Provides for the licensure of rehabilitation counselors who treat emotional, cognitive and other disorders, by the department of education; provides for the establishment of a state board therefor; exempts certain persons.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1011
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 7, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KELLNER, EDDINGTON, JAFFEE, BROOK-KRASNY, MARKEY,
WEISENBERG, McDONOUGH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. PHEFFER --
read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring licensing of
rehabilitation counselors
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new article 152 to
2 read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 152
4 REHABILITATION COUNSELING
5 Section 7550.Introduction.
6 7551.Definition of the practice of "rehabilitation counseling".
7 7552.Practice of rehabilitation counseling and use of the
8 titles "rehabilitation counselor" and "licensed rehabil-
9 itation counselor".
10 7553.State board for rehabilitation counseling.
11 7554.Requirements for a professional license.
12 7555.Limited permits.
13 7556.Exempt persons.
14 7557.Special provisions.
15 7558.Separability.
16 § 7550. Introduction. This article applies to the profession of reha-
17 bilitation counseling. The general provisions for all professions
18 contained in article one hundred thirty of this title shall apply to
19 this article.
20 § 7551. Definition of the practice of "rehabilitation counseling". The
21 practice of the profession of rehabilitation counseling is defined as a
22 systematic process which assists persons with physical, mental, develop-
23 mental, cognitive, and emotional disabilities to achieve their personal,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00005-01-9
A. 1011 2
1 career, and independent living goals in the most integrated setting
2 possible through the application of the counseling process. The coun-
3 seling process involves communication, goal setting, and beneficial
4 growth or change through self-advocacy, psychological, vocational,
5 social, and behavioral interventions. The specific techniques and modal-
6 ities utilized within this rehabilitation counseling process may
7 include, but are not limited to:
8 1. assessment and appraisal;
9 2. diagnosis and treatment planning;
10 3. career (vocational) counseling;
11 4. individual and group counseling treatment interventions focused on
12 facilitating adjustments to the medical and psychosocial impact of disa-
13 bility;
14 5. case management, referral, and service coordination;
15 6. program evaluation and research;
16 7. interventions to remove environmental, employment, and attitudinal
17 barriers;
18 8. consultation services among multiple parties and regulatory
19 systems;
20 9. job analysis, job development, and placement services, including
21 assistance with employment and job accommodations;
22 10. the provision of consultation about and access to rehabilitation
23 technology.
24 § 7552. Practice of rehabilitation counseling and use of the titles
25 "rehabilitation counselor" and "licensed rehabilitation counselor". Only
26 a person licensed or exempt under this article shall practice rehabili-
27 tation counseling or use the title "rehabilitation counselor". Only a
28 person licensed under this article shall use the title "licensed reha-
29 bilitation counselor" or any other designation tending to imply that the
30 person is licensed to practice rehabilitation counseling.
31 § 7553. State board for rehabilitation counseling. 1. A state board
32 for rehabilitation counseling shall be appointed by the board of regents
33 on recommendation of the commissioner for the purpose of assisting the
34 board of regents and the department on matters of licensing and regu-
35 lation. The board shall be composed of at least three rehabilitation
36 counselors licensed pursuant to this article and at least one public
37 representative who does not hold interests in the organization, financ-
38 ing, or delivery of rehabilitation counseling services. Members of the
39 first board need not be licensed prior to their appointment to the
40 board. An executive secretary to the board shall be appointed by the
41 board of regents on recommendation of the commissioner.
42 2. The terms of office of the members of the board shall be five
43 years; provided, however, that of the members first appointed, one shall
44 be appointed for three years, one shall be appointed for four years, and
45 two shall be appointed for five years. Any vacancy on the board shall be
46 filled by appointment for the remainder of such member's term in accord-
47 ance with the provisions of this section.
