Bill Text: FL S0858 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clinical Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist, and Mental Health Counselor Interns
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-04 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 373 (Ch. 2016-80), CS/SB 12 (Ch. 2016-241) [S0858 Detail]
Download: Florida-2016-S0858-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2016 SB 858 By Senator Legg 17-00689A-16 2016858__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to clinical social worker, marriage 3 and family therapist, and mental health counselor 4 interns; amending s. 491.0045, F.S.; revising clinical 5 social worker, marriage and family therapist, and 6 mental health counselor intern registration 7 requirements; revising requirements for supervision of 8 registered interns; deleting specified education and 9 experience requirements; establishing validity periods 10 and providing for expiration of intern registrations; 11 establishing requirements for a subsequent intern 12 registration and for an applicant who has held a 13 provisional license; amending s. 491.005, F.S.; 14 requiring a licensed mental health professional to be 15 on the premises when a registered intern provides 16 services in clinical social work, marriage and family 17 therapy, or mental health counseling; deleting a 18 clinical experience requirement for such registered 19 interns; deleting a provision requiring that certain 20 registered interns meet educational requirements for 21 licensure; reenacting s. 491.012(1)(i),(j), and (k), 22 F.S., relating to penalties, to incorporate the 23 amendment made to s. 491.0045, F.S., in a reference 24 thereto; providing an effective date. 25 26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27 28 Section 1. Section 491.0045, Florida Statutes, is amended 29 to read: 30 491.0045 Intern registration; requirements.— 31 (1)Effective January 1, 1998,An individual who has not 32 satisfiedintends to practice in Florida to satisfythe 33 postgraduate or post-master’s level experience requirements, as 34 specified in s. 491.005(1)(c), (3)(c), or (4)(c), must register 35 as an intern in the profession for which he or she is seeking 36 licensure beforeprior tocommencing the post-master’s 37 experience requirement.orAn individual who intends to satisfy 38 part of the required graduate-level practicum, internship, or 39 field experience, outside the academic arena for any profession, 40 must register as an intern in the profession for which he or she 41 is seeking licensure beforeprior tocommencing the practicum, 42 internship, or field experience. 43 (2) The department shall register as a clinical social 44 worker intern, marriage and family therapist intern, or mental 45 health counselor intern each applicant who the board certifies 46 has: 47 (a) Completed the application form and remitted a 48 nonrefundable application fee not to exceed $200, as set by 49 board rule; 50 (b)1. Completed the education requirements as specified in 51 s. 491.005(1)(c), (3)(c), or (4)(c) for the profession for which 52 he or she is applying for licensure, if needed; and 53 2. Submitted an acceptable supervision plan, as determined 54 by the board, for meeting the practicum, internship, or field 55 work required for licensure that was not satisfied in his or her 56 graduate program. 57 (c) Identified a qualified supervisor. 58 (3) An individual registered under this section must remain 59 under supervision while practicing under registered intern 60 statusuntil he or she is in receipt of a license or a letter61from the department stating that he or she is licensed to62practice the profession for which he or she applied. 63(4) An individual who has applied for intern registration64on or before December 31, 2001, and has satisfied the education65requirements of s. 491.005 that are in effect through December6631, 2000, will have met the educational requirements for67licensure for the profession for which he or she has applied.68 (4)(5) Individuals who have commenced the experience69requirement as specified in s. 491.005(1)(c), (3)(c), or (4)(c)70but failed to register as required by subsection (1) shall71register with the department before January 1, 2000.Individuals 72 who fail to comply with this section maysubsection shallnot be 73 granted a license under this chapter, and any time spent by the 74 individual completing the experience requirement as specified in 75 s. 491.005(1)(c), (3)(c), or (4)(c) beforeprior toregistering 76 as an intern doesshallnot count toward completion of thesuch77 requirement. 78 (5) An intern registration issued on or before April 1, 79 2017, expires March 31, 2022, and may not be renewed or 80 reissued. An intern registration issued after April 1, 2017, 81 expires 60 months after the date of issuance. No subsequent 82 intern registration may be issued unless the candidate has 83 passed the theory and practice examination described in s. 84 491.005 (1)(d), (3)(d), and (4)(d). 85 (6) An individual who has held a provisional license issued 86 by the board may not apply for an intern registration in the 87 same profession. 88 Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (1), 89 paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (3), paragraphs (a) and (c) 90 of subsection (4), and subsections (5) and (6) of section 91 491.005, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 92 491.005 Licensure by examination.— 93 (1) CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK.—Upon verification of 94 documentation and payment of a fee not to exceed $200, as set by 95 board rule, plus the actual per applicant cost to the department 96 for purchase of the examination from the American Association of 97 State Social Worker’s Boards or a similar national organization, 98 the department shall issue a license as a clinical social worker 99 to an applicant who the board certifies: 100 (a) Has submitted anmadeapplicationthereforand paid the 101 appropriate fee. 102 (c) Has had at leastnot less than2 years of clinical 103 social work experience, which took place subsequent to 104 completion of a graduate degree in social work at an institution 105 meeting the accreditation requirements of this section, under 106 the supervision of a licensed clinical social worker or the 107 equivalent who is a qualified supervisor as determined by the 108 board. An individual who intends to practice in Florida to 109 satisfy clinical experience requirements must register pursuant 110 to s. 491.0045 beforeprior tocommencing practice. If the 111 applicant’s graduate program was not a program which emphasized 112 direct clinical patient or client health care services as 113 described in subparagraph (b)2., the supervised experience 114 requirement must take place after the applicant has completed a 115 minimum of 15 semester hours or 22 quarter hours of the 116 coursework required. A doctoral internship may be applied toward 117 the clinical social work experience requirement. A licensed 118 mental health professional must be on the premises when clinical 119 services are provided by a registered intern in a private 120 practice setting.The experience requirement may be met by work121performed on or off the premises of the supervising clinical122social worker or the equivalent, provided the off-premises work123is not the independent private practice rendering of clinical124social work that does not have a licensed mental health125professional, as determined by the board, on the premises at the126same time the intern is providing services.127 (3) MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY.