Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/09/1998 09:06 AM Senate HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 331 - PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR LICENSING
CHAIRMAN WILKEN informed committee members a new draft version of
SB 331 was prepared (version B).
SENATOR WARD moved to adopt CSSB 331 (version B) as the working
document of the committee. There being no objection, the motion
carried.
BETH HAGEVIG, legislative aide to Senator Wilken, gave the
following explanation of the measure. CSSB 331 establishes a board
to license and regulate experienced Masters and Doctoral level
professional counselors whose education and experience do not fall
within the existing behavioral health specializations of Licensed
Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist,
Psychologist, or Psychological Associate. This bill benefits
counselors because it opens doors to employee assistance programs
that currently require that service providers be licensed to
qualify for their programs; it broadens career opportunities for
counselors who wish to work for entities that require licensure; it
provides incentive for Masters level behavioral health graduates of
Alaska's university system to stay in state and take advantage of
licensing opportunities that already exist in 44 other states; and
it includes licensed professional counselors under Rule 504,
protecting them from contempt of court, in cases where client
confidentiality must be protected.
MS. HAGEVIG explained CSSB 331 is good for Alaska's consumers
because it establishes a minimum standard of education and
experience that clients can trust, eliminating the buyer beware
situation that currently exists. It institutes grievance
procedures and gives legal recourse for clients of licensed
professional counselors who feel they have been victims of
fraudulent, unethical, or negligent practices. It gives clients,
who require mental health services, greater choice and comfort in
choosing a provider that best suits their needs, both emotionally
and financially, and it increases the availability of licensed
mental health providers who practice statewide, giving rural
residents better access to mental health care. This bill has the
support of the American Counseling Association (ACA), the ACA of
Alaska, the Alaska School Counselor Association, numerous
professional counselors and clients.
Number 082
CHAIRMAN WILKEN pointed out a two-page document in committee
members' packets shows where Alaska fits into the scheme of
counselor licensing nationwide. The remainder of the packet
contains letters of support.
SENATOR LEMAN noted SB 122, dealing with family and marriage
counselors, is currently in the House. He asked Ms. Hagevig if any
thought was given to combining the counseling and marriage and
family therapy boards into a common board, instead of creating a
new board. He commented he serves on a professional board made up
of architects, engineers and land surveyors, and although the
professions differ, their common board is able to take care of the
professional interests of all three groups.
MS. HAGEVIG replied the counselors support combining the boards
and are working with the marriage and family therapists' board
members on creating a joint board. She suggested asking Pamela
Watts and Ann Henry, from the American Counseling Association of
Alaska, to address that question.
Number 122
ANN HENRY, a member of the American Counseling Association of
Alaska (ACAA), gave the following testimony. SB 331 is a title
restriction bill, rather than a practice restriction bill, which
means that people can continue to practice counseling in Alaska if
they are practicing now. That arrangement will especially benefit
the bush areas where counselors might now be practicing without the
required education. Nationally, 44 states have some kind of
licensure certification and 80,000 licensed professional counselors
are nationally recognized. As a private practitioner, clients are
often referred to her, but because she is not a licensed
practitioner, employee assistance programs will not provide
insurance coverage for her services. Managed care programs also
require licensure. Ms. Henry believes clients need to be able to
choose their counselor.
MS. HENRY noted that in regard to Senator Leman's question about
combining the two boards, the marriage and family therapists' board
supports SB 331 and discussed, at its last meeting, the need to
speak to ACAA about the possibility of combining the boards. The
ACAA definitely favors combining the boards. She assumed that
counselors will not be a viable group for the family and marriage
therapists' board to deal with until they get licensing
certification in Alaska.
Number 172
PAM WATTS, President of the American Counseling Association of
Alaska, gave the following testimony. When ACAA began efforts to
require counselor licensure, it heard from several University of
Alaska graduates who were having difficulty obtaining and
maintaining employment or advancing in their positions. They
support licensure because the lack of licensure requirements is
limiting employment opportunities for them after they graduate. A
second issue is that hundreds of Masters and Doctoral level
counselors are currently providing counseling services around the
state. ACAA is concerned that without licensure, they will not be
able to practice, and in some cases, they are the only people
available in those areas to do this work. Because they are trained
to provide a range of counseling services that are not necessarily
limited to the specialty licenses that Alaska currently has, such
as marriage and family, or psychology or social work, they do not
fit anywhere in the licensure scheme. SB 331 offers consumer
protection, easier access to mental health services, and will
provide Alaskans the opportunity to pursue occupations within the
state for which they have been trained.
MS. WATTS reiterated that ACAA is interested in looking at
combining with the marriage and family therapists' board. She
agreed that closely related fields can function very well on
combined boards. She pointed out that other states, such as
Georgia, have an omnibus board that includes social workers,
chemical dependency counselors, licensed professional counselors
and marriage and family therapists. She thought creating a similar
board in Alaska in the future would be fiscally responsible.
