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Kansas advisory committee urges no change to student temporary addiction counselor license
Summary
After hearing providers and stakeholder testimony, the BSRB Addiction Counselor Advisory Committee voted July 14 to recommend the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board keep the student temporary addiction counselor license requirements — including the 60-credit-hour and minimum-age provisions — unchanged and forward that recommendation to the full board.
The Addiction Counselor Advisory Committee of the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board voted July 14 to recommend the board keep current law and regulations for the student temporary addiction counselor license unchanged.
Chair Jill Flessing opened the remote meeting and said the advisory committee would review materials and continue a discussion begun in June about proposed statutory changes. David Fye, BSRB executive director, summarized an alternate proposal originally discussed during the legislative session (referenced in the meeting as House Bill 2506) and by Acadia Healthcare representatives. The proposal would have removed the minimum age requirement, added a defined scope of practice, and reduced the number of credit hours required for the student temporary license (materials discussed at the June meeting included reductions as low as 18 credit hours from the current 60).
Representatives for the Kansas Association of Addiction Professionals (CAP) urged caution. Deb Stidham, speaking for CAP, traced the history of addiction-counselor regulation in Kansas and opposed lowering standards. “Reducing the number of hours required to obtain a temporary license could negatively impact client care,” Stidham said, arguing that prior increases in education and credentialing improved professional credibility and consumer protection.
Acadia representatives said the changes were intended to address workforce shortages and increase patient access. Erin Donahue, Acadia’s regional director in Wichita, described an admissions bottleneck at one point in 2023 and said the company saw workforce limits affect access to care; she said Kansas records roughly 350 overdoses per year. Travis Lowe, Acadia’s contract lobbyist, told the committee the proposed scope language was “literally taken from other states” and was intended to clarify allowable services while leaving room for negotiation in rulemaking or legislative drafting.
BSRB licensing manager Leslie Allen said her review of other states found different approaches: for example, Louisiana allows certain facility-level authorization of unlicensed workers and relies on facility credentialing rather than board licensure for some entry-level roles. Allen emphasized those workers typically hold credentials and are not “people off the street.”
During the internal committee discussion, members said they understood the workforce concerns but repeatedly stressed the need to preserve quality of care, ethical training and a minimum level of maturity before servicing adults in treatment. Committee members cited how long some students can remain on temporary licenses while completing degrees and said lowering minimum education or age standards could extend that period without guaranteeing competence.
Committee member Charity Causson moved that the advisory committee formally recommend keeping the student temporary license language as it currently stands; Christina Boyd seconded. The committee voted by voice, with no recorded opposition, and the chair said the formal recommendation would be placed on the full BSRB board agenda for its next meeting on Monday, July 20. David Fye said stakeholders wishing to speak to the full board should contact the executive director in advance for approval.
The committee adjourned after making its recommendation.
