La. Admin. Code tit. 46 § LXIII-4209

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section LXIII-4209 - Honesty and Integrity in Professional Relationships

A. To foster and maintain trust, LSSPs must be committed to the truth and adhere to their professional agreements. They are forthright about their qualifications, competencies, and roles; work in full cooperation with other professional disciplines to meet the needs of students and families; and avoid multiple relationships that diminish their professional effectiveness.

1. Accurate Presentation of Professional Qualifications. LSSPs accurately identify their professional qualifications to others.

a. Competency levels, education, training, experience, and certification and licensing credentials are accurately represented to clients, recipients of services, and others. LSSPs correct any misperceptions of their qualifications. LSSPs do not represent themselves as specialists in a particular domain without verifiable training and supervised experience in the specialty.

b. LSSPs do not use affiliations with persons, associations, or institutions to imply a level of professional competence that exceeds that which has actually been achieved.

2. Forthright Explanation of Professional Services, Roles, and Priorities. LSSPs are candid about the nature and scope of their services.

a. LSSPs explain their professional competencies, roles, assignments, and working relationships to recipients of services and others in their work setting in a forthright and understandable manner. School psychologists explain all professional services to clients in a clear, understandable manner (see §4205.A.1 b

b. LSSPs make reasonable efforts to become integral members of the client service systems to which they are assigned. They establish clear roles for themselves within those systems while respecting the various roles of colleagues in other professions.

c. LSSPs communicate to school administration and staff their commitment to protecting the rights and welfare of clients is communicated to the school administration, staff, and others as the highest priority in determining services.

d. LSSPs who provide services to several different groups (e.g., families, teachers, classrooms) may encounter situations in which loyalties are conflicted. As much as possible, LSSPs make known their priorities and commitments in advance to all parties to prevent misunderstandings.

e. LSSPs ensure that announcements and advertisements of the availability of their publications, products, and services for sale are factual and professional. They do not misrepresent their degree of responsibility for the development and distribution of publications, products, and services.

3. Respecting Other Professionals. To best meet the needs of children, LSSPs cooperate with other professionals in relationships based on mutual respect.

a. To meet the needs of children and other clients most effectively, LSSPs cooperate with other psychologists and professionals from other disciplines in relationships based on mutual respect. They encourage and support the use of all resources to serve the interests of students. If a child or other client is receiving similar services from another professional, LSSPs promote coordination of services.

b. If a child or other client is referred to another professional for services, LSSPs ensure that all relevant and appropriate individuals, including the client, are notified of the change and reasons for the change. When referring clients to other professionals, LSSPs provide clients with lists of suitable practitioners from whom the client may seek services.

c. Except when supervising graduate students, LSSPs do not alter reports completed by another professional without their permission to do so.

4. Multiple Relationships and Conflicts of Interest. LSSPs avoid multiple relationships and conflicts of interest that diminish their professional effectiveness.

a. This Chapter provides standards for professional conduct. LSSPs, in their private lives, are free to pursue their personal interests, except to the degree that those interests compromise professional effectiveness.

b. LSSPs refrain from any activity in which conflicts of interest or multiple relationships with a client or a client's family may interfere with professional effectiveness. LSSPs attempt to resolve such situations in a manner that provides greatest benefit to the client. LSSPs whose personal or religious beliefs or commitments may influence the nature of their professional services or their willingness to provide certain services inform clients and responsible parties of this fact. When personal beliefs, conflicts of interests, or multiple relationships threaten to diminish professional effectiveness or would be viewed by the public as inappropriate, LSSPs ask their supervisor for reassignment of responsibilities, or they direct the client to alternative services.

c. LSSPs do not exploit clients, supervisees, or graduate students through professional relationships or condone these actions by their colleagues. They do not participate in or condone sexual harassment of children, parents, other clients, colleagues, employees, trainees, supervisees, or research participants. LSSPs do not engage in sexual relationships with individuals over whom they have evaluation authority, including college students in their classes or program, or any other trainees, or supervisees. LSSPs do not engage in sexual relationships with their current or former pupil-clients; the parents, siblings, or other close family members of current pupil-clients; or current consultees.

d. LSSPs are cautious about business and other relationships with clients that could interfere with professional judgment and effectiveness or potentially result in exploitation of a client.

e. The LSSPs financial interests in a product (e.g., tests, computer software, professional materials) or service can influence their objectivity or the perception of their objectivity regarding that product or service. For this reason, LSSPs are obligated to disclose any significant financial interest in the products or services they discuss in their presentations or writings if that interest is not obvious in the authorship/ownership citations provided.

f. LSSPs neither give nor receive any remuneration for referring children and other clients for professional services.

g. LSSPs do not accept any remuneration in exchange for data from their client database without the permission of their employer and a determination of whether the data release ethically requires informed client consent.

h. LSSPs who provide school-based services and also engage in the provision of private practice services (dual setting practitioners) recognize the potential for conflicts of interests between their two roles and take steps to avoid such conflicts. Dual setting practitioners:

i. are obligated to inform parents or other potential clients of any psychological and educational services available at no cost from the schools prior to offering such services for remuneration;

ii. may not offer or provide private practice services to a student of a school or special school program where the practitioner is currently assigned;

iii. may not offer or provide private practice services to the parents or family members of a student eligible to attend a school or special school program where the practitioner is currently assigned;

iv. may not offer or provide an independent evaluation as defined in special education law for a student who attends a local or cooperative school where the practitioner is employed;

v. do not use tests, materials, equipment, facilities, secretarial assistance, or other services belonging to the public sector employer unless approved in advance by the employer;

vi. conduct all private practice outside of the hours of contracted public employment;

vii. hold appropriate credentials for practice in both the public and private sectors.

La. Admin. Code tit. 46, § LXIII-4209

Promulgated by the Department of Health, Board of Examiners of Psychologists, LR 49662 (4/1/2023).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 37:2357.