Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 88 of chapter 13 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1988 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first and second sentences and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- There shall be a board of registration of allied mental health and human services professions, in this section and sections eighty-nine and ninety, which shall consist of eleven members, one of whom shall be designated as chairperson, to be appointed in the manner provided by section eighty-nine. Of the first board members appointed five shall continue in office for one year, three for two years and three, including the chairperson, shall continue in office for three years.

SECTION 2. Subparagraph (A) of the first paragraph of section 89 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Eight members shall be licensed practicing mental health and human services professionals, two of whom shall be marriage and family therapists, two of whom shall be rehabilitation counselors, two of whom shall be mental health counselors, two of whom shall be educational psychologists; and each shall have been, for at least five years immediately preceding appointment, actively engaged as a practitioner rendering professional services in that field, or in the education and training of graduate students or interns in the field, or in appropriate human developmental research, or in other areas substantially equivalent thereto, and shall have spent the majority of the professional time in such activity during the two years preceding the appointment in the commonwealth.

SECTION 3. The first paragraph of section 90 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Seven members of the board shall constitute a quorum; provided, however, that at least one of those seven shall be a member who was selected from and who represents the general public.

SECTION 4. Section 163 of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of "Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professional" and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Allied mental health and human services professional", a licensed marriage and family therapist, a licensed rehabilitation counselor, a licensed educational psychologist or a licensed mental health counselor.

SECTION 5. Said section 163 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of "Practice of mental health counseling" the following two definitions:-

"Licensed educational psychologist", a person licensed or eligible for licensure under section one hundred and sixty-five of this chapter and who has been certified as a school psychologist by the Massachusetts department of education; provided, however, that an educational psychologist shall not perform in private practice any of the services for which he is licensed for any student in a school system by which such educational psychologist is employed and provided, further, that an educational psychologist who violates this provision shall have his license suspended for a period to be determined by the board pursuant to the provisions of section one hundred and sixty-nine.

"Practice of educational psychology", the rendering of professional services to individuals, groups, organizations or the public for compensation, monetary or otherwise.

Such professional services include: applying psychological principles, methods and procedures in the delivery of services to individuals, groups, families, educational institutions and staff and community agencies for the purpose of promoting mental health and facilitating learning. Such services may be preventative, developmental or remedial and include psychological and psychoeducational assessment, therapeutic intervention, program planning and evaluation, research, teaching in the field of educational psychology, consultation and referral to other psychiatric, psychological, medical and educational resources when necessary.

SECTION 6. The first paragraph of section 164 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out clauses (2) and (3) and inserting in place thereof the following three clauses:-

(2) licensed marital or marriage and family therapist, advisor or consultant;

(3) licensed rehabilitation counselor, specialist, advisor or consultant; or

(4) licensed educational psychologist, specialist, advisor or consultant.

SECTION 7. Section 165 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "counselor", the first time it appears in line 2, the following words:- , an educational psychologist.

SECTION 8. Section 171 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "therapist", the second time it appears in line 4, the following words:- , educational psychologist.

SECTION 9. The board shall issue a license to practice as an educational psychologist, without examination, to any applicant who applies on or before July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-one, if the applicant meets the qualifications of section one hundred and sixty-five of chapter one hundred and twelve of the General Laws, as amended by this act. In addition, the board may, in its own discretion, issue a license to any applicant who has been practicing as an educational psychologist for a period of at least two years, and who satisfies the board that he or she meets the professional standards established by the standards committee.

The board may issue a temporary permit effective for up to two years to any applicant seeking a license under the provisions of this section, if such applicant is required to complete additional course work or satisfy any other requirement as established by the board.

Any applicant seeking a license shall be required to pay fees as provided for in paragraph K of section ninety of chapter thirteen of the General Laws.

An individual licensed under the provisions of this section shall not be subject to the penalties of section one hundred and seventy-one of chapter one hundred and twelve of the General Laws, as amended by this act.