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Kansas counselors must clear background-check and degree requirements before joining interstate compact, staff says
Summary
The professional counseling interstate compact has launched in at least two states, but Kansas practitioners cannot use it until the state adds an FBI background check requirement and a process to verify 60-hour degrees, the BSRB executive director told the advisory committee.
Kansas licensees hoping to use the new professional counseling interstate compact will have to wait until the state resolves two requirements, Executive Director David Fye told the Professional Counselor Advisory Committee on Oct. 2.
Fye said the compact began rolling out in at least Arizona and Minnesota and that Kansas is preparing to join but faces a primary obstacle: the compact requires a fingerprint-based federal background check for members, and Kansas historically has not required an FBI background check for licensure. The compact’s rules treat that background check as a membership requirement.
“Kansas has not required a background check for licensure,” Fye said. “The background check is really the biggest one because we’re trying to move forward on that for all professions right now.”
The compact also requires verification that clinical counselors hold a 60-credit-hour degree; many legacy licenses that predate a state’s compact-adoption date may be grandfathered. Fye said the board’s licensing system needs a marker to show which licensees meet the 60-hour standard and that the BSRB is working with its vendor to add that field.
Committee members asked about timing. Fye said the agency is investigating whether an emergency regulation could be used to put the background-check requirement in place quickly, while a permanent regulatory solution is prepared. He cautioned that the regulation path and the background-check implementation process can be complex and still under review.
Fye stressed the compact covers only the clinical level of professional counselor licensure and not lower-level LPC licenses; counselors must hold the clinical credential to obtain compact privileges. He said early adopters who gain compact privileges may initially see limited reciprocal opportunities until more states join.
The committee did not adopt any binding measure at this meeting; members asked staff to continue work on background-check logistics and degree verification so Kansas could join the compact when all requirements are satisfied.
