Amendment #38 to H4879

Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions

Representatives Cutler of Pembroke and LaNatra of Kingston move to amend the bill by adding the following sections:

SECTION 1. Section 88 of Chapter 13 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the word “13” in line 4 and inserting the word “15”.             

SECTION 2. Section 89 of Chapter 13 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (A) in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following words:-

“12 members shall be licensed practicing mental health and human services professionals and 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. One of the 12 shall also be a member of a union licensable under sections one hundred and sixty-three to one hundred and seventy-two, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and twelve.

Said members shall be appointed in such a manner as to proportionally represent the total number of active holders of each professional license type, as determined from time to time by the Board, provided that at least one member shall be a marriage and family therapist, at least one shall be a rehabilitation counselor, at least one shall be a clinical mental health counselor, at least one shall be an educational psychologist and at least one shall be a behavior analyst who meet the qualifications in the last 2 paragraphs of section 165 of chapter 112.”

SECTION 3. The Executive Office of Health and Human Services and Department of Public Health shall conduct a study relative to the feasibility and cost if any, of creating a Board of Registration of Mental Health Counselors. The report shall be submitted no later than June 30, 2023, to the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use, the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development and to the Clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #38, as changed to H4879

Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions