The Professional Counselor Section is amending their degree equivalency rules which require a minimum of a one 3-credit semester hour or 4-quarter hour course in a number of “topic areas" to eliminate the minimum 3-credit-course requirement. The section has found that applicants denied for licensure based on the 3-credit-course requirement for degree equivalency are licensable in other states and have been practicing successfully in Wisconsin under the exemption in the statutes allowing psychotherapeutic practice in s.
HFS 61.96 certified clinics. In addition, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP), a nationally recognized accreditation body, does not specify a 3-credit-course minimum.
The section is also amending their rules to include a requirement to hold a professional counselor training license in order to accrue hours of supervised professional counseling practice towards licensure. The practice of professional counseling is a protected practice (pursuant to s.
457.04 (6), Stats.); however, the requirement to hold a training license in order to accrue supervised professional counseling practice hours is not found explicitly in the rules. The section has found that people practicing professional counseling without training certification or licensure may constitute a violation of law and could pose a significant risk to the health, safety and well-being of the public. In addition to adding the requirement for accruing supervised hours while holding the training license, the section has determined that due to increased mobility, such rules should also include flexibility in considering practice hours gained out of state if those hours are substantially equivalent to practice hours gained in other states.
Analysis and supporting documents used to determine effect on small business
The changes proposed should not provide substantial negative effect on small business in terms of increased operating costs. Since approximately 2004, the section has attempted to advise those entering the field that in order to practice and train for full licensure, one needs to accrue hours under a training license. The cost to obtain a training license is $53 and expires after four years (and is renewable at the discretion of the section). The benefit of a training license is that it assures the trainee that their supervisor is approved. The benefit to the public is that they can be assured that the training license holder has met certain standards required for safe practice under supervision – including that they hold an approved master's degree in professional counseling and they have passed the State ethics examination – and that they are required to observe their code of conduct, violation of which opens practitioners to disciplinary action.
The additional changes, including changes for purpose of clarification, elimination of minimum credit per course requirements and acceptance of supervised hours gained out-of-state will make it easier for applicants to achieve state licensure thus helping to assure availability for the workforce and does not without compromising public safety.
Section
227.137, Stats., requires an “agency" to prepare an economic impact report before submitting the proposed rule-making order to the Wisconsin Legislative Council. The Department of Regulation and Licensing is not included as an “agency" in this section.
Small Business Impact
These proposed rules will have no significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses, as defined in s.
227.114 (1), Stats. The Department's Regulatory Review Coordinator may be contacted by email at
larry.martin@drl.state.wi.us, or by calling 608-266-8608.
Fiscal Estimate
Summary
The department estimates that this rule will require staff time in the Office of Legal Counsel, Office of Exams, and the Division of Professional Credentialing. The total one-time salary and fringe costs are estimated at $2,533.
Anticipated costs incurred by private sector
The department finds that this rule has no significant fiscal effect on the private sector.
Submission of Written Comments
Interested persons are invited to present information at the hearing. Persons appearing may make an oral presentation but are urged to submit facts, opinions and argument in writing as well. Facts, opinions and argument may also be submitted in writing without a personal appearance by mail addressed to Pamela Haack, Paralegal, Department of Regulation and Licensing, Office of Legal Counsel, 1400 East Washington Avenue, Room 152, P.O. Box 8935, Madison, Wisconsin 53708-8935, or by email to pamela.haack@ drl.state.wi.us. Comments must be received on or before November 10, 2008 to be included in the record of rule-making proceedings.
Agency Contact Person
Pamela Haack, Paralegal, Department of Regulation and Licensing, Office of Legal Counsel, 1400 East Washington Avenue, Room 152, P.O. Box 8935, Madison, Wisconsin 53708; telephone 608-266-0495; email at pamela.haack@ drl.state.wi.us.
Text of Proposed Rules
SECTION 1. MPSW 11.01 (1) (b) is amended to read:
(b) Verification that the institution which awarded the degree was a regionally accredited college or university, or accredited by the commission for accreditation of counseling and related educational programs (CACREP), or the council on rehabilitation education (CORE) at the time the applicant graduated from the school, or that a degree awarded by a foreign institution of higher learning has been determined by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) or by another organization approved by the section to be equivalent to a degree from a program accredited by CACREP. If the applicant's education was not received in English, the applicant must demonstrate proficiency in English by achieving a score of 550 (or 213 on the computer-based exam) or above on the Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an equivalent score on an equivalent examination.
SECTION 2. MPSW 12.01 is amended to read:
MPSW 12.01 Supervised practice requirement.