48 § 7554. Requirements for a professional license. To qualify for a
49 license as a "licensed rehabilitation counselor", an applicant shall
50 fulfill the following requirements:
51 1. Application: file an application with the department;
52 2. Education: have received an education, including a master's or
53 higher degree in rehabilitation counseling from an accredited program
54 registered by the department or determined by the department to be the
55 substantial equivalent thereof, in accordance with the commissioner's
A. 1011 3
1 regulations. The graduate coursework shall include, but not be limited
2 to, the following areas:
3 (a) theories and techniques of counseling,
4 (b) assessment,
5 (c) occupational information,
6 (d) job placement,
7 (e) medical aspects of disability,
8 (f) psychosocial aspects of disability,
9 (g) community resources,
10 (h) delivery of rehabilitation services,
11 (i) completion of a minimum one hundred hours of supervised practicum
12 and one year (six hundred hours) supervised internship in rehabilitation
13 counseling;
14 3. Experience: the completion of at least seven hundred client contact
15 hours of supervised clinical experience, by persons holding a degree
16 from a master's or doctoral program, or the substantial equivalent, in
17 accordance with the commissioner's regulations, or the completion of at
18 least seven hundred client hours of supervised post-master's clinical
19 experience in rehabilitation counseling satisfactory to the department,
20 in accordance with the commissioner's regulations;
21 4. Examination: pass an examination satisfactory to the board and in
22 accordance with the commissioner's regulations;
23 5. Age: be at least twenty-one years of age;
24 6. Character: be of good moral character as determined by the depart-
25 ment; and
26 7. Fees: pay a fee of two hundred fifty dollars to the department for
27 admission to a department-conducted examination and for an initial
28 license; a fee of eighty-five dollars for each reexamination; a fee of
29 one hundred seventy-five dollars for an initial license for persons not
30 requiring admission to a department-conducted examination, and a fee of
31 one hundred seventy dollars for each triennial registration period.
32 § 7555. Limited permits. The following requirements for a limited
33 permit shall apply to the profession licensed pursuant to this article:
34 1. The department may issue a limited permit to an applicant whose
35 qualifications have been approved for admission to the examination in
36 accordance with regulations promulgated therefor.
37 2. Limited permits shall be for one year and may be renewed, at the
38 discretion of the department, for one additional year.
39 3. The fee for each limited permit and for each renewal thereof shall
40 be seventy dollars.
41 § 7556. Exempt persons. 1. This article shall not be construed to
42 affect or prevent qualified physicians, nurses, physical or occupational
43 therapists, psychologists, counselors, creative arts therapists, psycho-
44 analysts, social workers or members of the clergy from performing the
45 work of a rehabilitation counselor where incident to the practice of
46 their professions, provided they do not hold themselves out to the
47 public by any title as being engaged in the practice of rehabilitation
48 counseling.
49 2. This article shall not be construed to affect or prevent a rehabil-
50 itation counseling student from engaging in clinical practice under the
51 supervision of a licensed or certified rehabilitation counselor as part
52 of a program conducted in an approved agency affiliated with an accred-
53 ited school of rehabilitation counseling which is approved by the
54 department.
55 § 7557. Special provisions. 1. Any nonexempt person practicing the
56 profession to be licensed pursuant to this article shall apply for a
A. 1011 4
1 license for practice of such profession within one year of the effective
2 date of such profession.
3 (a) If such person does not meet the requirements for a license estab-
4 lished within this article, such person may meet alternative criteria
5 determined by the department to be the substantial equivalent of such
6 criteria.
7 (b) If such person does not meet the requirements for a license estab-
8 lished within this article, but has been certified or registered by a
9 national certifying or registering body having certification or regis-
10 tration standards acceptable to the commissioner, the department shall
11 license without examination.
12 (c) If such person does not meet the requirements for a license estab-
13 lished within this article, the department shall license without exam-
14 ination if the applicant submits evidence satisfactory to the department
15 of having been engaged in the practice of such profession for at least
16 five of the immediately preceding eight years.
17 2. The commissioner shall establish by rules and regulations all fees
18 authorized pursuant to this article. Such fees shall be set in amounts
19 sufficient to meet the expenses of administering the provisions of this
20 article.
21 3. The department shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary
22 to establish professional standards of rehabilitation counselors and any
23 other rules and regulations necessary to administer the provisions of
24 this article.
25 § 7558. Separability. If any section of this article, or part thereof,
26 shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
27 such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of
28 any other section or part thereof.
29 § 2. This act shall take effect on the five hundred forty-fifth day
30 after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that any rules and
31 regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act on its
32 effective date are authorized and directed to be promulgated, amended
33 and repealed on or before such date.
