S8899 — Relates to supervision by certain marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8899
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 14, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to supervision by certain
   marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Paragraph  (c)  of  subdivision  3 of section 8402 of the
 education law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended
 to read as follows:
   (c) Experience: An applicant shall complete a minimum of  three  thou-
 sand  hours of post-master's supervised experience relevant to the prac-
 tice of mental health  counseling  satisfactory  to  the  board  and  in
 accordance  with  the  commissioner's regulations. A LICENSED AND REGIS-
 TERED MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPIST  MAY  PROVIDE  POST-MASTER'S  SUPER-
 VISION  IF THE LICENSED MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPIST, AT MINIMUM, MEETS
 THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS (I) IS LICENSED AND REGISTERED FOR  AT  LEAST
 THREE YEARS, (II) HAS BEEN AWARDED THE DIAGNOSTIC PRIVILEGE SET FORTH IN
 SECTION  EIGHTY-FOUR  HUNDRED  ONE-A  OF  THIS  ARTICLE,  AND  (III) HAS
 COMPLETED A TOTAL OF THREE SEMESTER HOURS OR THIRTY-SIX HOURS OF CONTIN-
 UING EDUCATION  IN  CLINICAL  COUNSELING  SUPERVISION  AND  PROFESSIONAL
 ORIENTATION  AND ETHICS IN MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING AS DETERMINED BY THE
 DEPARTMENT.   Satisfactory experience obtained in  an  entity  operating
 under  a  waiver issued by the department pursuant to section sixty-five
 hundred three-a of  this  title  may  be  accepted  by  the  department,
 notwithstanding that such experience may have been obtained prior to the
 effective  date  of such section sixty-five hundred three-a and/or prior
 to the entity having obtained a waiver. The  department  may,  for  good
 cause  shown,  accept  satisfactory  experience  that  was obtained in a
 setting that would have been eligible for a waiver  but  which  has  not
 obtained a waiver from the department or experience that was obtained in
 good  faith  by the applicant under the belief that appropriate authori-
 zation had been obtained for the experience, provided that such  experi-
 ence meets all other requirements for acceptable experience;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14150-01-5
 S. 8899                             2
 
   §  2.  Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 8403 of the education
 law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   (c)  Experience:  The completion of at least one thousand five hundred
 client contact hours of supervised clinical experience, by persons hold-
 ing a degree from a master's or doctoral  program,  or  the  substantial
 equivalent,  in  accordance  with  the commissioner's regulations or the
 completion of at least one thousand five hundred client hours of  super-
 vised  post-master's  clinical experience in marriage and family therapy
 satisfactory to the department in  accordance  with  the  commissioner's
 regulations.  A  LICENSED  AND  REGISTERED  MENTAL  HEALTH COUNSELOR MAY
 PROVIDE SUPERVISION IF THE LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR, AT MINIMUM,
 MEETS THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS (I) IS LICENSED AND REGISTERED  FOR  AT
 LEAST  THREE  YEARS,  (II) HAS BEEN AWARDED THE DIAGNOSTIC PRIVILEGE SET
 FORTH IN SECTION EIGHTY-FOUR HUNDRED ONE-A OF THIS  ARTICLE,  AND  (III)
 HAS  COMPLETED  A  TOTAL  OF THREE SEMESTER HOURS OR THIRTY-SIX HOURS OF
 CONTINUING EDUCATION IN CLINICAL COUNSELING SUPERVISION AND PROFESSIONAL
 ORIENTATION AND ETHICS IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY AS  DETERMINED  BY
 THE  DEPARTMENT. Satisfactory experience obtained in an entity operating
 under a waiver issued by the department pursuant to  section  sixty-five
 hundred  three-a  of  this  title  may  be  accepted  by the department,
 notwithstanding that such experience may have been obtained prior to the
 effective date of such section sixty-five hundred three-a  and/or  prior
 to  the  entity  having  obtained a waiver. The department may, for good
 cause shown, accept satisfactory  experience  that  was  obtained  in  a
 setting  that  would  have  been eligible for a waiver but which has not
 obtained a waiver from the department or experience that was obtained in
 good faith by the applicant under the belief that  appropriate  authori-
 zation  had been obtained for the experience, provided that such experi-
 ence meets all other requirements for acceptable experience;
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
 it shall have become a law.