Report Title:

Mental Health Counselors; Licensing

 

Description:

Amends the mental health counselor licensure application date to include counselors who have completed or are in the process of completing the requirements for licensure before July 1, 2007.  Repeals the sunset date on mental health counselor licensure.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1451

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to mental health counselors.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  Act 14, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006 (Act 14), was enacted to amend the definition of the "practice of mental health counseling" by clarifying that professional counseling services are determined by the specialized education, training, and experience that a practitioner has completed.  In addition, Act 14 sets terms and conditions for interns and post-graduate work.

     The purpose of this Act is to clarify the requirements for mental health counselor licensure by establishing that those persons who applied to the department after July 1, 2005, and graduated from an accredited program before July 1, 2007, may be eligible for licensure.

     SECTION 2.  Section 453D-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§453D-7  Application for licensure as a mental health counselor.  (a)  Any person who applies to the department after July 1, 2005, and who graduated after July 1, 2007, from an accredited program as specified in paragraph (1), shall be issued a license by the department if the applicant provides satisfactory evidence to the department that the applicant is qualified for licensure pursuant to the requirements of this chapter and meets the following qualifications:

     (1)  A master's degree or doctoral degree from an accredited educational institution in counseling or in an allied field related to the practice of mental health counseling that includes or is supplemented by graduate level course work in counseling comprising a minimum of forty-eight semester hours or seventy-two quarter hours in the following course areas, with a minimum of three semester hours or five quarter hours in each course area as indicated below:

         (A)  Human growth and development, including but not limited to the study of life span development, strategies to facilitate that development and transitions, theories of learning and personality development, and human behavior to include crisis, disabilities, addictive behavior, and environmental factors;

         (B)  Social and cultural foundations, including but not limited to the study of issues and trends in a multicultural and diverse society, including characteristics of diverse groups that may include but are not limited to age, race, religious or sexual preference, physical disability, ethnicity and culture, gender, socioeconomics, intellectual ability, and individual, family, and group strategies with diverse populations;

         (C)  Counseling theories and applications, including but not limited to counseling and consultation, including both individual and systems perspectives, interviewing, assessment, and counseling skills, as well as applying principles, methods, and theories of counseling, treatment and counseling of mental and emotional disorders, and educational techniques aimed at preventing such disorders with individuals and families;

         (D)  Group theory and practice, including but not limited to principles of group dynamics, group process, group leadership styles, theories and methods of group counseling, and the application of theory to the group processes;

         (E)  Career and lifestyle development, including but not limited to the study of vocational development theories and decisionmaking models, assessment instruments, and techniques, types, sources, and uses of occupational and educational information systems, career development applications, and career counseling processes, techniques, and resources;

         (F)  Appraisal of human behavior, including but not limited to assessment and diagnosis of disorders with an emphasis on DSM-IV categories, and an understanding of these disorders relative to the counseling context;

         (G)  Tests and measurements, including but not limited to theoretical and historical bases for assessment techniques, assessment methods, including analysis of various types of tests in order to select, administer, interpret, and use assessment and evaluation instruments and techniques in counseling;

         (H)  Research and program evaluation, including but not limited to research design and methods, statistical analysis, principles, practices, and application of needs assessment, and program evaluation; and

         (I)  Professional orientation and ethics, including but not limited to the history of the helping profession, professional roles and functions, ethical standards, confidentiality, professional organizations, and the public policy process, including advocacy on behalf of the profession and its clientele;

     (2)  At least two academic terms of supervised mental health practicum intern experience for graduate credit of at least three semester hours or five quarter hours per academic term in a mental health counseling setting with three hundred hours of supervised client contact; the practicum experience shall be completed under the clinical supervision of a person who is licensed as a mental health counselor, psychologist, clinical social worker, advanced practice registered nurse with a specialty in mental health, marriage and family therapist, or physician with a specialty in psychiatry;

     (3)  Completion of three thousand hours of post-graduate experience in the practice of mental health counseling with one hundred hours of face-to-face clinical supervision [which] that shall be completed in no less than two years and in no more than four years, under the clinical supervision of a person who is a licensed mental health counselor, psychologist, clinical social worker, advanced practice registered nurse with a specialty in mental health, marriage and family therapist, or physician with a specialty in psychiatry; and

     (4)  Passed the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification.

     (b)  An individual who:

     (1)  Holds current, unencumbered certification as a national certified counselor or a national certified rehabilitation counselor prior to [the effective date of this chapter;] July 1, 2005;

     (2)  Has passed the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification, National Clinical Mental Health Counselors Examination of the National Board for Certified Counselors, or Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification examination after January 1, 2000, and before July 1, 2005; and

     (3)  Within one year of [the effective date of this chapter,] July 1, 2005, applies for licensure and pays the applicable license fee, shall be deemed to have met the requirements of this section.

     (c)  Any person who applies to the department after July 1, 2005, and who graduated before July 1, 2007, from an accredited program as specified in paragraph (1), shall be issued a license by the department if the applicant provides satisfactory evidence to the department that the applicant is qualified for licensure pursuant to the requirements of this chapter and meets the following qualifications:

     (1)  A master's degree or doctoral degree from an accredited educational institution in counseling or in an allied field related to the practice of mental health counseling that includes or is supplemented by graduate level course work in counseling consistent with the requirements of subsection (a)(1);

     (2)  At least two academic terms of supervised practicum intern experience for graduate credit of at least three semester hours or five quarter hours per academic term in a counseling setting with at least three hundred hours of supervised client contact;

     (3)  Completion of at least three thousand hours of post-graduate experience in counseling with one hundred hours of face-to-face clinical supervision over a period of at least two years, and under the clinical supervision of a person who holds an advanced degree in counseling or a closely related field, including social work, psychology, psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, or marriage and family therapy; and

     (4)  Passed the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification."

     SECTION 3.  Section 26H-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§26H-4  Repeal dates for newly enacted professional and vocational regulatory programs.  [(a)]  Any professional or vocational regulatory program enacted after January 1, 1994, and listed in this section shall be repealed on December 31, 2008.  The auditor shall perform an evaluation of the program, pursuant to section 26H-5, prior to its repeal date[.

     (b)  Chapter]; provided that chapter 453D (mental health counselors) shall not be repealed [on December 31, 2008]."

     SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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