Section 264: Training and education relating to domestic and sexual violence as requirement for licensure; duties of certain boards
Section 264. The board of registration in medicine, the board of registration in nursing, the board of registration of physician assistants, the board of nursing home administrators, the board of registration of social workers, the board of registration of psychologists and the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professions shall develop and administer standards for licensure, registration or certification pursuant to this chapter, as applicable, and any renewal thereof, that require training and education on the issue of domestic violence and sexual violence, including, but not limited to, the common physiological and psychological symptoms of domestic violence and sexual violence, the physiological and psychological effects of domestic violence and sexual violence on victims, including children who witness such abuse, the challenges of domestic violence and sexual violence victims who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, low-income, minority, immigrant or non-English speaking, availability of rape and sexual assault shelter and support services within the commonwealth. Training shall also address the pathology of offenders including, but not limited to, identifying the system of abusive behaviors used to maintain control, the intentionality of the violence, the tendency to minimize abuse and blame the victim and the risk to the victim created by joint counseling. Each board may work with community-based domestic violence, rape and sexual assault service providers and certified batterer's intervention programs in order to develop the standards required by this section. Each board shall: (i) promulgate rules and regulations establishing the standards required by this section; and (ii) identify programs or courses of study which meet these standards and the promulgated rules or regulations. Each board shall provide a list of the identified programs or courses of study to an applicant for licensure, registration or certification, or renewal thereof.