Senate Unanimously Supports Waugh's Professional Licensure Legislation

HARRISBURG – Senator Mike Waugh's (R-York) Senate Bill 990, which amends the requirements for clinical social work licenses, marriage and family therapist licenses, and professional counselor licenses, garnered unanimous support from the state Senate today.

Waugh's legislation amends Act 39 of 1987, the Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors Act to address ambiguity in the current educational requirements.

Currently under Act 39, applicants for all three types of licenses are required to complete a specified number of years OR hours of supervised clinical experience.  Due to the fact that existing regulation already addresses the number of hours needed each year, SB 990 removes the unnecessary provisions of the law pertaining to the number of years required for each type of license.

SB 990 also calls for a change in the date by which applicants for a marriage and family therapist license or professional counselor license must have successfully completed the required coursework in order to be grandfathered under the current regulations.  When the licensure requirements were amended in 1998 to require a 48-semester-hour master's degree, a grandfather exemption was included for five years after the date the final regulations were promulgated.  This date fell on March 2, 2007.  SB 990 would extend that date to on or before June 30, 2008.

"A constituent brought this issue to my attention after graduating in May 2007, with a 45-semester-hour master's degree," said Waugh. "To her dismay, she could not apply for her PA professional counselor license because she was three semester-hours short of the new requirements, and she had missed the date to be grandfathered by two-months. This change will allow my constituent and countless others to become licensed in Pennsylvania with the same qualifications as others currently practicing in the field."

Waugh originally introduced this legislation in 2008 at the request of his constituent, but it is estimated that an additional 50-60 Pennsylvania residents could benefit from changing the date for grandfathering.

SB 990 will now be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.