Fall is here and your Advocacy Committee team continues to prepare for the upcoming January 2019 legislative session. We will meet with our lobbyists to identify key goals to focus on and network with relevant legislators. Our current direction for this upcoming legislative session is an associate license, in order obtain parity with other mental health professions. We are excited to further these efforts here in CT and with the support of AAMFT. We encourage all members and students interested in becoming more involved in the legislative process to contact us through
advocacy@ctamft.org.
We recently received several questions about other, new new legislation, PA 18-168, regarding the blueprint to being a licensed marriage and family therapist in CT. We would like to remind everyone of some clarifying points from the legislation. The Department of Public Health (DPH) is moving towards the requirement of full licensure of all mental health practitioners. In order to remain compliant with DPH standards, an MFT will need to complete 1,000 face-to-face client contact hours and 100 hours of supervision after they graduate. Once these hours are completed, the MFT has 2 years to take and pass the National Exam. An MFT may take the exam at any time. So we encourage those who recently graduated to take the test as soon as you feel prepared. In other words, we recommend that you take the exam when information is "fresh" in your mind. Additionally, this will provide you the longest period of time for re-taking the test, if needed.
Unfortunately, there is no grandfathering of MFTs that are currently practicing without a license and are not in compliance with this new legislation.
Effective October 1, 2018 you must pass the exam within two years after completing your 1000 hours of field experience and 100 hours of supervision. Therefore, if you have completed the hours and supervision requirements but have not passed the exam, we STRONGLY encourage you to take the exam as soon as possible. This can affect your ability to practice as an MFT, starting October 2018. If this is a concern for you, contact us at
advocacy@ctamft.org, for additional support.
On a lighter note, we want to remind you of our upcoming Family Fun Day, on Saturday, October 13th from 12pm to 4pm at Wadsworth Falls State Park. This is our THANK YOU to all of our CTAMFT members. We invite you to meet the board members, network, reconnect with fellow MFTs in the area and have fun with your family! We will provide food, table games, field games, music and a couple of surprise guests will be joining us! RSVP by Saturday, October 6th to Norja Cunningham at
norjacunning@gmail.com or 203-243-1577. Please note: This is a FREE event for CTAMFT members and their families. For the purposes of this event, family means immediate family and/or those who live in your household. We hope to see you there!
As always, we thank you for all of your support!
Your Advocacy Co-Chairs,
Norja Cunningham & Rebecca Ruitto