An Except as provided in sub. (3), an applicant for licensure as a professional counselor under s.
457.12, Stats., shall complete a period of supervised practice
to become while holding a training license before being eligible for
the license licensure. Supervision of the practice of professional counseling undertaken to meet the pre-licensure requirement may be exercised by a person other than an employment supervisor. The supervisor may exercise discretion as to the frequency, duration, and intensity of the supervision sessions to meet an average of one hour of supervision per week during the supervised practice period.
SECTION 3. MPSW 12.01 (3) and (4) are created to read:
(3) An applicant who has received a master's degree in professional counseling or its equivalent and has completed any portion of his or her 3,000 hours of supervised professional counseling practice in another state shall be given credit for those hours provided they included at least 1,000 hours of face-to-face client contact, or a proportionate number thereof, and are completed under the supervision of a supervisor acceptable to the professional counselor section.
(4) An applicant who has received a doctoral degree in professional counseling or its equivalent and has completed any portion of his or her 1,000 hours of supervised professional counseling practice in another state shall be given credit for those hours provided they are completed under the supervision of a supervisor acceptable to the professional counselor section.
SECTION 4. MPSW 14.01 (2) (intro.) is amended to read:
(2) (intro.) The course work included successful completion of at least 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours academic credit in a supervised counseling practicum; at least 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours academic credit in a single counseling theory course; and at least one course of at least 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours academic credit in at least 6 of the following 8 topic areas; and the course work included a total of at least 42 semester hours or 63 quarter hours of academic credit in counseling related courses distributed among at least 6 of the following 8 topic areas:
Notice of Hearing
Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to authority vested in the Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board in ss.
15.08 (5) (b),
227.11 (2) and
457.03 (3), Stats., the Social Worker Section of the Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board will hold a public hearing at the time and place indicated below to consider an order to amend ss.
MPSW 3.09 (3) and
3.13 (3) (a); and to create s.
MPSW 3.09 (7), relating to practice hours and internship for social workers.
Hearing Information
Date: October 29, 2008
Time: 9:15 a.m.
Location: 1400 East Washington Avenue
(Enter at 55 North Dickinson Street)
Room 121A
Madison, Wisconsin
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Regulation and Licensing
Statutes interpreted
Statutory authority
Explanation of agency authority
The Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board has the authority under s.
457.03, Stats., to promulgate rules.
Related statutes or rules
There are no other related statutes or rules other than those listed above.
Plain language analysis
Among the requirements for becoming licensed in Wisconsin as a clinical social worker is the completion of at least 3,000 hours of supervised clinical practice, including 1,000 hours of face-to-face client contact. Currently, the social worker section cannot consider those hours that were accrued out-of-state, despite the fact that the applicant may have met all of the other requirements for licensure. As a result, the section is amending its rules to permit consideration of clinical social work practice hours accrued out-of-state under an appropriate supervisor. It is also adding a provision to its rules for social worker training certificates to ensure that applicants have completed a human services internship under the auspices of an accredited college or university.
One of the requirements for becoming licensed as a clinical social worker is the accrual of 3,000 hours of supervised practice. The changes to s.
MPSW 3.09 are intended to permit applicants who are interested in becoming licensed in Wisconsin as clinical social workers to use supervised clinical social work practice hours that were accrued in another state. The existing rules do not allow the social worker section to consider clinical hours that were obtained out-of-state. These changes are intended to remedy that situation and will likely result in more clinicians being eligible to practice in Wisconsin.
The section is also modifying s.
MPSW 3.13 (3) (a) to clarify that a human services internship used to meet one of the requirements for an entry-level social work credential be completed under the auspices of an accredited college or university.
SECTION 1 provides for an exception to the requirement that applicants obtain their supervised clinical social work practice in another state. It also amends the term “pre-certification" to “pre-licensed."
SECTION 2 allows applicants who obtained their supervised clinical social work practice hours in another state to be given credit for those hours provided they are sufficiently clinical in nature and are completed under the direction of a supervisor acceptable to the social worker section.
SECTION 3 requires that a human services internship be completed under the auspices of an accredited college or university.
Comparison with federal regulations
There is no existing or proposed federal regulation for summary and comparison.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states
Iowa. Iowa has two levels of master's level social work licensure, the licensed master social worker (LMSW) and the licensed independent social worker (LISW). The LISW is the highest-level of social work licensure and requires a master's or doctoral degree in social work and 4,000 hours of supervised practice. There does not appear to be any explicit requirement that a person hold the Iowa LMSW before accumulating the supervised practice experience. (Wisconsin rules explicitly require applicants to achieve certification as an advanced practice social worker or independent social worker prior to accumulating supervised practice hours toward clinical social work licensure.) Iowa's rules do require that before applying for the LISW, the “social worker" must have received a master's or doctoral degree in social work and practiced at that level.
