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NBCC Increases State-Level Legislative and Regulatory Outreach
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Last year, the NBCC Government & Legislative Affairs Department kicked off a new state outreach campaign to further the mission of promoting the counseling profession and supporting counselors through federal and state initiatives.
Our goal is to build a national network by strengthening existing connections and cultivating new relationships with state leaders, counselors, and organizations to grow the profession through legislative and regulatory avenues. NBCC has a rich history of working to advance the profession and is committed to increasing state-level support on policy priorities such as licensure portability and uniform training standards for counselors.
Through our state services, we are collaborating with state counseling boards, organizations, and lobbyists in all 50 states to offer strategic support on public policy issues. We can provide feedback or help compose draft legislation and regulations for counseling priorities such as scope of practice, education standards, testing, and other issues states may be addressing.
We are currently tracking state-level legislation and connecting with state leaders to aid in their efforts to promote counselors and the profession. We believe the integration of state and federal grassroots activities will ensure more effective outreach for our collective legislative agendas.
NBCC's Government & Legislative Affairs Department is also monitoring state legislative trends in occupational licensing across professions so that NBCC can be a resource on all regulatory matters. Our goal is to strengthen relationships with state leaders and to more fully support state legislative and regulatory activities. Please contact Jolie Long, Director of State Affairs, at long@nbcc.org about state-related activities. |
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Counselor Participation in VA Has a History of Accomplishments and Obstacles
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One of NBCC's leading federal priorities is ensuring that counselors are treated fairly and afforded the same opportunities to work within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as other mental health providers. Significant progress has been made over the last few years, but legislative and administrative obstacles remain.
Before 2006, counselors were not eligible VA providers. Through the efforts of NBCC's Government & Legislative Affairs Department, counselors became eligible VA providers under legislative language signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006. Unfortunately, it was not until 2010 that the VA released the qualification standards for counselors so that hiring of counselors could begin.
Although securing the ability for counselors to be hired by the VA was a huge win, counselors were still unable to participate in the VA's trainee program for mental health professionals-which serves as the main pipeline for hiring in the agency. In 2013, NBCC was successful in having report language (which carries the weight of law) included in the FY14 MilCon-VA appropriations bill, which added counselors to the trainee program. Additionally, in 2017, the Better Workforce for Veterans Act included language requiring equal funding for mental health counselors in the trainee program.
A challenge that continues to exist and prevent counselors from enjoying parity with other professions in the VA is the lack of a federal occupational series for the counselors. This deficiency affects both the ability of military installations to hire counselors and the salary structures. Although this challenge is not strictly a VA issue, the agency has been directed on several occasions to work with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to create an occupational series for counselors.
Through the work of NBCC's Government & Legislative Affairs Department, both the FY18 and FY19 MilCon-VA appropriations bills included report language directing the VA to work with OPM to create an occupational series. NBCC has repeatedly inquired about the progress of these Congressional directives but has struggled to get a clear response from any VA office. The VA has also claimed that an occupational series is not necessary to facilitate the hiring of counselors, contrary to the findings of Congress.
New legislation introduced in both the House (H.R. 100) and Senate (S. 785) during this 116th Congress includes language directing the VA to create an occupational series in a timely manner.The NBCC Government & Legislative Affairs Department is currently working with Congressional allies to ensure that the legislation is approved. We have also identified several changes the VA needs to make to bolster the hiring of counselors. The changes include the establishment of professional standards boards comprised of only counselors, as well as the hiring of a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) liaison who is also a LPMHC, rather than credentialed as a psychologist or other behavioral health professional. NBCC also supports removing the harmful restriction that requires two LPMHCs be employed at a VA facility for a LPMHC internship to be offered (thus limiting the effectiveness of the trainee program as a pipeline).
Significant, meaningful progress on counselor participation within the VA has been made, but there is still work to be done. NBCC's Government & Legislative Affairs Department continues to work with VA staff and members of Congress to devise solutions that are beneficial to both counselors and veterans. Support from counselors like you is critical. We ask that you share your personal experiences working with the VA with us at govtaffairs@nbcc.org. Thank you!
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Arizona Passes Bill to Decrease Occupational Licensing Statutes
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Arizona House Bill 2569 (H.B. 2569) has passed the House and Senate and was signed by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on April 10, 2019. This legislation will recognize all out-of-state occupational or professional licenses and certifications, with as little as one year of being licensed prior to moving to Arizona. NBCC opposed this legislation, as it exposes the public to mental health providers who have not met the minimum qualifications to practice in the state.
Now a license to practice will automatically be issued if an applicant's previous state verifies all of its requirements were met, the license is in good standing, the person has been licensed for at least one year, and there are no current or past disciplinary actions or investigations.
NBCC does not support decreasing occupational licensing requirements and is instead working to improve counselor licensure portability as a member of the National Portability Task Force with the American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB), the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), and the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA). The goal of the task force is to move the profession toward a uniform licensure endorsement process through state adoption of the National Counselor Licensure Endorsement Process (NCLEP).
The NCLEP will significantly benefit mental health consumers by increasing access to needed care and services and will help create a vibrant workforce of licensed counselors. Moreover, NBCC believes a secure, mental health counselor portability licensure process ensures that consumer protections are in place. To find out more, please visit www.nbcc.org/Portability or write us at govtaffairs@nbcc.org.
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Medicare Legislation Gaining Support as Congress Settles In
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S. 286/ H.R. 945, The Mental Health Access Improvement Act, is gaining cosponsors as Congress is finishing administrative work and gradually focusing on more substantive legislative proposals. Committee assignments for legislators on the House Energy and Commerce, House Ways and Means, and Senate Finance Committees have all been finalized. NBCC Government and Legislative Affairs staff, as part of our work with the Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition, are meeting with these offices to discuss and support the legislation. Currently, the bill has 34 cosponsors-21 in the House and 13 in the Senate. Notably, we have secured four Republican Senate cosponsors, which is already more Republican Senators than we had during the entire 115th Congress. As always, the most effective and impactful way to gain cosponsors is with support from counselors like you! Please visit our Grassroots Action Center and ask your Senators and Representatives to cosponsor the Mental Health Access Improvement Act! |
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