(a) The Commissioner of Public Health shall grant a license (1) as a professional counselor to any applicant who furnishes evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that such applicant has met the requirements of section 20-195dd, and (2) as a professional counselor associate to any applicant who furnishes evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that such applicant has met the requirements of section 20-195dd. The commissioner shall develop and provide application forms. The application fee for a professional counselor shall be three hundred fifteen dollars. The application fee for a professional counselor associate shall be two hundred twenty dollars.
(b) Licenses issued to professional counselors and professional counselor associates under this section may be renewed annually pursuant to section 19a-88. The fee for such renewal shall be one hundred ninety-five dollars. Each licensed professional counselor and professional counselor associate applying for license renewal shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the commissioner of having participated in continuing education programs. The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to (1) define basic requirements for continuing education programs that shall include (A) not less than one contact hour of training or education each registration period on the topic of cultural competency, (B) on and after January 1, 2016, not less than two contact hours of training or education during the first renewal period in which continuing education is required and not less than once every six years thereafter on the topic of mental health conditions common to veterans and family members of veterans, including (i) determining whether a patient is a veteran or family member of a veteran, (ii) screening for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, risk of suicide, depression and grief, and (iii) suicide prevention training, and (C) on and after January 1, 2018, not less than three contact hours of training or education each registration period on the topic of professional ethics, (2) delineate qualifying programs, (3) establish a system of control and reporting, and (4) provide for a waiver of the continuing education requirement for good cause.
(P.A. 97-311, S. 3; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-4, S. 18; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 214; P.A. 13-76, S. 2; P.A. 15-242, S. 64; 15-244, S. 124; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 474; P.A. 17-94, S. 2; P.A. 19-117, S. 164.)
History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-4 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (b) and added provisions re continuing education in Subsec. (b); June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 amended Subsec. (a) to increase fee from $250 to $315 and amended Subsec. (b) to increase fee from $150 to $190; P.A. 13-76 amended Subsec. (b)(1) by adding provision re continuing education programs to include training or education in cultural competency, effective October 1, 2013, and applicable to registration periods beginning on and after October 1, 2014; P.A. 15-242 amended Subsec. (b) by adding provisions re training or education on topic of mental health conditions common to veterans and family members of veterans; P.A. 15-244 amended Subsec. (b) to increase renewal fee from $190 to $195, effective July 1, 2015; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 changed effective date of P.A. 15-244, S. 124, from July 1, 2015, to October 1, 2015, and applicable to the renewal of a license or certificate that expires on or after that date, effective June 30, 2015; P.A. 17-94 amended Subsec. (b) by designating provisions re topic of cultural competency as new Subpara. (A), designating provisions re topic of mental health conditions common to veterans and family members of veterans as new Subpara. (B), redesignating existing Subparas. (A) to (C) as clauses (i) to (iii), added new Subpara. (C) re topic of professional ethics, and made technical changes; P.A. 19-117 amended Subsec. (a) by designating existing provisions re professional counselor as Subdiv. (1), adding Subdiv. (2) re professional counselor associate and adding provision requiring application fee for professional counselor associate to be $220 and amended Subsec. (b) by adding reference to professional counselors and professional counselor associates.