House File 494 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 494
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE
GOVERNMENT
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 90)
(COMPANION TO SF 127 BY
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act establishing the professional counselors licensure
2 compact.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 147G.1 Professional counselors
2 licensure compact.
3 1. Purpose. The purpose of this compact is to facilitate
4 the interstate practice of licensed professional counselors
5 with the goal of improving public access to professional
6 counseling services. The practice of professional counseling
7 occurs in the state where the client is located at the time of
8 the counseling services. The compact preserves the regulatory
9 authority of states to protect public health and safety
10 through the current system of state licensure. This compact is
11 designed to achieve the following objectives:
12 a. Increase public access to professional counseling
13 services by providing for the mutual recognition of other
14 member state licenses.
15 b. Enhance the states’ ability to protect the public’s
16 health and safety.
17 c. Encourage the cooperation of member states in regulating
18 multistate practice for licensed professional counselors.
19 d. Support spouses of relocating active duty military
20 personnel.
21 e. Enhance the exchange of licensure, investigative, and
22 disciplinary information among member states.
23 f. Allow for the use of telehealth technology to facilitate
24 increased access to professional counseling services.
25 g. Support the uniformity of professional counseling
26 licensure requirements throughout the states to promote public
27 safety and public health benefits.
28 h. Invest all member states with the authority to hold a
29 licensed professional counselor accountable for meeting all
30 state practice laws in the state in which the client is located
31 at the time care is rendered through the mutual recognition of
32 member state licenses.
33 i. Eliminate the necessity for licenses in multiple states.
34 j. Provide opportunities for interstate practice by
35 licensed professional counselors who meet uniform licensure
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1 requirements.
2 2. Definitions. As used in this compact, and except as
3 otherwise provided:
4 a. “Active duty military” means full-time duty status in
5 the active uniformed service of the United States, including
6 members of the national guard and reserves on active duty
7 orders pursuant to 10 U.S.C. §1209 and 10 U.S.C. §1211.
8 b. “Adverse action” means any administrative, civil,
9 equitable, or criminal action permitted by a state’s laws which
10 is imposed by a licensing board or other authority against a
11 licensed professional counselor, including actions against
12 an individual’s license or privilege to practice such as
13 revocation, suspension, probation, monitoring of the licensee,
14 limitation on the licensee’s practice, or any other encumbrance
15 on licensure affecting a licensed professional counselor’s
16 authorization to practice, including issuance of a cease and
17 desist action.
18 c. “Alternative program” means a nondisciplinary monitoring
19 or practice remediation process approved by a professional
20 counseling licensing board to address impaired practitioners.
21 d. “Continuing competence” or “continuing education” means
22 a requirement, as a condition of license renewal, to provide
23 evidence of participation in, or completion of, educational and
24 professional activities relevant to practice or area of work.
25 e. “Counseling compact commission” or “commission” means the
26 national administrative body whose membership consists of all
27 states that have enacted the compact.
28 f. “Current significant investigative information” means all
29 of the following:
30 (1) Investigative information that a licensing board,
31 after a preliminary inquiry that includes notification and
32 an opportunity for the licensed professional counselor to
33 respond, if required by state law, has reason to believe is
34 not groundless and, if proved true, would indicate more than a
35 minor infraction.
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1 (2) Investigative information that indicates that the
2 licensed professional counselor represents an immediate threat
3 to public health and safety regardless of whether the licensed
4 professional counselor has been notified and had an opportunity
5 to respond.
6 g. “Data system” means a repository of information about
7 licensees, including but not limited to continuing education,
8 examination, licensure, investigative, privilege to practice,
9 and adverse action information.
10 h. “Encumbered license” means a license in which an
11 adverse action restricts the practice of licensed professional
12 counseling by the licensee and said adverse action has been
13 reported to the national practitioners data bank.
14 i. “Encumbrance” means a revocation or suspension of, or any
15 limitation on, the full and unrestricted practice of licensed
16 professional counseling by a licensing board.
17 j. “Executive committee” means a group of directors elected
18 or appointed to act on behalf of, and within the powers granted
19 to them by, the commission.
20 k. “Home state” means the member state that is the
21 licensee’s primary state of residence.
