S671

SENATE, No. 671

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 5, 1996

By Senator ADLER

An Act concerning the licensure of professional counselors and associate counselors and amending P.L.1993, c.340.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 7 of P.L.1993, c.340 (C.45:8B-40) is amended to read as follows:

7. Each person applying for licensure as a licensed professional counselor shall make application therefor to the board on the form and in the manner the committee prescribes and the board shall immediately refer each application to the committee for appropriate action. Each applicant shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the committee that he:

a. Is at least 18 years of age;

b. Has [completed a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours in a planned educational program, which includes a master's degree or doctorate in counseling from a regionally accredited institution of higher education, of which 45 graduate semester hours are distributed in at least eight of the following areas:

(1) Counseling theory and practice;

(2) The helping relationship;

(3) Human growth and development and maladaptive behavior;

(4) Lifestyle and career development;

(5) Group dynamics, processes, counseling, and consulting;

(6) Appraisal of individuals;

(7) Social and cultural foundations;

(8) Research and evaluation;

(9) The counseling profession] received a master's degree or doctorate from a regionally accredited institution of higher education, in subject matter which is primarily counseling in content and which meets the academic and training content standards established by the committee and the board, or the substantial equivalent in both subject matter and extent of training. The committee and the board shall use the standards of appropriate professional counseling associations as determined by the committee and the board as a guide in establishing the training standards for counselor licensure;

c. Has had at least three years of supervised full-time counseling experience in a professional counseling setting acceptable to the committee, one year of which may be obtained prior to the granting of the master's degree. The committee shall establish criteria for determining the qualifications and status which may constitute supervised counseling experience. An applicant may eliminate one year of the required supervised counseling experience by substituting 30 graduate semester hours beyond the master's degree if those graduate semester hours are clearly related to counseling and are acceptable to the committee. In no case, however, may the applicant have less than one year of supervised professional counseling experience after the granting of the master's degree; and

d. Has passed the National Certified Counselor Examination of the National Board for Certified Counselors or the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor Examination by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.340, s.7)

2. Section 8 of P.L.1993, c.340 (C.45:8B-41) is amended to read as follows:

8. Each person applying for licensure as a licensed associate counselor shall make application therefor to the board on the form and in the manner the committee prescribes and the board shall immediately refer each application to the committee for appropriate action. Each applicant shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the committee that he:

a. Is at least 18 years of age;

(1) Counseling theory and practice;

(2) The helping relationship;

(3) Human growth and development and maladaptive behavior;

(4) Lifestyle and career development;

(5) Group dynamics, processes, counseling, and consulting;

(6) Appraisal of individuals;

(7) Social and cultural foundations;

(8) Research and evaluation;

c. Has passed an examination approved by the committee.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.340, s.8)

3. (New section) During the first 360 days after the effective date of this 1995 amendatory and supplementary act, the board shall issue to any individual upon application a professional counselor license, provided that the applicant meets the requirements of subsections a. and b. of section 7 of P.L.1993, c.340 (C.45:8B-40) and the board shall have the power to consider experience of the applicant prior to application for licensure as a waiver of all or part of the supervised experience requirements of subsection c. of that section 7. If the prior experience of the applicant does not meet all the requirements of that subsection c. then the applicant shall be issued an associate counselor license with acceptable experience credited toward the experience requirements of that subsection c. The board shall waive written examination of these applicants, but may require oral or situational examinations, or both.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill provides that the State Board of Marriage Counselor Examiners and the Professional Counselor Examiners Committee shall be responsible for establishing the content of academic and training standards for professional counselors and associate counselors. To become a professional or associate counselor, an applicant would still be required to have a master's degree or doctorate from a regionally accredited institution of higher education.

Applicants seeking to be a professional counselor must currently pass the National Certified Counselor Examination. This bill allows an applicant to take either that test or the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor Examination to qualify.

The bill also provides for the grandfathering of applicants who meet the education and experience requirements to be licensed professional counselors without an examination.

Modifies licensure requirements for professional counselors and associate counselors.