for grounds for disciplining a certified professional counselor; and

(5) Appoint an advisory committee consisting of certified professional counselors and members of the public, or as determined by the director, to assist with the implementation of this chapter and the rules adopted pursuant thereto; provided that the initial members of the committee who are professional counselors shall not be required to be certified pursuant to this chapter.

§ -4 Fees; disposition. (a) Application, examination, reexamination, certification, renewal, restoration, penalty, and any other fee relating to administration of this chapter, none of which are refundable, shall be as provided in rules adopted by the director pursuant to chapter 91.

(b) Fees assessed shall defray costs incurred by the director to support the operation of the professional counselor certification program. Fees collected shall be managed in accordance with section 26-9(l).

§ -5 Prohibited acts. Except as specifically provided in this chapter, no person shall use the title or describe oneself as a certified professional counselor or professional counselor or the meaning of professional counselor as defined in this chapter without first having secured a certification under this chapter. The department shall investigate and prosecute any individual using the title or description of certified professional counselor or professional counselor without the proper certification as a professional counselor. Any person who violates this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000. Each day's violation shall be deemed a separate offense. Any action taken to impose or collect the fine imposed under this section shall be a civil action.

§ -6 Exemptions. (a) Certification shall not be required of:

(1) A person doing work within the scope of practice or duties of the person's profession that overlaps with the practice of professional counseling (for example, the clergy); provided the person does not purport to be a professional counselor;

(2) Any full-time student enrolled in a regionally-accredited educational institution in a recognized program of study leading toward attainment of a graduate degree in professional counseling or other professional field; provided that the student's activities and services are part of a prescribed course of study supervised by the educational institution and the student is identified by an appropriate title including but not limited to "professional counseling student" or "trainee", "clinical psychology student" or "trainee", "clinical social work student" or "trainee", "marriage and family counseling student" or "trainee", or any title that clearly indicates training status; or

(3) Any individual who uses the title "counselor intern" for the purpose of obtaining clinical experience in accordance with section -7(a)(3).

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent qualified members of other licensed professions as defined by any law or rule of the department, including but not limited to social workers, registered nurses, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, or physicians, from doing or advertising that they assist or treat individuals, couples, or families consistent with the accepted standards of their respective licensed professions; provided that no such persons shall use a title or description stating or implying that they are a certified professional counselor.

§ -7 Application for certification as a professional counselor. (a) Any person who applies to the department after July 1, 2003, shall be issued a certification by the department if the applicant provides satisfactory evidence to the department that the applicant is qualified to be certified pursuant to the requirements of this chapter and meets the following qualifications:

(1) Has a master's degree or doctoral degree from a regionally-accredited institution in counseling or in an allied field related to the practice of professional counseling that includes or is supplemented by graduate level course work comprising a minimum of forty-eight semester or seventy-two quarter hours in the following course areas:

(A) Human growth and development, three hours;

(B) Social and cultural foundations, three hours;

(D) Group theory and practice, six hours;

(E) Career and lifestyle development, three hours;

(F) Appraisal of human behavior, six hours;

(G) Tests and measurements, three hours;

(H) Research and program evaluation, three hours; and

(I) Professional orientation and ethics, three hours;

(2) Has at least two academic terms of practicum experience in a counseling setting with three hundred hours of supervised client contact;

(3) Completes three thousand hours of post-graduate direct counseling work with six hundred hours of clinical supervision within a period of three years; and

(4) Passes the national board for certified counselors examination.

§ -8 Examination. (a) The department shall conduct a certification examination of applicants at least once a year at a time and place designated by the department.

(b) The department shall administer the national board for certified counselors examination in compliance with the regulatory board's standards.

§ -9 Certification fees. Certification shall be valid for three years and shall be renewed triennially, with the renewal fee being determined by the department. Any applicant for renewal of a certification that has expired within one year of the renewal deadline shall be required to pay a restoration fee in addition to all renewal fees determined by the department.

§ -10 Renewal of certification. Certifications shall be renewed triennially not earlier than ninety days before June 30, with the first renewal deadline occurring on June 30, 2006. Failure to renew a certification shall result in a forfeiture of the certificate. Certificates that have been so forfeited may be restored within one year of the expiration date upon payment of renewal and restoration fees. Failure to restore a forfeited certification within one year of the date of its expiration shall result in the automatic termination of the certificate and the person may be required to reapply for certification as a new applicant.

§ -11 Denial, revocation, or suspension of certification. (a) The department shall deny, revoke, condition, or suspend certification granted pursuant to this chapter on the following grounds:

(1) Conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction of a crime that the department has determined to be of such nature as to render the person convicted unfit to practice professional counseling;

(2) Failure to report in writing to the director any disciplinary decision related to the provision of mental health services issued against the certified professional counselor or the applicant in another jurisdiction within thirty days of the disciplinary decision or within thirty days of certification;

(3) Violation of recognized ethical standards for professional counselors as set by the discipline's association;

(4) Fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining certification;

(5) Revocation, suspension, or other disciplinary action by another state or federal agency against a certified professional counselor or applicant for any reason provided by this section; or

(6) Other just and sufficient cause which renders a person unfit to practice professional counseling.

(b) Any certified professional counselor who violates this section may also be fined not more than $1,000 per violation.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2002-2003 to implement the professional counselor certification program established by this Act.

The sum shall be expended by the department of commerce and consumer affairs for the purpose of this Act.

SECTION 4. The director of commerce and consumer affairs may appoint an administrative assistant and secretary, without regard to chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to assist with the activities of the counselors certification program.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.