2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 8 - The Professions › Article 163 - Mental Health Practitioners › 8412 - Mandatory Continuing Education.

§  8412.  Mandatory  continuing education. 1. (a) Each licensed mental
health counselor, marriage  and  family  therapist,  psychoanalyst,  and
creative   arts  therapist  required  under  this  article  to  register
triennially with the department to practice in this state, shall  comply
with  the  provisions  of  mandatory  continuing  education requirements
prescribed in subdivision two of this section, except as  set  forth  in
paragraphs  (b)  and  (c)  of  this  subdivision. Licensed mental health
counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychoanalysts, and creative
arts therapists who do not satisfy the  mandatory  continuing  education
requirements  shall  not practice until they have met such requirements,
and they have been issued a  registration  certificate,  except  that  a
licensed   mental  health  counselor,  marriage  and  family  therapist,
psychoanalyst, and creative arts therapist may practice  without  having
met  such requirements if he or she is issued a conditional registration
certificate pursuant to subdivision three of this section.
(b)  Each  licensed  mental  health  counselor,  marriage  and  family
therapist,  psychoanalyst,  and  creative arts therapist shall be exempt
from the mandatory continuing education requirements for  the  triennial
registration  period during which they are first licensed. In accordance
with the intent of this section, adjustment to the mandatory  continuing
education  requirement  may  be granted by the department for reasons of
health that are certified by an appropriate  health  care  professional,
for  extended active duty with the armed forces of the United States, or
for other good cause acceptable to  the  department  which  may  prevent
compliance.
(c) A licensed mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist,
psychoanalyst,  and  creative arts therapist not engaged in practice, as
determined by  the  department,  shall  be  exempt  from  the  mandatory
continuing education requirement upon the filing of a statement with the
department  declaring  such  status.  Any  licensee  who  returns to the
practice of mental  health  counseling,  marriage  and  family  therapy,
psychoanalysis,   and   creative   arts  therapy  during  the  triennial
registration period shall notify the department prior to reentering  the
profession and shall meet such mandatory education requirements as shall
be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.
2.   During  each  triennial  registration  period  an  applicant  for
registration as a licensed mental health counselor, marriage and  family
therapist,  psychoanalyst,  and creative arts therapist shall complete a
minimum of thirty-six hours of acceptable formal continuing education, a
maximum of twelve hours of which may be self-instructional  course  work
acceptable  to  the  department.  Any  licensed mental health counselor,
marriage  and  family  therapist,  psychoanalyst,  and   creative   arts
therapist  whose first registration date following the effective date of
this section occurs less than three years from such effective date,  but
on  or  after  January  first,  two  thousand  seventeen, shall complete
continuing education hours on a prorated basis at the rate of  one  hour
per month for the period beginning January first, two thousand seventeen
up  to  the  first  registration date thereafter. A licensee who has not
satisfied the mandatory continuing education requirement  shall  not  be
issued  a triennial registration certificate by the department and shall
not practice unless and until a conditional registration certificate  is
issued  as provided for in subdivision three of this section. Continuing
education hours taken during one triennium may not be transferred to the
subsequent triennium.
3. (a) The department, in its  discretion,  may  issue  a  conditional
registration  to  a  licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
requirements established in subdivision two  of  this  section  but  who
agrees to make up any deficiencies and complete any additional education

which  the  department  may  require.  The  fee  for  such a conditional
registration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee  for  the
triennial  registration.  The  duration of such conditional registration
shall be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any
licensee  who  is  notified of the denial of registration for failure to
submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required  continuing
education  and who practices without such registration may be subject to
disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred  ten  of
this title.
(b)  For  purposes of this section "acceptable formal education" shall
mean  formal  courses  of  learning  which  contribute  to  professional
practice  in  mental  health  counseling,  marriage  and family therapy,
psychoanalysis, or creative arts therapies and which meet the  standards
prescribed  by  regulations  of the commissioner. Such formal courses of
learning shall include, but not be limited to, collegiate  level  credit
and  non-credit courses, professional development programs and technical
sessions offered by national, state and local professional  associations
and  other  organizations  acceptable  to  the department, and any other
organized  educational  and  technical  programs   acceptable   to   the
department.  Continuing  education courses must be taken from a provider
who has been approved by the department, based upon an  application  and
fee,  pursuant  to  the  regulations of the commissioner. The department
may, in its discretion and as needed to contribute  to  the  health  and
welfare  of  the  public, require the completion of continuing education
courses in  specific  subjects  to  fulfill  this  mandatory  continuing
education  requirement.  Licensed mental health counselors, marriage and
family therapists, psychoanalysts, and creative  arts  therapists  shall
maintain  adequate  documentation  of  completion  of  acceptable formal
continuing education and shall provide such documentation at the request
of the department.  Failure  to  provide  such  documentation  upon  the
request  of  the  department  shall  be  an act of misconduct subject to
disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred  ten  of
this title.
(c)  The mandatory continuing education fee shall be determined by the
department. Such fee shall be payable on or before the first day of each
triennial registration period, and shall be  paid  in  addition  to  the
triennial  registration  fees  required  by paragraph (g) of subdivision
three of section eighty-four hundred two of this article  and  paragraph
(g)  of  subdivision  three  of section eighty-four hundred five of this
article.