BSRB advisory committee backs recommendation to extend student temporary addiction-counselor license to master's students

The Eviction Counselor Advisory Committee of the Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board voted to recommend that the board pursue statutory language making the existing student temporary addiction-counselor license explicitly available to graduate (master's) students enrolled in addiction-counseling or related programs. The motion, moved by Charity Causon and seconded by Zenova Williams, passed by voice vote and will be forwarded to the full board for possible inclusion in spring 2025 legislation.

The recommendation grew from a review of the student temporary license created during the 2023 legislative session (Sub. First Senate Bill 131), which established a temporary pathway for students who had completed specified coursework and who had signed education and employer-supervision agreements. Leslie Allen, the BSRB assistant director and licensing manager, presented draft language that would allow an applicant who holds a bachelor's degree and is currently enrolled in a master's program with an addiction-counseling emphasis to qualify under the same student-temporary rules and documentation requirements as bachelor's-level applicants.

Committee members raised practical concerns during the discussion. Zenova Williams, master's program director at Washburn University, supported consolidating the categories into a single student temporary license but cautioned that students must understand the difference between being a student and becoming a licensed practitioner. "It's important to communicate to students that this is a license and those kinds of issues are matters that could go up to the BSRB," Williams said, urging clearer educational outreach so students grasp professional responsibilities and potential disciplinary exposure.

Members also asked whether services provided by student-temporary licensees could be billed to Medicaid. Executive Director David Fye said reimbursement policy rests with other state agencies (Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment) and that, based on preliminary conversations, student temporary license holders generally cannot bill Medicaid directly; facilities can bill Medicaid for services provided by supervised student temporary counselors in facility-based settings.

The committee did not record a roll-call vote tally tied to individual members. Chair Jill Flessing said the recommendation in favor of pursuing statutory language would be transmitted to the full Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board for its December agenda and for consideration in drafting a bill for the 2025 legislative session.

Next steps: the BSRB staff will prepare the proposed statutory language for board review at the board's December meeting and, if approved, the board will pursue introduction in the legislature in the spring.