Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/26/2010 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmations for Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development | |
| HB110 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | HB 110 | ||
| = | HB 360 | ||
HB 110-PSYCHOLOGISTS' LICENSING & PRACTICE
8:34:33 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced consideration of HB 110 [CSHB 110
(HSS) 26-LS0474\R was before the committee].
8:34:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON, sponsor of HB 110, said HB 110 hopes to
clarify the current statute regarding the licensing and
regulation of psychologists in Alaska. It aligns the exams that
are available and clarifies who can practice psychology and the
associated practices with it. School physiologists and
government employees can practice outside of the current
statutes. It does not limit the work of mental health service
providers in Alaska.
SENATOR OLSON asked if the department supports this.
REPRESENTATIVE HARRIS replied yes.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS commented that there are a variety of letters of
support accompanying the bill.
SENATOR DAVIS said she is in support of HB 110.
8:37:26 AM
DR. PHILLIP BAKER, Legislative Chair, Alaska Psychological
Association, said they cosponsored this bill with the Psychology
Licensing Board and the purpose was to clarify some of the
wording in the original psychology license in 1963 which tried
to identify who could call themselves psychologists and provide
psychological services. To have a license at the time, because
it was the only mental health license on the books, the
definition had to be fairly broad to allow people working in
government agencies and other mental health organizations to be
licensed. Time has passed and four other types of licenses have
been put on the books that clarify other mental health services
that do not need to be provided by doctor level psychologists.
It is time to clean up the legislation because as it stands,
people who are not trained psychologists can legally specify
themselves as such. They are trying to close this loophole. They
do not intend to exclude anybody from providing mental health
services, only that they could not advertise themselves as
licensed psychologists.
8:40:42 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said he doesn't like the idea that someone who
hasn't passed the exam could call themselves a psychologist. He
asked Dr. Baker to provide some statistics on who are the
individuals who are failing this exam.
DR. BAKER answered that the pass rate on the first try is about
65 to 70 percent, so it is fairly rigorous. He took the test
twice before he passed. He does not have specifics on how many
people in the state have or have not passed the exam. It is
designed to ensure that people who are not qualified cannot
treat or evaluate our citizens. He agreed that this is very
pertinent.
SENATOR HUGGINS brought the committee's attention to page 2,
section 2. He asked if people who have been practicing will have
to take the exam or will they receive grandfather rights.
DR. BAKER said those in government service have rather strict
regulations and the requirement is they have to have a
psychology license. That may not always have been the case, but
it certainly is now. Their main concern, he explained, is that
they have had several instances in which persons applied to work
as psychologists in rural settings specifically in the state and
it turns out they were not licensed.
SENATOR HUGGINS clarified that what he wants to know is if
someone has been working for several years in the field, do they
have to take this test.
DR. BAKER answered that it would depend upon what type of
services they are offering. If they are offering services that
are restricted to psychologists, such as specific psychological
tests, then they must take the exam.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if this is a standardized test that is
used by other states.
DR. BAKER replied that it is a national standardized exam.
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON returned to Senator Huggins' question and
said that the answer is "yes."
8:46:53 AM
SENATOR OLSON asked what the thinking is behind the six months
between the retaking of the exam.
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON replied that he did not know.
DR. BAKER answered that this is from the original wording of the
license statute from 1963 and was implemented to give people six
months to study before re-taking it. Other licensing
requirements do not stipulate a specific time interval. It is up
to the board.
SENATOR OLSON said when he was taking the medical exam, he
wondered what relevance it had to do with his practice of
medicine. He wondered how much relevance this exam has.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if there was a limit for how many times an
individual can retake the exam.
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON replied that they can keep trying.
DR. BAKER responded that after an individual tries to take the
exam two or three times, the board will usually encourage the
individual to get further training before petitioning to take it
again. He pointed out that, in addition to the national exam,
applicants generally have to pass a state exam on statutes and
regulations that pertain to the state.
SENATOR STEVENS asked for confirmation that there is a governing
body overseeing these exam applicants.
DR. BAKER confirmed that the national testing organization
collects and scores all the examinations and then reports to the
Psychological State Board. It is then the scope of work of the
licensing board to discuss the matter with applicants who did
not pass. The exam covers about eight different areas of human
development, research, and practice and treatment of varying
problems in human development.
SENATOR OLSON asked how often they see malpractice cases against
the licensee.
DR. BAKER said that would be more appropriately directed to the
Psychology Licensing Board, but he thinks they have seen two or
three cases since 1963. The process is that complaints come to
the licensing examiner and, if the complaint has merit, it is
referred to the member of that licensing board and then to the
Attorney General's office if necessary.
8:54:14 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER moved to adopt the proposed CSHB 110(HSS) Version
R, as the committee's working document. There being no
objection, the motion carried.
8:55:47 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER moved to report the CS for HB 110, version R,
from committee with attached fiscal note(s) with individual
recommendations. There being no objection, CSHB 110(HSS) moved
from the Senate Health and Social Services Standing Committee.
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