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Health & Welfare committee reviews H 237 to expand practice pathway for doctorate-level psychologists
Summary
Representative McFarland, reporter for H 237, told the Health & Welfare committee the bill aims to expand the workforce of doctorate-level psychologists, reduce emergency-room presentations of people in crisis and allow limited reciprocity for similarly trained out-of-state and Canadian clinicians. The committee took a 9-0-2 straw poll.
Representative McFarland, reporter for H 237, described a bill that would broaden the pathway for doctorate-level psychologists to provide specialized mental-health care and ease certification for clinicians trained outside the state.
The bill, discussed at a Health & Welfare committee meeting, would require clinicians to complete specified rotations and a collaborative agreement with a psychiatrist or a provider with psychiatric certification; it also contains a provision (Section 3(d)) that would allow clinicians trained in other U.S. states or Canada with substantially similar training to qualify without taking the same test required of in‑state applicants.
"They're ending up in the emergency rooms," Representative McFarland said, describing one reason for the bill: lack of clinicians with specialized behavioral-health training to treat people in crisis. He said enabling more doctorate-level psychologists to enter the workforce would "free up primary care physicians" who currently shoulder some psychiatric care.
Committee members pressed for comparative data. One member asked, "Do you know how many states do this?" McFarland said he listed about 10 states in his presentation but did not provide a complete list during the meeting and said the exact count was "not specified" on the record.
McFarland described two pathways in the bill: the route outlined in the bill requiring rotations and a collaborative agreement, and a reciprocity path for out-of-state or Canadian doctorate-level clinicians whose training is "very similar" to Vermont's requirements; under that path, those clinicians could be certified without taking the test required of other applicants.
Committee members noted a minor amendment from Ways and Means that changed one word; the transcript records a committee straw poll result of "9-0-2." The committee's straw poll was recorded during the meeting but is not a final legislative vote.
The discussion focused on workforce capacity, training requirements and credentialing for clinicians; no final passage on the House floor was recorded in the committee transcript.
