TRENDING: COULD YOUR LICENSE EVER GO PORTABLE?
License Portability is warming up in state and national discussions.
Portability means the ability to take the qualifications for licensure in one state and apply them for licensure in another state. As it stands now, the requirements for licensure must be “substantially equivalent” to existing requirements in the state statutes. Portability is concerned with a variety of professions. It is the Federal Trade Commission that investigates misconduct in the healthcare field, especially if that misconduct that promotes unfair favorability or hinders competition. Other federal agencies paying sharp attention to portability are the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury.
As for our profession, AAMFT conducted a member survey in the spring of 2018 on licensure portability. The majority of those who answered the survey were fully licensed as MFTs, but 16% were students and 9% held other licenses.
Ninety-four percent of respondents believed there were barriers to licensure portability; the preferred portability model was to include no other additional requirements. Participants also answered questions about what sort of exemptions should be considered, like a clinical exam exemption for those MFTs licensed prior to the creation of a national exam. There is already, as you know, a national MFT exam conducted by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB), in 49 states; the exception is California. This makes portability in and out of California very difficult.
In January 2018 AAMFT, our professional home, adopted a model for portability. The model itself only applies to Licensed MFTs, not associate MFTs, and is binding only in states adopting the model through regulatory or legislative action. It does not overrule any disciplinary or ethics-related actions, background checks, fingerprinting, or other requirements like the state’s jurisprudence exam.
Here are the advantages to the model:
- MFTs would be able to practice where they live
- The public would be protected at the same level, if not better than the current laws do, and
- The model is pro-competition, making the license both more competitive and attractive.
State and professional trends are leaning toward portability in this and other professions to address the shortage of mental health providers across the nation. AMFTRB developed a model in November of 2017.
What can you do to help this process happen?
You have already started by reading this article and educating yourself about the AAMFT model and the reasons for it and its advantages. A second step would be to work toward having an Interstate Compact of at least 7 states who recognize licensures and would agree to use the model. Certain states might require extra fees and requirements. This would help with the growing field of teletherapy. While AAMFT is not currently considering Interstate Compacts as a strategy, AAMFT is proposing advocacy for this model in individual states. A third way to help this process along will be to join the FamilyTeam@aamft.org, the free grassroots advocacy network of AAMFT. Family TEAM members can help to advocate for the model’s adoption in Florida. Lastly, please consider donating money to the Practice Protection Fund (www.aamft.org/ppf) along with your annual dues, or any time, to help advance this initiative for MFT license portability.
If you’d like to view the webinar on license portability offered by AAMFT recently, register first to be redirected to the recording. (https://aamft.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JHsJbxzzTVC-bxrkOuDD7g).
Watch this column for updates on this issue and what you can do to nurture this along.
Meredith W. Neill, Th.M., LMFT, FIN Board Member and CFAMFT Legislative Liaison