Kan. Admin. Regs. § 102-3-4a

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 49, December 5, 2024

Section 102-3-4a - Applications for licensure

(a) Each applicant for licensure as a professional counselor or clinical professional counselor shall request the appropriate licensure application forms from the director of the board.

(b) Each applicant for licensure as a professional counselor shall submit the completed application materials to the board and complete the following application procedures:

(1) Submit the full payment of the licensure application fee as provided in K.A.R. 102-3-2;

(2) submit, on board-approved forms, references from three individuals, one of whom shall have provided direct clinical supervision of the applicant's graduate program practicum or internship. If this individual is unavailable, the graduate program director or any person who has knowledge of the applicant's practicum or internship experience on the basis of the applicant's practicum or internship records shall submit the reference. Except as specified below in paragraph (b)(2)(C), each individual submitting a reference shall meet all of the following conditions:

(A) Is not related to the applicant;

(B) can address the applicant's professional conduct, competence, and merit of the public trust; and

(C) is authorized by law to practice professional counseling or to practice in a related field. However, this paragraph shall not apply to the individual specified above in paragraph (b)(2) who submits the reference if the supervisor of the practicum or internship is unavailable;

(3) arrange for the applicant's transcripts covering all applicable graduate college or university coursework to be sent directly from each academic institution to the board office. Each applicant who graduated from a college or university outside the United States also shall arrange for the applicant's transcript to be translated and evaluated for degree equivalency by a source and in a manner that are acceptable to the board; and

(4) demonstrate satisfactory completion of graduate educational requirements as specified in K.S.A. 65-5804a, and amendments thereto, and in K.A.R. 102-3-3a.

(c) Each applicant for licensure as a clinical professional counselor shall submit the completed application materials to the board and complete the following application procedures:

(1) Submit the full payment of the licensure application fee as provided in K.A.R. 102-3-2;

(2) demonstrate that the applicant is licensed by the board as a professional counselor or meets all requirements for licensure as a professional counselor;

(3) if not previously provided to the board, submit, on board-approved forms, references from three individuals, one of whom shall have provided direct clinical supervision of the applicant's graduate program practicum, internship, or post graduate work experience. If the individual who provided the clinical supervision is unavailable, the graduate program director or any person who has knowledge of the applicant's practicum, internship, or postgraduate work experience on the basis of the applicant's records shall submit the reference. At least one reference shall be from a licensed clinical professional counselor. Each individual submitting a reference shall meet all of the following conditions:

(A) Is not related to the applicant; and

(B) can address the applicant's professional conduct, competence, and merit of the public trust;

(4) if not previously provided to the board, arrange for the applicant's transcripts covering all applicable graduate college or university coursework to be sent directly from each academic institution to the board office. Each applicant who graduated from a college or university outside the United States also shall arrange for the applicant's transcript to be translated and evaluated for degree equivalency by a source and in a manner that are acceptable to the board;

(5) for persons earning a degree in professional counseling before July 1, 2003, demonstrate satisfactory completion of educational requirements as specified in K.S.A. 65-5804a, and amendments thereto, and in K.A.R. 102-3-3a, if this documentation has not been provided to the board previously;

(6) for any applicant earning a degree in professional counseling on or after July 1, 2003, demonstrate completion of graduate education requirements as specified in K.S.A. 65-5804a, and amendments thereto, and in K.A.R. 102-3-3a. If an applicant who earns a degree in professional counseling on or after July 1, 2003 has not completed the 350 hours of clinical practice required by K.S.A. 65-5804a(c)(1), and amendments thereto, as a part of a graduate-level practicum or internship, the applicant may complete this requirement through 350 hours of postgraduate, supervised experience as set out in K.A.R. 102-3-7a, in addition to the 4,000 hours of postgraduate, supervised experience required by K.S.A. 65-5804a(c)(1); and

(7) submit an attestation from the clinical supervisor that the applicant has satisfactorily completed the postgraduate supervised professional experience requirements in accordance with a clinical supervision training plan approved by the board as specified in K.A.R. 102-3-7a.

(d) The following provisions shall apply to each applicant for licensure as a professional counselor and to each applicant for licensure as a clinical professional counselor:

(1) Upon the board's determination that the applicant has met the applicable educational requirements, each applicant shall pass the appropriate, nationally administered, standardized written examination approved by the board in accordance with K.A.R. 102-3-5a.

