Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 24 - Mental Health › Part 3 - Mississippi Department of Mental Health (DMH) Division of Professional Licensure and Certification (PLACE) Professional Credentialing Rules and Requirements › Chapter 15 - Certification/Licensure Timelines › Rule 24-3-15.1 - Provisional Certification (PCMHT, PCIDDT, PCAT, PCCSS) - Upgrade Information and Timelines

Current through June 25, 2024
A. The provisional
				credential (i.e., PCMHT, PCIDDT, PCAT, PCCSS) is a temporary, nonrenewable
				certification. It is valid for up to two years or 24 consecutive months from
				the date of issuance. This two-year period is referred to as the
				provisionally-certified individual's "Provisional Certification Period."
B. The Provisional Certification
				Period begins on the day the provisional credential (i.e., PCMHT, PCIDDT, PCAT,
				PCCSS) is issued and lasts for a maximum of up to two years or 24 consecutive
				months.
C. Once an individual is
				awarded a provisional credential as a PCMHT, PCIDDT or a PCAT, he/she will
				receive notification of the credentialing award, along with upgrade
				instructions. (
The upgrade instructions will include registration
				information for the web-based training component and either the DMH Mental
				Health Therapist Examination, the DMH Intellectual and Developmental
				Disabilities Therapist Examination or the DMH Addictions Therapist Examination,
				as appropriate, and as covered in Chapters Three, Four and Seven,
				respectively.)
D. Once an
				individual is awarded a provisional credential as a PCCSS, he/she will receive
				notification of the credentialing award, along with upgrade instructions.
(The upgrade instructions will include registration information for the
				web-based exam/training component, as covered in Chapter Five.)
E. By the end of the 24-month
				Provisional Certification Period, a provisionally-certified individual (i.e.,
				PCMHT, PCIDDT, PCAT, PCCSS) must complete ALL requirements to upgrade to full
				certification (i.e., CMHT, CIDDT, CAT, CCSS).
F. It is the provisionally-certified
				individual's responsibility to complete all upgrade requirements.
G. Provisionally-certified individuals (i.e.,
				PCMHTs, PCIDDTs, PCATs, PCCSSs) who complete the upgrade requirements may
				upgrade to full certification (i.e., CMHT, CIDDT, CAT, CCSS)
prior
				to
the end of the two-year Provisional Certification Period.
H. A provisionally-certified individual
				(i.e., PCMHT, PCIDDT, PCAT, PCCSS) who does not complete all requirements to
				upgrade to full certification (i.e., CMHT, CIDDT, CAT, CCSS) by the end of
				his/her provisional expiration date will default from his/her respective
				credentialing program. Default means the credential is expired, and the
				individual no longer holds the credential.
I. In rare and extenuating circumstances, the
				PLACE Review Board may grant an extension of an individual's Provisional
				Certification Period. Information on extensions, including how to request an
				extension, is covered in Chapter Eighteen.
J.
Individuals upgrading from
				provisional certification (i.e., PCMHT, PCIDDT, PCAT, PCCSS) to full
				certification (i.e., CMHT, CIDDT, CAT, CCSS) must submit an upgrade
				application. Upgrade from provisional certification (i.e., PCMHT, PCIDDT, PCAT,
				PCCSS) to full certification (i.e., CMHT, CIDDT, CAT, CCSS) is not an automatic
				process initiated by the Division of PLACE.
K.
A provisionally-certified individual
				(i.e., PCMHT, PCIDDT, PCAT, PCCSS) should submit an upgrade application packet
				as soon as all upgrade requirements are met, but no later than the last working
				day of the month following the provisional certification expiration
				date.
For example, if a provisionally-certified individual's credential
				expires in October of a given year, the upgrade application must be received by
				the Division by the last working day of November of that same year.
L. The provisional certification expiration
				date is located on the provisional certification credential award letter. It is
				the provisionally-certified individual's responsibility to keep track of
				his/her provisional certification expiration date and corresponding upgrade
				application deadline.
M. The
				Division does not notify provisionally-certified individuals (i.e., PCMHTs,
				PCIDDTs, PCATs, PCCSSs) when their provisional credential is expiring and the
				upgrade application is due.
N.
				Incomplete portions/problems associated with the submitted upgrade application
				should be resolved as soon as possible but no later than 30 calendar days from
				the provisionally-certified individual's prescribed upgrade application
				deadline, as outlined above. If all upgrade application deficiencies are not
				resolved within this time frame, the individual's provisional credential will
				automatically default effective per his/her provisional expiration date.
O. Unless an extension for more
				time has been granted, individuals who fail to submit an upgrade application
				within established timelines will be considered to have defaulted from the
				program, meaning their provisional credential is expired.
This will be an
				automatic action by the Division of PLACE; no default notification will be
				sent.
P. Except in rare and
				extenuating circumstances, as determined on a case-by-case basis by the Review
				Board, an individual may not hold provisional certification more than twice.
An exception to this rule may be when the individual's provisional
				certification expiration (default) occurred due to an individual's separation
				from state mental health system employment rather than a failure to meet
				upgrade requirements. The burden of proof falls on the provisionally-certified
				individual.
Section
				  41-4-7
				  of the Mississippi Code of 1972, Annotated