BSRB reviews sweeping unprofessional‑conduct and supervision regulation updates

Board members spent substantial time on Jan. 12 vetting proposed regulatory changes that would harmonize unprofessional‑conduct language and supervision standards across the seven professions the BSRB regulates.

Staff and advisory committees proposed consolidating varying profession‑specific provisions into standard text that would apply to addiction counseling, licensed psychology, professional counseling, social work, behavior analysis and related licenses. Key themes included: clear language requiring termination of services when treatment no longer benefits a client, combined supervisory‑misconduct language (for example, failing to provide timely evaluations and constructive consultation), explicit disclosure when services are delivered under supervision or direction (including student clinicians), and removing ambiguous legal terms such as "negligent" where advisory committees preferred broader "unprofessional or potentially harmful" phrasing.

Leslie Allen, the board's licensing manager, said staff would draft combined language that incorporates supervisory feedback requirements and the broader prohibition against harmful supervision. Board members recommended advisory‑committee review and further edits to ensure consistency while preserving profession‑specific needs such as temporary student licenses for addiction counseling.

Other uniform changes across professions proposed switching audit requirements from submission of "originals" to "copies," permitting use of third‑party CE transcript services (e.g., CE Broker), changing temporary license windows (now 24 months), and aligning reciprocity timelines (from five years of practice to evidence of 12 months of licensure in a similar scope of practice). The board consented to move these recommendations forward to Department of Administration review and the Attorney General's office as appropriate.