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BHEC to require CE Broker for tracking; staff answers privacy, CE and disciplinary questions
Summary
BHEC said use of CE Broker will be mandatory, that the agency retains ownership of licensee data under contract, and that CE rules (including a one-hour human trafficking requirement and a 50% provider rule) remain in force; staff also explained board-level vs. council-level roles in discipline and reinstatement.
Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council staff announced plans to roll out CE Broker — an online continuing-education tracking platform — and answered attendee questions about the data the vendor will receive, whether participation is optional, and how continuing-education rules will be enforced.
Host said BHEC has a contract with CE Broker under which "the data actually belongs to us," and that the vendor "can't use that data" outside the contract. Staff said CE Broker will likely receive public-lookup information (name, license number, license type, email) and that physical addresses are not expected to be shared; if BHEC stopped the contract, the data would return to the agency.
When asked whether participation is optional, the host answered directly: "No. It will not. It's everybody's gonna have to use this." The agency explained the practical need: renewals and audits are managed by very small staff (the host said only one person currently handles renewals/audits), and the scale — BHEC noted "over 90,000" licensees — makes manual verification impracticable.
On CE requirements, staff confirmed a one-hour human-trafficking training requirement for clinical social workers and explained the "50% rule," meaning half of a licensee's CE hours must come from providers listed or approved in the CE rule (staff cited rule numbers and directed attendees to the BHEC website to find the approved-provider list and the specific CE rule sections). Robert and other staff gave attendees the specific rule numbers to look up.
Separately, attendees raised concerns about reinstatement and discipline decisions. Staff clarified processes: disciplinary actions and contested cases can go through the State Office of Administrative Hearings and result in final orders entered by BHEC; licensing reapplications are reviewed by the relevant board (for example, the LPC board) on individual merits rather than being handled as blanket council-level policies.
BHEC said it will provide a phased rollout of CE Broker, including education, webinars and town-hall sessions with the vendor before requiring use. The agency emphasized that the basic CE Broker account would be free; paid upgrade options would be optional.