Number 227
SENATOR LEMAN encouraged Ms. Watts to further the dialogue about
combining the two boards because he thought SB 331 would be a good
vehicle in which to do so this year. He advised that if they do
not combine boards, counselors will incur all of the initial costs
of establishing a separate board which will increase the fees.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked about the status of SB 122.
SENATOR LEMAN stated it is in the House and he believes it is
scheduled to pass.
ROBERT POUND, a counselor with Southcentral Counseling Center in
Anchorage, testified in support of SB 331. The Southcentral
Counseling Center has developed a system in which a person must be
licensed to reach the highest level of clinician. SB 331 would
enable him to obtain a license and become a senior clinician.
Without a licensing requirement in Alaska, agencies are forced to
find people outside of the state to fill these positions.
Requiring experience and education will ensure better quality
treatment to clients. He received a professional counselor license
in the State of Colorado around 1989. That license allowed him to
do contract work, EAP work, and to have a private practice. The
certification process requires a disclosure statement to be filled
out by clients. He found clients responded very positively and the
ability to do so relieved clients of worry. Mr. Pound believed SB
331 will have positive results on both counselors and consumers.
Number 308
ALLAN MOROTTI, representing the Alaska School Counselors'
Association, and the counseling program at the University of Alaska
Fairbanks, gave the following testimony. The Alaska School
Counselors' Association supports SB 331. Many rural counselors
feel that passage of SB 331 will improve the delivery of mental
health services. Students from the UAF program who end up
counseling in rural areas often find themselves functioning in the
role of a crisis counselor. As they move from site to site, the
majority of their work is dealing with crisis issues, rather than
the more traditional school counseling issues. Passage of SB 331
will allow those counselors to get the additional supervision
necessary to provide quality mental health services, and passage
will allow many of UAF's graduates to move out into the mental
health agencies. Once employed by those agencies, the graduates
feel pressured to acquire some type of licensure. Many agencies
hire out-of-state because of the lack of licensed practitioners in
the state. He believes the course work for Masters level
counselors nationwide, in the area of supervision, clinical hours,
diagnosis and appraisal, compares favorably with the requirements
for clinical social workers and marriage and family therapists. He
concluded by saying he strongly supports the bill both as an
individual and on behalf of the Alaska School Counselors'
Association.
Number 371
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked Mr. Morotti his opinion of combining the
counselors' board with the marriage and family therapists' board.
MR. MOROTTI said he thinks it is a good idea because he sees no
need to have a proliferation of boards providing mental health
services.
DIXIE HOOD, a licensed marriage and family therapist from Juneau,
and a member of the Board of Marital and Family Therapy, gave the
following testimony. As a 23 year Alaska resident and psychology
professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, she moved to
California to complete a Masters in Counseling program for two
years. That program required 3,000 supervised hours and an oral
and written exam. She was licensed in California and upon
returning to Juneau in 1985, contacted the Division of Occupational
Licensing to find out what requirements she needed to meet to
practice. Purchase of a business license was the only requirement
until 1992. She commented that marriage and family therapy is not
a specialty field. It is a theoretical approach in terms of
counseling individuals, couples, or family members within the
family systems approach and their interrelationships. Marriage and
family therapists also treat people with alcohol problems, serious
chronic mental illness, and depression and anxiety.
MS. HOOD indicated at the February 10, 1998 Marital and Family
Therapy Board meeting, the Board expressed interest in supporting
standards and licensure for professional counselors in Alaska, and
in discussing with them consideration of a combined board. The
board has sought information from other states with omnibus boards
to find out how their systems work.
MS. HOOD commented she has testified on and followed SB 122; it is
scheduled before the House Labor and Commerce Committee this
afternoon for a second hearing. During the first hearing, held
last week, information was requested and an amendment was
discussed. The same amendment failed the Senate last year and
would have added licensed marriage and family therapists to a list
of health care providers who cannot be discriminated against in
third party reimbursements. MS. HOOD believes it is important for
consumers to have some trust in the amount of training and
experience required of mental health providers. Licensure
requirements are also important for the professional in terms of
standing in the professional community and employee assistance
programs and insurance companies.
SENATOR LEMAN noted his memory of what happened regarding the
amendment differed from Ms. Hood's. He recalled the amendment
passed the Senate but its passage created challenges in the bill
that some did not want to address at the time, therefore the
amendment was removed and the bill passed.
MS. HOOD added the amendment created a furor from chiropractors,
dentists and other professionals. The Omnibus Insurance Reform Act
did not take up that amendment, therefore the Board of Marital and
Family Therapy is hoping it will be taken up in SB 122 or in
another venue.
There being no further testimony on SB 331, CHAIRMAN WILKEN
announced the committee would hold the bill to investigate whether
it can be incorporated into SB 122 or vice versa.
SENATOR LEMAN stated whether SB 122 is the right vehicle in which
to combine the boards or not, he thought the Legislature should
consider combining the two boards and use a separate piece of
legislation if necessary.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN indicated the bill would be brought before the
committee on Wednesday and a report on SB 122 would be provided.
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