5322407 Health, Department of - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Amending Chapter 66 on supervised practice for a license as a professional counselor

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

The Director of the Department of Health, pursuant to the authority set forth under § 302(14) of the District of Columbia Health Occupations Revision Act of 1985 (“Act”), effective March 15, 1986 (D.C. Law 6-99; D.C. Official Code § 3-1203.02(14) (2012 Repl.)), and Mayor’s Order 98-140, dated August 20, 1998, hereby gives notice of his intent to adopt the following amendment to Chapter 66 (Professional Counseling) of Title 17 (Business, Occupations, and Professionals) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR) in not less than thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register. 

 

The purpose of the amendment is to eliminate the provisions in 17 DCMR Chapter 66, Subsections 6603.1(b) and 6606.1, that allow an applicant to acquire the requisite 3,500 hours of supervised practice necessary for licensure in the District of Columbia, under the supervision of an individual who is licensed in another jurisdiction and is not licensed in the District of Columbia, but “would have been qualified for a license as a professional counselor in the District of Columbia” during the time of the supervision.  

 

The Board finds that this provision is not practical, as it would require the supervisee to provide documentation at the time an application is filed from the supervisor, which the Board would have to review, for the purpose of determining whether the supervisor would have qualified for licensure during the period of supervision, as this period may be two to five years after the supervised practice had begun.

 

The amendment also creates a separate Subsection 6603.4, which allows the Board to extend the period in which supervised experience must be acquired to five years for good cause shown.

Chapter 66, PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING, of Title 17 DCMR, BUSINESS, OCCUPATIONS, AND  PROFESSIONALS, is amended to read as follows:

 

Subsection 6603.1(b) is amended to read as follow:

 

(b)        The experience shall have consisted of a minimum of three thousand five hundred (3,500) hours of professional counseling performed over a period of not less than two (2) years and not more than five (5) years under the general supervision of a qualified supervisor who shall be a professional counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or independent clinical social worker who was licensed in a jurisdiction of the United States during the supervised period. 

 

Add a new Subsection 6603.4 to read as follows:

 

6603.4             Pursuant to § 6603.1(b), the Board may extend the five (5) year limit for good cause.  All hours worked in a position in which general counseling services are offered shall be counted toward the minimum required hours.

 

Subsection 6606.1 is amended to read as follows:

 

6606.1             A student or graduate may practice professional counseling in accordance with this section only under the general or immediate supervision of a professional counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or independent clinical social worker licensed in the District of Columbia.

 

 

All persons desiring to comment on the subject of this proposed rulemaking should fine comments in writing not later than thirty (30) days after the date of the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.  Comments should be sent to the Department of Health, Office of the General Counsel, 899 North Capitol Street, N.E., 5^th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20002.  In addition, comments may be sent to [e-mail], [phone].  Copies of the proposed rules may be obtained from the Department of Health at the same address during the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.