22 l. “Impaired practitioner” means an individual who has a
23 condition that may impair the individual’s ability to practice
24 as a licensed professional counselor without some type of
25 intervention and may include but is not limited to alcohol and
26 drug dependence, mental health impairment, and neurological or
27 physical impairments.
28 m. “Investigative information” means information, records,
29 and documents received or generated by a professional
30 counseling licensing board pursuant to an investigation.
31 n. “Jurisprudence requirement”, if required by a member
32 state, means the assessment of an individual’s knowledge of
33 the laws and rules governing the practice of professional
34 counseling in a state.
35 o. “Licensed professional counselor” means a counselor
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1 licensed by a member state, regardless of the title used by
2 that state, to independently assess, diagnose, and treat
3 behavioral health conditions.
4 p. “Licensee” means an individual who currently holds
5 an authorization from the state to practice as a licensed
6 professional counselor.
7 q. “Licensing board” means the agency of a state, or
8 equivalent, that is responsible for the licensing and
9 regulation of licensed professional counselors.
10 r. “Member state” means a state that has enacted the
11 compact.
12 s. “Privilege to practice” means a legal authorization,
13 which is equivalent to a license, permitting the practice of
14 professional counseling in a remote state.
15 t. “Professional counseling” means the assessment,
16 diagnosis, and treatment of behavioral health conditions by a
17 licensed professional counselor.
18 u. “Remote state” means a member state other than the home
19 state, where a licensee is exercising or seeking to exercise
20 the privilege to practice.
21 v. “Rule” means a regulation promulgated by the commission
22 that has the force of law.
23 w. “Single-state license” means a licensed professional
24 counselor license issued by a member state that authorizes
25 practice only within the issuing state and does not include a
26 privilege to practice in any other member state.
27 x. “State” means any state, commonwealth, district, or
28 territory of the United States that regulates the practice of
29 professional counseling.
30 y. “Telehealth” means the application of telecommunication
31 technology to deliver professional counseling services remotely
32 to assess, diagnose, and treat behavioral health conditions.
33 z. “Unencumbered license” means a license that authorizes
34 a licensed professional counselor to engage in the full and
35 unrestricted practice of professional counseling.
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1 3. State participation in the compact.
2 a. To participate in the compact, a state must currently do
3 all of the following:
4 (1) License and regulate licensed professional counselors.
5 (2) Require a licensee to pass a nationally recognized exam
6 approved by the commission.
7 (3) Require a licensee to have a sixty semester-hour or
8 ninety quarter-hour master’s degree in counseling or sixty
9 semester-hours or ninety quarter-hours of graduate course work
10 including the following topic areas:
11 (a) Professional counseling orientation and ethical
12 practice.
13 (b) Social and cultural diversity.
14 (c) Human growth and development.
15 (d) Career development.
16 (e) Counseling and helping relationships.
17 (f) Group counseling and group work.
18 (g) Diagnosis, treatment, assessment, and testing.
19 (h) Research and program evaluation.
20 (i) Other areas as determined by the commission.
21 (4) Require a licensee to complete a supervised
22 postgraduate professional experience as defined by the
23 commission.
24 (5) Have a mechanism in place for receiving and
25 investigating complaints about licensees.
26 b. A member state shall do all of the following:
27 (1) Participate fully in the commission’s data system,
28 including using the commission’s unique identifier as defined
29 in rules.
30 (2) Notify the commission, in compliance with the terms
31 of the compact and rules, of any adverse action or the
32 availability of investigative information regarding a licensee.
33 (3) Implement or utilize procedures for considering the
34 criminal history records of applicants for an initial privilege
35 to practice. These procedures shall include the submission of
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1 fingerprints or other biometric-based information by applicants
2 for the purpose of obtaining an applicant’s criminal history
3 record information from the federal bureau of investigation
4 and the agency responsible for retaining that state’s criminal
5 records.
6 (a) A member state must fully implement a criminal
7 background check requirement, within a time frame established
8 by rule, by receiving the results of the federal bureau of
9 investigation record search and shall use the results in making
10 licensure decisions.
