Kansas Administrative Regulations › Agency 102 - BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES REGULATORY BOARD › Article 3 - PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS; FEES › Section 102-3-12a - Unprofessional conduct

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 28, July 11, 2024
(a) Any license
					may be suspended, limited, conditioned, qualified, restricted, revoked, not
					issued, or not renewed upon a finding of unprofessional conduct.
(b) Any of the following acts by a licensed
					professional counselor, a licensed clinical professional counselor, or an
					applicant for a professional counselor license or a clinical professional
					counselor license shall constitute unprofessional conduct:
(1) Obtaining or attempting to obtain a
					license or registration for oneself or another by means of fraud, bribery,
					deceit, misrepresentation, or concealment of a material fact;
(2) except when the information has been
					obtained in the context of confidentiality, failing to notify the board, within
					a reasonable period of time, that any of the following circumstances apply to
					any person regulated by the board or applying for a license or registration,
					including oneself:
(A) Had a professional
					license, certificate, permit, registration, certification, or professional
					membership granted by any jurisdiction, professional association, or
					professional organization that has been limited, conditioned, qualified,
					restricted, suspended, revoked, refused, voluntarily surrendered, or allowed to
					expire in lieu of or during investigatory or disciplinary proceedings;
(B) has been subject to any other
					disciplinary action by any credentialing board, professional association, or
					professional organization;
(C) has
					been demoted, terminated, suspended, reassigned, or asked to resign from
					employment, or has resigned from employment, for some form of misfeasance,
					malfeasance, or nonfeasance;
(D)
					has been convicted of a crime; or
(E) has practiced the licensee's or
					registrant's profession in violation of the laws or regulations regulating the
					profession;
(3)
					knowingly allowing another person to use one's license or registration;
(4) impersonating another person
					holding a license or registration issued by this or any other board;
(5) having been convicted of a crime
					resulting from or relating to the licensee's professional practice of
					professional counseling or clinical professional counseling;
(6) furthering the licensure or registration
					application of another person who is known or reasonably believed to be
					unqualified with respect to character, education, or other relevant eligibility
					requirements;
(7) knowingly aiding
					or abetting any individual who is not credentialed by the board to represent
					that individual as a person who is credentialed by the board;
(8) failing to recognize, seek intervention,
					and otherwise appropriately respond when one's own personal problems,
					psychosocial distress, or mental health difficulties interfere with or
					negatively impact professional judgment, professional performance and
					functioning, or the ability to act in the client's best interests;
(9) failing or refusing to cooperate in a
					timely manner with any request from the board for a response, information, or
					assistance with respect to the board's investigation of any report of an
					alleged violation filed against oneself or any other applicant or professional
					who is required to be licensed or registered by the board. Any person taking
					longer than 30 days to provide the requested response, information, or
					assistance shall have the burden of demonstrating that the person has acted in
					a timely manner;
(10) offering to
					perform or performing professional counseling, assessments, consultations, or
					referrals clearly inconsistent or incommensurate with one's training, education
					or experience or with accepted professional standards;
(11) treating any client, student, directee,
					or supervisee in a cruel manner;
(12) discriminating against any client,
					student, directee, or supervisee on the basis of color, race, gender, religion,
					national origin, or disability;
(13) failing to advise and explain to each
					client the respective rights, responsibilities, and duties involved in the
					professional counseling relationship;
(14) failing to provide each client with a
					description of what the client can expect in the way of services, consultation,
					reports, fees, billing, and therapeutic regimen or schedule, or failing to
					reasonably comply with the description;
(15) failing to provide each client with a
					description of the possible effects of the proposed treatment when the
					treatment is experimental or when there are clear and known risks to the
					client;
(16) failing to inform
					each client, student, directee, or supervisee of any financial interests that
					might accrue to the professional counselor or clinical professional counselor
					from a referral to any other service or from using any tests, books, or
					apparatus;
(17) failing to inform
					each client that the client is entitled to the same services from a public
					agency if the professional counselor or clinical professional counselor is
					employed by that public agency and also offers services privately;
(18) failing to inform each client, student,
					directee, or supervisee of the limits of client confidentiality, the purposes
					for which the information is obtained, and the manner in which the information
					may be used;
(19) revealing
					information, a confidence, or a secret of any client, or failing to protect the
					confidences, secrets, or information contained in a client's records, except
					when at least one of these conditions is met:
(A) Disclosure is required or permitted by
					law;
(B) failure to disclose the
					information presents a clear and present danger to the health or safety of an
					individual or the public; or
(C)
					the professional counselor or clinical professional counselor is a party to a
					civil, criminal, or disciplinary investigation or action arising from the
					practice of professional counseling or clinical professional counseling, in
					which case disclosure is limited to that action;
(20) failing to obtain written, informed
					consent from each client, or the client's legal representative or
					representatives, before performing any of these actions:
(A) Electronically recording sessions with
					that client;
(B) permitting a
					third-party observation of their activities; or
(C) releasing information concerning a client
					to a third person, except as required or permitted by law;
(21) failing to protect
					confidences of, secrets of, or information concerning other persons when
					providing a client with access to that client's records;
(22) failing to exercise due diligence in
					protecting the information regarding and the confidences and secrets of the
					client from disclosure by other persons in one's work or practice setting;
(23) engaging in professional
					activities, including billing practices and advertising, involving dishonesty,
					fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;
(24) using alcohol or illegally using a
					controlled substance while performing the duties or services of a professional
					counselor or clinical professional counselor;
(25) making sexual advances toward or
					engaging in physical intimacies or sexual activities with one's client,
					student, directee, or supervisee;