—Upon verification of 128 documentation and payment of a fee not to exceed $200, as set by 129 board rule, plus the actual cost to the department for the 130 purchase of the examination from the Association of Marital and 131 Family Therapy Regulatory Board, or similar national 132 organization, the department shall issue a license as a marriage 133 and family therapist to an applicant who the board certifies: 134 (a) Has submitted anmadeapplicationthereforand paid the 135 appropriate fee. 136 (c) Has had at leastnot less than2 years of clinical 137 experience during which 50 percent of the applicant’s clients 138 were receiving marriage and family therapy services, which must 139 be at the post-master’s level under the supervision of a 140 licensed marriage and family therapist with at least 5 years of 141 experience, or the equivalent, who is a qualified supervisor as 142 determined by the board. An individual who intends to practice 143 in Florida to satisfy the clinical experience requirements must 144 register pursuant to s. 491.0045 beforeprior tocommencing 145 practice. If a graduate has a master’s degree with a major 146 emphasis in marriage and family therapy or a closely related 147 field that did not include all the coursework required under 148 sub-subparagraphs (b)1.a.-c., credit for the post-master’s level 149 clinical experience shall not commence until the applicant has 150 completed a minimum of 10 of the courses required under sub 151 subparagraphs (b)1.a.-c., as determined by the board, and at 152 least 6 semester hours or 9 quarter hours of the course credits 153 must have been completed in the area of marriage and family 154 systems, theories, or techniques. Within the 3 years of required 155 experience, the applicant shall provide direct individual, 156 group, or family therapy and counseling, to include the 157 following categories of cases: unmarried dyads, married couples, 158 separating and divorcing couples, and family groups including 159 children. A doctoral internship may be applied toward the 160 clinical experience requirement. A licensed mental health 161 professional must be on the premises when clinical services are 162 provided by a registered intern in a private practice setting. 163The clinical experience requirement may be met by work performed164on or off the premises of the supervising marriage and family165therapist or the equivalent, provided the off-premises work is166not the independent private practice rendering of marriage and167family therapy services that does not have a licensed mental168health professional, as determined by the board, on the premises169at the same time the intern is providing services.170 (4) MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING.—Upon verification of 171 documentation and payment of a fee not to exceed $200, as set by 172 board rule, plus the actual per applicant cost to the department 173 for purchase of the examination from the Professional 174 Examination Service for the National Academy of Certified 175 Clinical Mental Health Counselors or a similar national 176 organization, the department shall issue a license as a mental 177 health counselor to an applicant who the board certifies: 178 (a) Has submitted anmadeapplicationthereforand paid the 179 appropriate fee. 180 (c) Has had at leastnot less than2 years of clinical 181 experience in mental health counseling, which must be at the 182 post-master’s level under the supervision of a licensed mental 183 health counselor or the equivalent who is a qualified supervisor 184 as determined by the board. An individual who intends to 185 practice in Florida to satisfy the clinical experience 186 requirements must register pursuant to s. 491.0045 beforeprior187tocommencing practice. If a graduate has a master’s degree with 188 a major related to the practice of mental health counseling that 189 did not include all the coursework required under sub 190 subparagraphs (b)1.a.-b., credit for the post-master’s level 191 clinical experience shall not commence until the applicant has 192 completed a minimum of seven of the courses required under sub 193 subparagraphs (b)1.a.-b., as determined by the board, one of 194 which must be a course in psychopathology or abnormal 195 psychology. A doctoral internship may be applied toward the 196 clinical experience requirement. A licensed mental health 197 professional must be on the premises when clinical services are 198 provided by a registered intern in a private practice setting. 199The clinical experience requirement may be met by work performed200on or off the premises of the supervising mental health201counselor or the equivalent, provided the off-premises work is202not the independent private practice rendering of services that203does not have a licensed mental health professional, as204determined by the board, on the premises at the same time the205intern is providing services.206(5) INTERNSHIP.—An individual who is registered as an207intern and has satisfied all of the educational requirements for208the profession for which the applicant seeks licensure shall be209certified as having met the educational requirements for210licensure under this section.211 (5)(6)RULES.—The board may adopt rules necessary to 212 implement any education or experience requirement of this 213 section for licensure as a clinical social worker, marriage and 214 family therapist, or mental health counselor. 215 Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 216 made by this act to section 491.0045, Florida Statutes, in a 217 reference thereto, paragraphs (i), (j), and (k) of subsection 218 (1) of section 491.012, Florida Statutes, are reenacted to read: 219 491.012 Violations; penalty; injunction.— 220 (1) It is unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any 221 person to: 222 (i) Practice clinical social work in this state for 223 compensation, unless the person holds a valid, active license to 224 practice clinical social work issued pursuant to this chapter or 225 is an intern registered pursuant to s. 491.0045. 226 (j) Practice marriage and family therapy in this state for 227 compensation, unless the person holds a valid, active license to 228 practice marriage and family therapy issued pursuant to this 229 chapter or is an intern registered pursuant to s. 491.0045. 230 (k) Practice mental health counseling in this state for 231 compensation, unless the person holds a valid, active license to 232 practice mental health counseling issued pursuant to this 233 chapter or is an intern registered pursuant to s. 491.0045. 234 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.