As to the proposed changes to the internship requirements under the social worker training certificate, Iowa does not have a training certificate or equivalency process for converting a health services degree into a bachelor's degree in social work.
Iowa's administrative rules for licensure of social work are found under chapter 280 of Iowa administrative rule.
Illinois. Illinois has two levels of social work licensure, the licensed social worker and licensed clinical social worker. The clinical license requires 3,000 hours of supervised practice before being eligible for clinical licensure. There does not appear to be any explicit requirement that a person hold the social worker license before accumulating the supervised practice experience. (Wisconsin rules explicitly require applicants to achieve certification as an advanced practice social worker or independent social worker prior to accumulating supervised practice hours toward clinical social work licensure.) There are explicit provisions in Illinois administrative code which would allow applicants to count hours gained in other jurisdictions outside of Illinois towards clinical licensure.
As to the proposed changes to the internship requirements under the social worker training certificate, Illinois does not have a training certificate or equivalency process for converting a health services degree into a bachelor's degree in social work.
Illinois' administrative rules for licensure of social work are found under Title 68, Part 1470.
Michigan: Michigan has a master's level social work license, aptly entitled Master's Social Work License. An applicant for the license must indicate the area of intended practice on the application, which includes a license designation of “macro" or “clinical." The macro designation, also known as an administrative designation, is similar to the Wisconsin independent social worker certification and denotes advanced generalist practice of social work. The clinical designation is similar to the Wisconsin clinical social work license and denotes therapeutic clinical practice. The clinical designation requires at least 4,000 hours of supervised practice under the supervision of a Michigan-licensed master's social worker or a person who holds the equivalent license, certificate, or registration from the state in which the experience was obtained. To obtain the supervised practice experience required for licensure – for Michigan residents – the administrative rules appear to require that the applicant holds a limited master's level social work license, however there are provisions, as noted above, which allow transference of hours from jurisdictions outside of Michigan so long as the supervisor held an equivalent credential to that of a Michigan licensed master's level social worker.
As to the proposed changes to the internship requirements under the social worker training certificate, Michigan does not have a training certificate or equivalency process for converting a health services degree into a bachelor's degree in social work.
Michigan's administrative rules for licensure of social work are found under sections R. 338.2901 to R. 338.2910.
Minnesota: Minnesota has three levels of master's degreed social work licenses, the graduate social worker, independent social worker and the licensed independent clinical social worker, the latter license being the most similar to Wisconsin's licensed clinical social worker. To qualify for the independent clinical social work license in Minnesota requires 4,000 hours of supervised practice. The rules require that Minnesota residents acquire the supervised practice under the graduate social worker or independent social worker license. The rules also specify that that supervised practice must be acquired under a licensed independent clinical social worker, a “mental health professional" (under state regulatory rules of healthcare locations, a mental health professional includes a certified psychiatric nurse, clinical social worker, a psychologist, psychiatrist or marriage and family therapist) or an equivalent mental health professional who is credentialed by another state, territorial, provincial, or foreign licensing agency. This appears to indicate that they could acquire supervised practice hours outside of Minnesota, but this is not explicitly indicated in statute.
As to the proposed changes to the internship requirements under the social work training certificate, Minnesota does not have a training certificate or equivalency process for converting a health services degree into a bachelor's degree in social work.
Minnesota regulates social work under Minnesota statutes sections 148D.001 to 149D.290.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies
Regarding changes to rules allowing acceptance of hours gained out of state: The Social Worker Section has found that a small number of applicants for clinical social work licensure have recently located to Wisconsin and have applied to the Section with supervised practice gained out of state. The Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board's rules require that applicants for clinical social work licensure acquire supervised practice while holding a Wisconsin certification as an advanced practice social worker (APSW) or independent social worker (ISW) under an approved supervisor; consequently the Section has denied these applications for licensure on the grounds that they were not acquired under an appropriate credential. The Section, in review of the supervised experience gained out of state, opines that as the credentialing authority, they should be able to review supervised experience gained out of state, and if found adequate, the Section should be able to accept the applicant's experience as sufficient for achieving clinical social work licensure.