(26) making sexual advances toward, engaging
					in physical intimacies or sexual activities with, or exercising undue influence
					over any person who, within the past 24 months, has been one's client;
(27) exercising undue influence
					over any client, student, directee, or supervisee, including promoting sales of
					services or goods, in a manner that will exploit the client, student, directee,
					or supervisee for the financial gain, personal gratification, or advantage of
					oneself or a third party;
(28)
					directly or indirectly offering or giving to a third party or soliciting,
					receiving, or agreeing to receive from a third party any fee or other
					consideration for the referral of the client or in connection with performing
					professional counselor or clinical professional counselor services;
(29) permitting any person to share in the
					fees for professional services, other than a partner, employee, associate in a
					professional firm, or consultant authorized to practice as a professional
					counselor or clinical professional counselor;
(30) soliciting or assuming professional
					responsibility for clients of another agency or colleague without attempting to
					coordinate continuity of client services with that agency or colleague;
(31) making claims of professional
					superiority that one cannot substantiate;
(32) guaranteeing that satisfaction or a cure
					will result from the performance of professional services;
(33) claiming or using any secret or special
					method of treatment or techniques that one refuses to disclose to the board;
(34) continuing or ordering tests,
					procedures, or treatments or using treatment facilities or services not
					warranted by the condition, best interests, or preferences of the client;
(35) failing to maintain a record
					for each client that conforms to the following minimal requirements:
(A) Contains adequate identification of the
					client;
(B) indicates the client's
					initial reason for seeking the services of the professional counselor or
					clinical professional counselor;
(C) contains pertinent and significant
					information concerning the client's condition;
(D) summarizes the interventions, treatments,
					tests, procedures, and services that were obtained, performed, ordered, or
					recommended and the findings and results of each;
(E) documents the client's progress during
					the course of intervention or treatment provided by the professional counselor;
(F) is legible;
(G) contains only those terms and
					abbreviations that are comprehensible to similar professional practitioners;
(H) indicates the date and nature
					of any professional service that was provided; and
(I) describes the manner and process by which
					the professional counseling or clinical professional counseling relationship
					terminated;
(36) taking
					credit for work not personally performed, whether by giving inaccurate or
					misleading information or failing to disclose accurate or material information;
(37) if engaged in research,
					failing to fulfill these requirements:
(A)
					Consider carefully the possible consequences for human beings participating in
					the research;
(B) protect each
					participant from unwarranted physical and mental harm;
(C) ascertain that the consent of each
					participant is voluntary and informed; and
(D) preserve the privacy and protect the
					anonymity of each subject of the research within the terms of informed consent;
(38) making or filing a
					report that one knows to be false, distorted, erroneous, incomplete, or
					misleading;
(39) failing to notify
					the client promptly when termination or interruption of service to the client
					is anticipated;
(40) failing to
					seek continuation of service, or abandoning or neglecting a client under or in
					need of professional care, without making reasonable arrangements for that
					care;
(41) abandoning employment
					under circumstances that seriously impair the delivery of professional care to
					clients and without providing reasonable notice to the employer;
(42) failing to terminate the professional
					counseling or clinical professional counseling services when it is apparent
					that the relationship no longer serves the client's needs or best interests;
(43) if the professional counselor
					or clinical professional counselor is the owner or custodian of client records,
					failing to retain these records for at least five years after the date of
					termination of the professional relationship, unless otherwise provided by law;
(44) supervising or directing in a
					negligent manner anyone for whom one has supervisory or directory
					responsibility;
(45) failing to
					inform a client if professional counseling services are provided or delivered
					under supervision or direction;
(46) engaging in a dual relationship with a
					client, student, or supervisee;
(47) failing to inform the proper authorities
					as provided in
					K.S.A.
					38-2223, and amendments thereto, that one
					knows or has reason to believe that a client has been involved in harming or
					has harmed a child, whether by physical, mental, or emotional abuse or neglect
					or by sexual abuse;
(48) failing
					to inform the proper authorities as required by
					K.S.A.
					39-1402, and amendments thereto, that one
					knows or has reason to believe that any of the following circumstances apply to
					a resident, as defined by
					K.S.A.
					39-1401(a) and amendments
					thereto:
(A) Has been or is being abused,
					neglected, or exploited;
(B) is in
					a condition that is the result of abuse, neglect, or exploitation; or
(C) is in need of protective
					services;
(49) failing
					to inform the proper authorities as required by
					K.S.A.
					39-1431, and amendments thereto, that one
					knows or has reason to believe that any of the following circumstances apply to
					an adult, as defined in
					K.S.A.
					39-1430 and amendments thereto:
(A) Is being or has been abused, neglected,
					or exploited;
(B) is in a
					condition that is the result of abuse, neglect, or exploitation; or
(C) is in need of protective services;
(50) intentionally or
					negligently failing to file a report or record required by state or federal
					law, willfully impeding or obstructing the filing of a report or record
					required by state or federal law, or inducing another person to take any of
					those actions;
(51) offering to
					perform or performing any service, procedure, or therapy that, by the accepted
					standards of professional counseling or clinical professional counseling
					practice in the community, would constitute experimentation on human subjects
					without first obtaining the full, informed, and voluntary written consent of
					the client or the client's legal representative or representatives;
(52) practicing professional counseling or
					clinical professional counseling in an incompetent manner;
(53) practicing professional counseling or
					clinical professional counseling after one's license expires;
(54) using without a license, or continuing
					to use after the expiration of a license, any title or abbreviation prescribed
					by law for use solely by persons currently holding that type or class of
					license;
(55) diagnosing or
					treating any client who a professional counselor practicing under direction or
					a clinical professional counselor has reason to believe is suffering from a
					mental illness or disease, as opposed to a mental disorder; or
(56) violating any provision of this act or
					any regulation adopted under it.