STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2406

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2459
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which
was referred S.B. No. 2459 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to establish a licensure
program for professional counselors.

     Testimony on the measure was received from the Professional
and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce
and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), Board of Psychology, Hawaii Nurses
Association, Child and Family Service, Lynn C. Fox and
Associates, Inc., Sestak Rehabilitation Services, Hawaii
Rehabilitation Counseling Association, and numerous individuals.

     This measure establishes a licensing program for
professional counselors and prohibits an individual who lacks
licensure from using the title "licensed professional counselor".
The measure also establishes licensure requirements and
exemptions, defines the scope of professional counseling
practice, and appropriates funds for program implementation.

     Your Committee finds that licensure assures the public that
individuals licensed by the State have met certain minimum
educational, experiential, and examination requirements.  The
State has already established licensing programs for other
professionals who provide counseling services, such as social
workers and marriage and family therapists, in recognition of the

 
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potential for harm that the acts of unlicensed individuals
present.   By adopting this measure, Hawaii will join the
forty-seven other states and the District of Columbia that have
established licensure programs for counselors. 

     Upon careful consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure to:

     (1)  Require that applicants for licensure:

          (A)  Complete the requisite hours of post-graduate
               direct counseling work within a three-year period;
               and

          (B)  Have a minimum number of semester or quarterly
               hours in specific courses;

     (2)  Disallow individuals with certification as a national
          certified counselor or national certified
          rehabilitation counselor from being "grandfathered"
          into the licensing program;

     (3)  Clarify that the practice of professional counseling
          includes planning, and treating and counseling persons
          with mental, emotional, or physical disorders;

     (4)  Authorize the director of DCCA to hire an
          administrative assistant and secretary to assist with
          the activities of the licensure program; and

     (5)  Delay the implementation of the licensure program to
          July 1, 2001.

     Your Committee has also made technical, nonsubstantive
amendments to the measure for purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to
this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and
purpose of S.B. No. 2459, as amended herein, and recommends that
it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B.
No. 2459, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and
Means.


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2406
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                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Commerce and
                                   Consumer Protection,



                                   ______________________________
                                   BRIAN KANNO, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Co-Chair

 
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