Statement of Scope
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY, PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING AND SOCIAL WORK EXAMINING BOARD
Rule No.: MPSW 16.01 and 16.02
Relating to: Education equivalent to a graduate degree in marriage and family therapy from a program accredited by COAMFTE
Rule Type: Both Emergency and Permanent
1. Finding/nature of emergency (Emergency Rule only):
The Board finds that an emergency rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the health, safety or welfare.
CR 16-008 contained an initial applicability date for Section 3, which recreated s. MPSW 16.02, to first apply to licensure applications that are received on or after October 1, 2019. The delayed initial applicability was put into place in order to allow students currently in educational programs to meet the educational standards without taking different or additional courses. CR 16-008 went into effect on February 1, 2018 with s. MPSW 16.02 reflecting the new educational equivalence standards which are not intended to be required until October 1, 2019. An emergency rule is necessary to delineate which equivalency education standards are required for applications received before and after October 1, 2019 in order to alleviate confusion for applicants and schools.
2. Detailed description of the objective of the proposed rule:
The objective of the proposed rule is to indicate that the educational equivalency courses in s. MPSW 16.02 prior to CR 16-008 are required until October 1, 2019 and that the educational equivalency courses contained in CR 16-008 are required after October 1, 2019. In addition, the proposed rule will clarify that courses taken outside of the degree can count towards the academic program equivalent to a master’s or doctorate degree in marriage and family therapy.
3. Description of the existing policies relevant to the rule, new policies proposed to be included in the rule, and an analysis of policy alternatives:
The clarification of the effective dates for the educational equivalence standards does not create new policy.
In addition, this rule will clarify courses taken outside of the master’s or doctorate program are allowed to obtain the program equivalency. Failing to allow additional courses to be taken to obtain the equivalency will create a barrier for some people to come into the profession.
4. Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):
§ 15.08 (5) (b) Each examining board shall promulgate rules for its own guidance and for the guidance of the trade or profession to which it pertains, and define and enforce professional conduct and unethical practices not inconsistent with the law relating to the particular trade or profession. § 457.03 (1) Upon the advice of the social worker section, marriage and family therapist section, and professional counselor section, promulgate rules establishing minimum standards for educational programs that must be completed for certification or licensure under this chapter and for supervised clinical training that must be completed for licensure as a clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, or professional counselor under this chapter and approve educational programs and supervised clinical training programs in accordance with those standards. 5. Estimate of amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
75 hours
6. List with description of all entities that may be affected by the proposed rule:
Applicants and schools, including schools or the Family Therapy Training Institute (accredited by COAMFTE) offering education equivalent to a degree in marriage and family therapy.
7. Summary and preliminary comparison with any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:
None
8. Anticipated economic impact of implementing the rule (note if the rule is likely to have a significant economic impact on small businesses):
None to minimal. It is not likely to have a significant economic impact on small businesses.
Contact Person: Sharon Henes, Administrative Rules Coordinator, (608) 261-2377
Authorized Signature
