Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0450-02-.12 - CONTINUING EDUCATION
(1) Basic
Requirements
(a) Each person registered with
the board is required to complete 10 clock hours of continuing education during
each calendar year.
(b) Those
persons who hold two (2) certificates and/or licenses regulated by the
Tennessee Board for Professional Counselors, Marital and Family Therapists and
Clinical Pastoral Therapists shall complete fifteen (15) clock hours of
continuing education each calendar year. A person who holds three (3)
certificates and/or licenses shall complete twenty (20) clock hours of
continuing education each calendar year. In each case, at least five (5) clock
hours shall be directly related to the practice of each profession for which
the person is licensed or certified.
(c) Ethics and Jurisprudence Course
Requirement
1. Three (3) clock hours of the
ten (10) clock hour annual requirement shall, every two (2) years, pertain to
the following subjects:
(i) Professional
ethics; and/or
(ii) Tennessee Code
Annotated, Title 63, Chapter 22; and/or
(iii) Official Compilation, Rules and
Regulations of the State of Tennessee, Chapter 0450-02.
2. Those persons who hold two (2)
certificates and/or licenses regulated by the Tennessee Board for Professional
Counselors, Marital and Family Therapists and Clinical Pastoral Therapists
shall have three (3) clock hours of the fifteen (15) clock hour annual
requirement pertain to ethics and jurisprudence every two (2) years.
3. A person who holds three (3) certificates
and/or licenses shall have three (3) clock hours of the twenty (20) clock hour
annual requirement pertain to ethics and jurisprudence every two (2)
years.
(d) Suicide
Prevention Training required under the "Kenneth and Madge Tullis, MD, Suicide
Prevention Training Act."
1. Current Licensees
- Beginning January 1, 2020, all persons who hold an active license or
registration under this part must complete a Board approved training program of
not less than two (2) hours relative to suicide prevention at least once every
five (5) years.
2. New Licensees -
An applicant applying for initial licensure on or after January 1, 2020 is not
required to complete a training program on suicide prevention for two (2) years
after the date of initial licensure if the applicant can demonstrate successful
completion of a two (2) hour academic training program that meets criteria
established by the Board and that was completed no more than two (2) years
prior to the application for initial licensure.
3. Hours Earned - The continuing education
hours earned through the training program under Part 1 and Part 2 of this
subparagraph count toward meeting the continuing education requirements listed
in subparagraph (1)(a) of this rule.
(e) A person is not required to complete
continuing for a profession in the calendar year that his/her license and/or
certificate was initially approved.
(2) Acceptable Continuing Education -
Acceptable continuing education shall consist of master or doctoral level
course work from a nationally or regionally accredited institution of higher
education; attendance at educational events sponsored or approved by national,
state, regional, or local professional associations in the field; or events
related to the practice of the profession for which a nationally or regionally
accredited institution of higher education grants CEUs.
(3) Multi-Media - Notwithstanding the
provisions of paragraph (2) and part (5)(b)3., continuing education courses may
be presented in the traditional lecture and classroom formats or, with
successful completion of a written post experience examination to evaluate
material retention, in Multi-Media formats.
(a) Multi-Media courses may include courses
utilizing:
1. The Internet
2. Closed circuit television
3. Satellite broadcasts
4. Correspondence courses
5. Videotapes
6. CD-ROM
7. DVD
8. Teleconferencing
9. Videoconferencing
10. Distance learning
(b) A maximum of five (5) clock hours may be
received for multi-media courses during each calendar year. Those persons who
hold two (2) certificates and/or licenses regulated by the Tennessee Board for
Professional Counselors, Marital and Family Therapists and Clinical Pastoral
Therapists may receive a maximum of seven and one-half (71/2) clock hours
for multi-media courses during each calendar year. Those persons who hold three
(3) certificates and/or licenses may receive a maximum of ten (10) clock hours
for multi-media courses during each calendar year.
(4) Documentation
(a) Each person registered with the board
must retain proof of attendance and completion of all continuing education
requirements. This documentation must be retained for a period of four years
from the end of the calendar year in which the continuing education was
acquired. This documentation must be produced for inspection and verification,
if requested in writing by the board during its verification process. The board
will not maintain continuing education files.