11 (b) Communication between a member state, the commission,
12 and among member states regarding the verification of
13 eligibility for licensure through the compact shall not
14 include any information received from the federal bureau of
15 investigation relating to a federal criminal records check
16 performed by a member state under Pub. L. No. 92-544.
17 (4) Comply with the rules of the commission.
18 (5) Require an applicant to obtain or retain a license
19 in the home state and meet the home state’s qualifications
20 for licensure or renewal of licensure, as well as all other
21 applicable state laws.
22 (6) Grant the privilege to practice to a licensee holding
23 a valid unencumbered license in another member state in
24 accordance with the terms of the compact and rules.
25 (7) Provide for the attendance of the state’s commissioner
26 at commission meetings.
27 c. A member state may charge a fee for granting the
28 privilege to practice.
29 d. An individual not residing in a member state shall
30 continue to be able to apply for a member state’s single-state
31 license as provided under the laws of each member state.
32 However, the single-state license granted to these individuals
33 shall not be recognized as granting a privilege to practice
34 professional counseling in any other member state.
35 e. Nothing in this compact shall affect the requirements
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1 established by a member state for the issuance of a
2 single-state license.
3 f. A license issued to a licensed professional counselor by
4 a home state to a resident in that state shall be recognized
5 by each member state as authorizing a licensed professional
6 counselor to practice professional counseling, under a
7 privilege to practice, in each member state.
8 4. Privilege to practice.
9 a. To exercise the privilege to practice under the terms of
10 the compact, the licensee shall do all of the following:
11 (1) Hold a license in the home state.
12 (2) Have a valid United States social security number or
13 national practitioner identifier.
14 (3) Be eligible for a privilege to practice in any member
15 state in accordance with paragraphs “d”, “g”, and “h”.
16 (4) Have not had any encumbrance or restriction against any
17 license or privilege to practice within the previous two years
18 from the date of application.
19 (5) Notify the commission that the licensee is seeking the
20 privilege to practice within a remote state.
21 (6) Pay any applicable fees, including any state fee, for
22 the privilege to practice.
23 (7) Meet any continuing competence or continuing education
24 requirements established by the home state.
25 (8) Meet any jurisprudence requirements established by the
26 remote state in which the licensee is seeking a privilege to
27 practice.
28 (9) Report to the commission any adverse action,
29 encumbrance, or restriction on any license taken by any
30 nonmember state within thirty days from the date the action is
31 taken.
32 b. The privilege to practice is valid until the expiration
33 date of the home state license. The licensee must comply with
34 the requirements of paragraph “a” to maintain the privilege to
35 practice in the remote state.
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1 c. A licensee providing professional counseling in a remote
2 state under the privilege to practice shall adhere to the laws
3 and regulations of the remote state.
4 d. A licensee providing professional counseling services in
5 a remote state is subject to that state’s regulatory authority.
6 A remote state may, in accordance with due process and that
7 state’s laws, remove a licensee’s privilege to practice in the
8 remote state for a specific period of time, impose fines, or
9 take any other necessary actions to protect the health and
10 safety of its citizens. The licensee may be ineligible for a
11 privilege to practice in any member state until the specific
12 time for removal has passed and all fines are paid.
13 e. If a home state license is encumbered, the licensee shall
14 lose the privilege to practice in any remote state until all
15 of the following occur:
16 (1) The home state license is no longer encumbered.
17 (2) The licensee has not had any encumbrance or restriction
18 against any license or privilege to practice within the
19 previous two years.
20 f. Once an encumbered license in the home state is restored
21 to good standing, the licensee must meet the requirements of
22 paragraph “a” to obtain a privilege to practice in any remote
23 state.
24 g. If a licensee’s privilege to practice in any remote state
25 is removed, the individual may lose the privilege to practice
26 in all other remote states until all of the following occur:
27 (1) The specific period of time for which the privilege to
28 practice was removed has ended.
29 (2) All fines have been paid.
30 (3) The licensee has not had any encumbrance or restriction
31 against any license or privilege to practice within the
32 previous two years.
33 h. Once the requirements of paragraph “g” have been met, the
34 licensee must meet the requirements of paragraph “a” to obtain a
35 privilege to practice in a remote state.
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1 5. Obtaining a new home state license based on a privil