STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1302

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

 

RE:   S.B. No. 667

      S.D. 3

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 667, S.D. 3, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure access to professional and qualified mental health counseling through clarification of the requirements for mental health counselor licensure by establishing that those persons who applied to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) after July 1, 2005, and graduated from an accredited program before July 1, 2007, may be eligible for licensure.

 

     Specifically, this bill:

 

(1)  For applicants who have graduated from an accredited educational institution before July 1, 2007, allows for certain substitutions for the practicum intern and post graduate experience required for licensure; and

 

(2)  Makes the mental health counselors licensing law permanent by repealing its sunset date of December 31, 2008, in section 26H-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes.


 

     Kaiser Permanente, Alliance for Professional Counselor Licensure, Hawaii Rehabilitation Counseling Association, Case Management Works, Inc., Sestak Rehabilitation Services, Hawaii Rehabilitation Counseling Association, several faculty members of Chaminade University of Honolulu, and many concerned individuals supported this bill.  Rehabilitation Association of Hawaii supported this measure with amendments.  DCCA opposed this bill.

 

     Your Committee has amended this bill by making technical, nonsubstantive changes for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 667, S.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 667, S.D. 3, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

JOSHUA B. GREEN, M.D., Chair