Regarding changes to rules specifying internship requirements for social work training certificate holders: The rules specifying the requirements for converting a human services degree to a bachelor's degree in social work degree require that a person complete an approved human services internship of 400 hours or one year of social work employment with at least 400 hours of face-to-face client experience. Under existing social work programs, human services internships are structured and concentrated social work experiences designed to adequately educate and prepare students for the rigors of professional practice under guidance of an academic program and are not to be considered as abbreviated employment. To compensate for the lack of academic structure and focus by the academic programs, the rules also allow for an applicant to submit one full year of full-time social work practice with at least 400 hours of face-to-face client contact if they did not have the benefit of the internship. In review of internships submitted by applicants for certification through degree equivalency, the Section has found instances of self structured internships which appear to be nothing more than volunteer social work experiences, essentially unpaid social work employment, submitted as a human services internship. These internships are substantially shorter than the one year of social work experience, and in some cases substantially shorter than those human services internships provided by an academic program; furthermore, they lack benefit of oversight and guidance provided by an academic institution. The Section has found that the current rules do not adequately define the social work internship, therefore preventing the section from denying the applications on the basis that their internship was not provided by an academic institution, and therefore did not adequately prepare the applicant for meeting the minimum competencies required for safe practice.
Analysis and supporting documents used to determine effect on small business
Adjusting the rules for accepting supervised hours gained out of state should not impact small business. The effect of the rule change, if effected, will allow a small number of applicants that the social worker section has identified as attempting to transfer their supervised practice gained out of state to qualify for clinical licensure rather than having to complete two additional years of supervised practice. Based on application reviews, the section estimates this number to be less than five on an annual basis.
The section anticipates that clarifying the rules regarding the required human services internship to include a requirement that the internship be provided by an academic program or internship to have negligible or no impact on small business. Adjusting the internship requirement to require academic oversight may decrease human services employers (state certified clinics, community support programs, correctional institutions) access to free labor; however, the actual numbers of these applicants appear to be extremely low, and in recent experience the section estimates approximately ten or fewer applicants submit volunteer experiences as internships. Additionally, increasing academic oversight should result in better preparation of social workers.
Section
227.137, Stats., requires an “agency" to prepare an economic impact report before submitting the proposed rule-making order to the Wisconsin Legislative Council. The Department of Regulation and Licensing is not included as an “agency" in this section.
Small Business Impact
These proposed rules will have no significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses, as defined in s.
227.114 (1), Stats. The Department's Regulatory Review Coordinator may be contacted by email at
larry.martin@ drl.state.wi.us, or by calling (608) 266-8608.
Fiscal Estimate
Summary
The department estimates that this rule will require staff time in the Office of Legal Counsel. The total one-time salary and fringe costs are estimated at $16,477.
Anticipated costs incurred by private sector
The department finds that this rule has no significant fiscal effect on the private sector.
Submission of Written Comments
Interested persons are invited to present information at the hearing. Persons appearing may make an oral presentation but are urged to submit facts, opinions and argument in writing as well. Facts, opinions and argument may also be submitted in writing without a personal appearance by mail addressed to Pamela Haack, Paralegal, Department of Regulation and Licensing, Office of Legal Counsel, 1400 East Washington Avenue, Room 152, P.O. Box 8935, Madison, Wisconsin 53708-8935, or by email at pamela.haack@ drl.state.wi.us. Written comments must be received by November 10, 2008, to be included in the record of rule-making proceedings.
Agency Contact Person
Pamela Haack, Paralegal, Department of Regulation and Licensing, Office of Legal Counsel, 1400 East Washington Avenue, Room 152, P.O. Box 8935, Madison, Wisconsin 53708-8935; telephone 608-266-0495; email pamela.haack @drl.state.wi.us.
Text of Proposed Rule
SECTION 1. MPSW 3.09 (3) is amended to read:
(3)
An Except as provided in sub. (7), an affidavit that the applicant, after receiving a master's or doctoral degree and after receiving certification as an advanced practice social worker or an independent social worker, has completed at least 3,000 hours of clinical social work practice in no less than 2 years, including at least 1,000 hours of face-to-face client contact and including DSM diagnosis and treatment of individuals, under the supervision of a supervisor approved by the social worker section.
Pre-certification
Pre-licensed supervised practice shall meet the criteria under s.
MPSW 4.01.
SECTION 2. MPSW 3.09 (7) is created to read:
(7) An applicant who after receiving a master's or doctoral degree in social work and completing any portion of their 3,000 hours of supervised clinical social work practice in another state will be given credit for those hours provided they included at least 1,000 hours of face-to-face-client contact, or a proportionate number thereof, and also included DSM diagnosis and treatment of individuals, completed under the supervision of a supervisor acceptable to the social worker section.