(b) The board will conduct a randomly
selected audit of individual records to assure that the continuing education
requirements have been met. An individual's records may be audited during
consecutive renewal periods.
(c) If
audited, the individual must, within 15 working days of a request from the
board, provide evidence of continuing education activities. Such evidence must
be by submission of one or more of the following:
1. Certificates verifying the individual's
attendance at the continuing education programs described above.
2. Individuals submitting a program as
evidence of attendance at a continuing education event will also be required to
submit two, or more, of the following for each program submitted: registration
receipt, signed program, cancelled check, hotel bill, name badge, or an
original letter on official stationary signed by a professional associate who
attended.
3. An original letter on
official institution stationery from the instructor of the graduate level
course verifying that the course was completed and listing the number of credit
hours of attendance completed by the individual.
4. Official transcript verifying credit hours
earned. One semester academic credit hour is equivalent to 15 clock hours for
the purpose of certification/licensure renewal. Credit for auditing will be for
the actual clock hours in attendance, not to exceed the academic
credit.
(5)
Continuing Education Course Approval - Courses to be offered for credit toward
the continuing education requirement must, unless otherwise provided, receive
prior approval from the Board. Unless otherwise provided, all courses shall be
offered within Tennessee.
(a) Course approval
procedures
1. Pre-approved course providers -
Continuing education courses which pertain to the practice of marital and
family therapy shall be considered approved if provided or sanctioned by the
following entities:
(i) American Association
for Marriage and Family Therapy;
(ii) American Association of Pastoral
Counselors;
(iii) American
Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists;
(iv) American Counseling
Association;
(v) American
Psychiatric Association;
(vi)
American Psychological Association;
(vii) National Association of Social
Workers;
(viii) Any state
professional association affiliated with the national associations listed in
subparts (i) through (vii);
(ix)
National Board for Certified Counselors;
(x) Nationally or regionally accredited
institutions of higher education, including graduate courses and continuing
education courses; and
(xi) Any
state regulatory agency for marital and family therapy in the United
States.
2. Course
approval procedure for other course providers
(i) Unless pre-approved as provided in part
(5)(a)1., the course provider must have delivered to the Board's Administrative
Office at least thirty (30) days prior to a regularly scheduled meeting of the
Board that precedes the course, documentation which includes all of the
following items which must be resubmitted if substantive changes are made after
receipt of approval from the Board:
(I) Course
description or outline;
(II) Names
of all lecturers;
(III) Brief
resume of all lecturers;
(IV)
Number of hours of educational credit requested;
(V) Date of course;
(VI) Copies of materials to be utilized in
the course; and
(VII) How
verification of attendance is to be documented.
(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of the
introductory language of this paragraph, any clinic, workshop, seminar or
lecture at national, regional, state and local meetings of marital and family
therapists will be recognized for continuing education credit by the Board if
(I) The course provider has complied with the
provisions of subpart (5)(a)2.(i); or
(II) The course provider is exempt from
needing prior approval as provided in part (5)(a)1.
(iii) Notwithstanding the provisions of
subparagraph (3)(a), out-of-state continuing education providers may seek
course approval if they are a marital and family therapy regulatory agency or
association from a state that borders Tennessee; and
(I) The course provider has complied with the
provisions of subpart (5)(a)2.(i); or
(II) The course provider is exempt from
needing prior approval as provided in part (5)(a)1.
3. Course approval procedure for
individual licensees and certificate holders
(i) Any licensee or certificate holder may
seek approval to receive credit for successfully completing continuing
education courses by delivering to the Board's Administrative Office at least
thirty (30) days prior to a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board that
precedes the course, everything required in items (5)(a)2.(i)(I) through (VII)
which must be resubmitted if substantive changes are made after receipt of
approval from the Board; and
(ii)
To retain course approval, the licensee or certificate holder must submit a
course evaluation form, supplied by the Board, to the Board's Administrative
Office within thirty (30) days after successfully completing the
course.
