Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Behavioral Health Licensure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Agency bill would standardize clinical‑experience rules for behavioral‑health licensure; PLA backs measure
Summary
The Professional Licensing Agency told the House Committee on Public Health that Senate Bill 216 standardizes clinical experience and supervision requirements across behavioral health professions and would reduce unlicensed practice; the committee heard amendments and deferred final action.
Senate Bill 216, presented to the House Committee on Public Health on Oct. 27, would align clinical‑experience and supervision requirements for several behavioral‑health licenses and repeal an older statute tied to the timing of the “first available examination.” The Professional Licensing Agency (PLA) urged passage as a way to reduce confusing, variable interpretations that can contribute to unlicensed practice.
Nick Hart, deputy director of PLA, said SB 216 would apply the clinical‑experience standard already used for clinical social work across other professions including marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, addiction counseling and clinical addiction counseling. The change would require applicants seeking clinical‑level licenses to hold a prerequisite associate‑level license or temporary permit while accruing supervised hours.
“The current ‘first available examination’ language was enacted when national exams were less frequent,” Hart said. “This bill will help simplify the review of clinical experience and supervision hours and should improve application processing times and shorten time to licensure.”
Representative Goss Reeves proposed a technical amendment to allow bachelor‑level social workers to take their licensure exam during the last semester of their educational program — a change modeled on existing rules for master’s level social workers. The committee also considered a technical correction presented by Tony Murray of the Professional Firefighters of Indiana that would align an employer payment requirement for behavioral‑health treatment under the 1977 police and firefighter disability fund with other statutes; that amendment would grandfather current recipients covered now.
Witnesses from labor and public safety organizations described close review of the amendment and requested the committee postpone a final vote to allow additional vetting. The committee chose to withhold a final vote while the sponsor and stakeholders refine a more technical amendment.
