Interstate Compact and National Concerns

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February 6th, 2023

One of the major legislative initiatives for the CCA has been the Interstate Licensed Professional Counselor Compact. In 2019, I joined many leaders of the ACA in Washington DC to meet with Senators and Representatives. Our goal was to lobby for a national license process for Professional Counselors. Ultimately, national licensure was not adopted, and the ACA began pursuing a Professional Counselor Compact. In 2022, the CCA passed the Interstate Compact in Colorado. This required significant financial investments and time commitments, taking nearly 18 months of work from CCA leadership.

What is an Interstate Compact?

An Interstate Compact is an agreement between states that allows for license portability for those whose license is “free to practice” in their home state. LPCs who have restrictions on their license from the grievance process would not be considered free to practice. Suppose a state has passed legislation similar to what the CCA passed in 2022. In that case, the interstate compact achieves this inter-state collaboration by granting individuals who choose to join the compact a privilege to practice.

The compact process is best understood in four stages: Bill Drafting, State Legislation, Rule-Making (where we currently are), and finally we end with a Live Compact.

Bill Drafting

In the Spring of 2021, the Colorado Counseling Association was invited to speak into the drafting process of the Professional Counselor Interstate Compact. As a result, then President Dr. Gregory Elliott and I began attending meetings to provide feedback on what would eventually be the compact bill passed by the CCA in 2022.

State Legislation

Once a compact bill is drafted, every state has the opportunity to pass legislation and join the compact. As of the date of this letter, 17 states have joined the compact: Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Caroline, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia. Furthermore, 18 states are attempting to pass legislation to join the compact this spring. There is a high probability that over 30 states will have joined the compact by the end of 2023.

Screenshot 2023-02-06 at 07-10-39 Compact Map – Counseling Compact

SB22-077, the Colorado senate bill passed by the CCA in 2022, made Colorado the 14th state to join the Interstate Compact.

But what does that mean? That question has been asked often recently, as there has been much confusion and incorrect information provided on various social media platforms.

Rule-Making

We are currently rule-making stage in the compact process. Colorado is a member state of the Interstate Compact; however, the compact is not yet live. A compact for any profession creates a Compact Commission once ten states pass legislation similar to the CCA’s SB22-077. The Compact Commission comprises representatives from each state, called State Commissioners. Each commissioner, representing their respective state, has a vote in the rule-making process.

The CCA has been heavily involved in the rule-making process at a national level. In late November 2022, the CCA organized and hosted a meeting with the state branch leader of each state who had passed the compact at that time. At this meeting, the CCA discussed the importance of the professional counselor identity and stressed this identity must be upheld in the rule-making process. In many states, the professional counselor identity is being diluted by other mental health professions. Chi Sigma Iota (CSI), the honor society many CACREP programs are familiar with, has followed this issue closely (I recommend clicking this link and watching the webinar. The dilution of our professional identity is a big deal.)

In our national advocacy efforts, the CCA has strongly encouraged three things to be promulgated in the compact rules:

  1. Professional counselors seeking the privilege to practice through the Interstate Compact must have graduated from a Master’s level program whose singular identity is counseling in nature.
  2. Professional counselors seeking the privilege to practice through the Interstate Compact must have passed a national exam for professional counselors, such as the NCE or the NCMHCE.
  3. Professional counselors seeking the privilege to practice through the Interstate Compact must be licensed as professional counselors in their respective states.

The rule-making process for the Interstate Compact begins on February 24th, 2023. The CCA has collaboratively worked with our State Commissioner to express these three needs of professional counselors in this rule-making process.

Live Compact

The rule-making process is expected to be completed by the end of 2023 or early 2024. Once live, professional counselors in Colorado can apply for the compact and seek the privilege to practice. In truth, there is still much in this process that depends upon the State Commissioners and the rule-making process. However, once the rule-making process is complete, the CCA will be your best source of information on the compact application process in Colorado.

Signature (2)

Dr. Ryan M. Burkhart, CCA Executive Director

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