(2) An applicant or prospective applicant shall not be given a judgment on the applicant's eligibility for licensure until the board receives all application materials and the applicant completes all application procedures.

(3) Upon notification from the board that all eligibility requirements have been satisfied, each applicant shall submit the fee as provided in K.A.R. 102-3-2 for the original, two-year licensure period.

(4)

(A) If any of the following conditions applies to the applicant, the applicant's application shall expire one year from the date on which the application was submitted to the board or on the date the applicant's temporary license expires, whichever date is later, except as provided by paragraph (d)(4)(B):

(i) The applicant has not met the qualifications.

(ii) The applicant has not submitted a complete application.

(iii) The applicant has not submitted the original license fee.

(B) Any applicant whose application will expire under paragraph (d)(4)(A) may request that the application be kept open for an additional period of time not to exceed six months on the basis of extenuating circumstances. The applicant shall submit a written request to the board with a detailed explanation of the extenuating circumstances that are the basis of the applicant's request. The written request shall be submitted no later than 30 days before the application expires. If the request is approved by the board, the application shall remain open for the period of time stipulated by the board in its approval, which shall not exceed six months.

(C) Upon expiration of the application, the applicant may submit a new application, the required fee, and all supporting documents, if the applicant wishes to reapply for licensure.

(e)

(1) Any applicant who is determined by the board to meet the requirements of K.S.A. 65-5804a, and amendments thereto, may be granted a temporary license if the applicant submits a written request for a temporary license on a form approved by the board and the temporary license fee as provided in K.A.R. 102-3-2. Except as provided in paragraph (e)(2), the temporary license shall remain in effect for six months.

(2) Any applicant whose six-month temporary license is due to expire may request that the temporary license remain in effect for a period of time not to exceed six months on the basis of extenuating circumstances. The applicant shall submit a written request to the board with a detailed explanation of the extenuating circumstances that are the basis of the applicant's request. The written request shall be submitted no later than 30 days before the application expires. If the request is approved by the board, the temporary license shall remain in effect for the period of time stipulated by the board in its approval, which shall not exceed six months.

(f) Any person who has been actively engaged in the practice of professional counseling as a licensed or registered professional counselor in Kansas at any time within the five years before July 1, 2000, may apply for a license as a clinical professional counselor by submitting transition application materials to the board and completing the following application procedures:

(1) Submit the completed transition application materials;

(2) submit the full payment of the licensure application fee as provided in K.A.R. 102-3-2;

(3) demonstrate that the applicant held a Kansas license or registration as a professional counselor in good standing at any time during the five years immediately before July 1, 2000;

(4) demonstrate active engagement in the practice of professional counseling at any time during the five years immediately before July 1, 2000; and

(5) demonstrate competence to diagnose and treat mental disorders by documenting completion of at least two of the three following requirements:

(A)

(i) Completion of at least nine graduate semester credit hours, or their academic equivalent, as documented on the transcript, which shall address clinical theory, assessment, and treatment issues, including three semester credit hours, or their academic equivalent, addressing psychopathology; or

(ii) passage of the national clinical examination in professional counseling as specified by K.A.R. 102-3-5a at the time of taking the examination;

(B) three years of clinical practice, including at least eight hours of client contact per week for at least nine months of each year in a community mental health center or its affiliate, a state mental hospital, or any other setting in which the applicant engaged in clinical practice that included diagnosis or treatment of mental disorders; or

(C) one attestation, on a form provided by the board, from a person licensed by the board to diagnose and treat mental disorders at the independent level or a person licensed to practice medicine and surgery, that the applicant has demonstrated competence in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

(g) For purposes of this regulation, the term "extenuating circumstances" means any condition caused by events beyond a person's control that is sufficiently extreme in nature to result in either of the following:

(1) The person's inability to comply with the requirements of this regulation within the timeframes established by this regulation or K.S.A. 65-5804a, and amendments thereto; or

(2) the inadvisability of requiring the applicant to comply with the requirements of this regulation within the timeframes established by this regulation and K.S.A. 65-5804a, and amendments thereto.

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 102-3-4a

Authorized by K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 74-7507; implementing K.S.A. 65-5804a, as amended by 2006 SB 470, §1, and K.S.A. 65-5808; effective Dec. 19, 1997; amended Aug. 4, 2000; amended July 19, 2002; amended Aug. 12, 2005; amended, T-102-7-5-06, July 5, 2006; amended Oct. 27, 2006.