(b)
Continuing education credit will not be allowed for the following:
1. Regular work activities, administrative
staff meetings, case staffing/reporting, etc.;
2. Membership in, holding office in, or
participation on boards or committees, business meetings of professional
organizations, or banquet speeches;
3. Independent unstructured or
self-structured learning;
4.
Training specifically related to policies and procedures of an agency may not
be counted; or
5. Non-counseling
content courses - examples: finance or business management.
(6) Continuing Education
for Reactivation of Certificate or License
(a) Reactivation of retired certification or
licensure
1. An individual whose
certification or licensure has been retired for one year or less will be
required to fulfill continuing education requirements as outlined in this rule
as a prerequisite to reinstatement. Those hours will be considered replacement
hours and cannot be counted during the next certification/licensure renewal
period.
2. Any individual
requesting reactivation of a certificate or license which has been retired must
submit along with the reactivation request, verification which indicates the
attendance and completion of 10 hours of continuing education which must have
been begun and successfully completed within 12 months immediately preceding
the date of requested reinstatement. The continuing education hours completed
to reinstate a retired certificate or license shall not be credited toward the
continuing education hours required to be completed by the end of the calendar
year following reinstatement.
3.
The board, upon receipt of a written request and explanation, may waive or
condition any or all of the continuing education for reactivation of a retired
certificate or license in emergency situations.
(b) Reactivation of revoked licensure or
certification - No person whose license or certificate has been revoked for
failure to comply with continuing education may be reinstated without complying
with these requirements. Continuing education will accumulate at the same rate
as that for those licenses and certificate holders which are active. The
required clock hours of continuing education must have been begun and
successfully completed within twelve (12) months immediately preceding the date
of reinstatement. A license or certificate which has been revoked for
noncompliance with the continuing education requirement shall also be subject
to the late renewal fee pursuant to rule
0450-02-.06.
(c) Reactivation of expired licensure - No
person whose license or certificate has expired may be reinstated without
submitting evidence of continuing education. The continuing education hours
documented at the time of reinstatement must equal the hours required, had the
license or certificate remained in an active status, and must have been
successfully completed within twelve (12) months immediately preceding the date
of reinstatement.
(d) Continuing
education hours obtained as a prerequisite for reactivating a license or
certificate may not be counted toward the calendar year
requirement.
(7) Waiver
or Extension of Continuing Education Requirements.
(a) The Board may grant a waiver of the need
to attend and complete the required clock hours of continuing education or the
Board may grant an extension of the deadline to complete the required clock
hours of continuing education if it can be shown that compliance is beyond the
physical or mental capabilities of the person seeking the waiver.
(b) Waivers or extension of the deadline will
be considered only on an individual basis and may be requested by submitting
the following items to the Board's Administrative Office prior to the
expiration of the calendar year (December 31) in which the continuing education
is due:
1. A written request for a waiver or
deadline extension which specifies which requirements are sought to be waived
or which deadline is sought to be extended, and a written and signed
explanation of the reason for the request; and
2. Any documentation which supports the
reason(s) for the waiver or deadline extension requested or which is
subsequently requested by the Board.
(c) A waiver or deadline extension approved
by the Board is effective only for the calendar year for which either is
sought.
(8) Violations
(a) Any licensee or certificate holder who
falsely certifies attendance and completion of the required hours of continuing
education requirements, or who does not or can not adequately substantiate
completed continuing education hours with the required documentation, may be
subject to disciplinary action.
(b)
Prior to the institution of any disciplinary proceedings, a letter shall be
issued to the last known address of the individual stating the facts or conduct
which warrant the intended action.
(c) The licensee or certificate holder has
thirty (30) days from the date of notification to show compliance with all
lawful requirements for the retention of the license or certificate.
(d) Any licensee or certificate holder who
fails to show compliance with the required continuing education hours in
response to the notice contemplated by subparagraph (b) above may be subject to
disciplinary action.
(e) Continuing
education hours obtained as a result of compliance with the terms of a Board
Order in any disciplinary action shall not be credited toward the continuing
education hours required to be obtained in any renewal period.
Notes
Authority: T.C.A. ยงยง 4-5-202, 4-5-204, 63-1-125, 63-22-102, and 63-22-108.
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