Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

House File 485 - Introduced
                                  HOUSE FILE 485
                                  BY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN
                                      RESOURCES
                                  (SUCCESSOR TO HF 107)
                            A BILL FOR
An Act relating to supervision requirements for licensed
  marital and family therapists, mental health counselors, and
  social workers, and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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    Section 1. Section 154C.3, subsection 1, paragraph c,
 subparagraph (5), subparagraph division (a), Code 2021, is
 amended by adding the following new subparagraph subdivision:
    NEW SUBPARAGRAPH SUBDIVISION. (0ii) By a person licensed
 under section 154D.2 to practice marital and family therapy
 without supervision or mental health counseling without
 supervision.
    Sec. 2. Section 154C.3, Code 2021, is amended by adding the
 following new subsection:
    NEW SUBSECTION. 4. Supervision. The board shall not, by
 rule or other means, require that supervision be completed
 in-person as a condition for an applicant to receive a license,
 a reciprocal license, or a renewed license under this chapter.
    Sec. 3. Section 154D.2, Code 2021, is amended to read as
 follows:
    154D.2 Licensure —— marital and family therapy —— mental
 health counseling.
    1. An applicant for a license to practice marital and family
 therapy or mental health counseling shall be granted a license
 by the board when the applicant satisfies all of the following
 requirements:
    1. a. Possesses a master’s degree in marital and family
 therapy or mental health counseling, as applicable, consisting
 of at least sixty semester hours, or its equivalent, from a
 nationally accredited institution or from a program approved
 by the board.
    2. b. Has at least two years of supervised clinical
 experience or its equivalent as approved by the board.
 Standards for supervision, including the required
 qualifications for supervisors, shall be determined pursuant
 to the requirements in subsection 2 and by the board by rule,
 provided that a supervisor may be a person licensed under this
 section to practice marital and family therapy or mental health
 counseling without supervision or a licensed independent social
 worker licensed under chapter 154C.
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                                H.F. 485
    3. c. Passes an examination approved by the board.
    2. The board shall not, by rule or other means, require any
 in-person supervised clinical experience.
    Sec. 4. Section 154D.4, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code
 2021, is amended to read as follows:
    b. A person who practices marital and family therapy or
 mental health counseling under the supervision of a person
 licensed under this chapter as part of a clinical experience as
 described in section 154D.2, subsection 2 1, paragraph “b”.
    Sec. 5. BOARD OF SOCIAL WORK AND BOARD OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
 —— RULES. The board of social work and the board of behavioral
 science shall amend their administrative rules pursuant to
 chapter 17A to remove any requirement for supervised clinical
 experience and supervised professional practice to be completed
 in-person as a condition for the licensure of marital and
 family therapists, mental health counselors, and social workers
 pursuant to chapters 154C and 154D. The board of social work
 and the board of behavioral science shall replace all licensing
 requirements for in-person supervision with the ability to have
 supervision requirements completed electronically.
    Sec. 6. EMERGENCY RULES.
    1. The board of social work and the board of behavioral
 science shall adopt emergency rules under section 17A.4,
 subsection 3, and section 17A.5, subsection 2, to implement
 the sections of this Act amending section 154C.3 and section
 154D.2, and the rules shall be effective immediately upon
 filing unless a later date is specified in the rules. Any
 emergency rules adopted in accordance with this section shall
 also be published as a notice of intended action as provided
 in section 17A.4, subsection 1.
    2. The board of social work and the board of behavioral
 science shall jointly develop rules adopted pursuant to this
 subsection through a collaborative process. The respective
 boards may establish subcommittees or designate other personnel
 to facilitate such a process. Such rules shall consist of
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                                         H.F. 485
 substantively identical standards applicable to the professions
 regulated by the respective boards and shall, to the greatest
 extent possible, consist of substantially similar language
 in a substantially similar format. Prior to a vote to adopt
 such rules by either board, each board shall, by a separate
 vote, approve the language to be adopted by the other board.
 Neither board shall vote to adopt such rules until the rules
 to be adopted by both boards have been so approved. Such rules
 shall have the same effective date and shall be submitted to
 the administrative rules coordinator and the administrative
 code editor for publication in the same issue of the Iowa
 administrative bulletin pursuant to sections 17A.4 and 17A.5.
    Sec. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate
 importance, takes effect upon enactment.
                           EXPLANATION
         The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
          the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
    This bill relates to supervision requirements for licensed
 marital and family therapists, mental health counselors, and
 social workers and provides an effective date.
    The bill provides that the board of social work and the
 board of behavioral science shall not require that supervision
 of an applicant for a license as a social worker, marital
 or family therapist, or mental health counselor be completed
 in-person. The bill allows licensed marital and family
 therapists and mental health counselors eligible to practice
 without supervision to supervise applicants for an independent
 social worker license.
    The bill provides that the board of behavioral science
 shall not require supervised clinical experience for marital
 or family therapists or mental health counselors. The bill
 allows licensed marital and family therapists and mental
 health counselors eligible to practice without supervision and
 licensed independent social workers to supervise applicants
 for a marital and family therapist license or mental health
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                                H.F. 485
 counselor license. The bill makes a conforming change to Code
 section 154D.4(2)(b).
    The bill directs the board of social work and the board
 of behavioral science to amend their administrative rules to
 remove any requirement for supervised clinical experience and
 supervised professional practice to be completed in-person as a
 condition for the licensure of marital and family therapists,
 mental health counselors, and social workers.
    The bill requires the board of social work and board of
 behavioral science to adopt emergency rules. The rules shall
 be effective immediately upon filing unless a later date is
 specified in the rules. Any emergency rules adopted shall also
 be published as a notice of intended action as provided in Code
 section 17A.4, subsection 1.
    The bill requires the board of social work and the board
 of behavioral science to jointly develop rules through a
 collaborative process. The respective boards may establish
 subcommittees or designate other personnel to facilitate the
 process. The adopted rules shall consist of substantively
 identical standards applicable to the professions regulated
 by the respective boards and shall, to the greatest extent
 possible, consist of substantially similar language in a
 substantially similar format. Prior to a vote to adopt the
 rules by either board, each board shall, by a separate vote,
 approve the language to be adopted by the other board. Neither
 board shall vote to adopt such rules until the rules to be
 adopted by both boards have been so approved. Such rules
 shall have the same effective date and shall be submitted to
 the administrative rules coordinator and the administrative
 code editor for publication in the same issue of the Iowa
 administrative bulletin.
    The bill takes effect upon enactment.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 154C.3, 154D.2, 154D.4