Kansas BSRB finalizes 2025 legislative priorities, including licensure and supervision changes

The Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board on a remote call approved a set of priorities it will ask lawmakers to carry or sponsor in the 2025 legislative session, including changes aimed at easing workforce bottlenecks and clarifying supervision and program-review processes.

Executive Director David Fey told the board that staff will draft statutory language and seek committee sponsors to introduce bills. "This is one of those opportunities for the board to basically review items that it has previously recommended, going forward in requesting legislation," Fey said, outlining the path from drafting to committee hearings and potential passage.

Why it matters: board members and staff said the proposals respond to workforce and training shortages in behavioral-health professions across Kansas. Fey and staff cited outreach this year — a forum attended by roughly 40 educators and 50–60 employers — and a federal grant collaboration with KDADS and the Board of Regents to study workforce needs.

Major items approved for the board to carry forward

• Student temporary addiction-counselor license expansion: The board agreed to request statutory language to broaden who may qualify for the student temporary addiction-counselor license. Fey said the proposal would allow individuals who have completed 60 credit hours not specifically in addiction counseling but who are enrolled in an addiction-related program to qualify, and it would allow certain master's students (who hold a bachelor's degree in any field but are enrolled in an addiction‑related master's program) to use the student temporary license as a bridge to full licensure. Fey said the license has been ‘‘very successful’’ and estimated "somewhere around 45 individuals" currently hold the temporary student license.

• Supervision flexibility for professional counseling: The board will pursue statutory language permitting up to 50% of required supervision hours for the professional counseling license to be provided by an appropriately licensed clinician from another profession — for example, a licensed psychologist or other clinical license — provided that any supervisor is a BSRB‑approved supervisor and meets supervisor‑training requirements. Fey emphasized the exception for clinical addiction‑counseling licenses, which the proposal would exclude because of scope‑of‑practice differences.

• Add a behavior analyst board seat: Staff will ask the legislature to add a thirteenth member to the BSRB explicitly designated in statute as a behavior analyst, responding to a recommendation from the Behavior Analyst Advisory Committee and reflecting language in KSA 74‑7501 that sets board composition.

• Program‑review process and fee: The board supported creating statutory authority for schools (including out‑of‑state programs) to request a formal review of whether their academic program meets Kansas licensure requirements, with an option for the BSRB to charge a fee. Fey noted typical consultant review costs around $150 and initially suggested a $200 cap as an example, but board discussion favored including flexibility (staff discussed a cost‑plus approach) and landed on drafting language that would allow a higher cap (board discussion suggested a cap not to exceed $400) while enabling staff to set the actual charge in regulation. Fey said any confirmation would run for one year and programs with significant changes would need to resubmit.

• Continuing‑education (CE) preapproval expansion: The board supported introducing language to expand the BSRB’s optional CE preapproval process beyond social work to other professions it regulates. Staff described the current social‑work fee structure (preapproved provider $100 first year, $250 renewal every three years, $50 per single program) and proposed an optional, paid pathway that could be made profession‑specific or broader depending on drafting and staff capacity.

Items not advancing this session

Board members reported substantial concerns from the Social Work Advisory Committee and NASW Kansas about reopening statute to restore coursework and stricter postgraduate requirements that the legislature amended in 2023. Advisory committee members and board representatives recommended not pursuing restoration of those social‑work items this session, in part because of limited legislative appetite to reverse recent deregulatory changes.

Next steps and procedural notes

Fey said staff will draft statutory language for the items the board approved and attempt to identify committee chairs or members to sponsor the proposals. No formal bills were introduced during the meeting; the board's action was to request and approve drafting and outreach. The agenda itself was approved by voice vote at the start of the meeting, and the session concluded after a motion to adjourn.