Georgia § 43-10A-16 - Requirements for continuing education.

§ 43-10A-16. Requirements for continuing education.

The board shall establish continuing education requirements for license renewal. The number of hours of continuing education in each specialty shall not exceed the number of hours available that year in each such specialty in board approved courses within the state. The board may waive these continuing education requirements for not more than 12 months, but such waiver shall only be available upon the licensee's satisfactory showing to the board of undue hardship. On or before January 1, 2017, the board shall develop a curriculum of continuing education relating to diagnosing by persons licensed under this chapter working with people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, or substance abuse. All persons licensed under this chapter who have not already completed as of January 1, 2017, sufficient training, experience, or classes related to diagnosing as part of their licensure requirements as required by the board shall complete such curriculum no later than January 1, 2018. As of April 26, 2016, persons licensed under this chapter with at least ten years of experience as a professional counselor, clinical social worker, or marriage and family therapist working with people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, or substance abuse and in good standing with the board shall be exempt from the requirements of this subsection. (Code 1981, § 43-7A-16, enacted by Ga. L. 1984, p. 1406, § 1; Ga. L. 2016, p. 257, § 3/SB 319.) The 2016 amendment, effective April 26, 2016, designated the existing provisions of this Code section as subsection (a) and added subsection (b). Code Commission notes. - Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2016, "April 26, 2016" was substituted for "the effective date of the subsection" in subsection (b). Editor's notes. - Ga. L. 2016, p. 257, § 1/SB 319, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "The General Assembly finds that the mental health and wellness needs of Georgia's citizens require the availability of trained mental health professionals who can accurately diagnose, treat, prescribe, and appropriately assess the mental and emotional illnesses, disorders, and conditions from which they suffer and the vocational, educational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal needs essential to living and learning how to live productive and useful lives. It is the intent of the General Assembly to assure geographical and financial access for all of Georgia's citizens to excellent mental health services to the extent that Georgia's resources and regulations permit. To these ends, Georgia regulates its licensed psychiatrists, psychologists, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, and clinical social workers who provide graduate level professional services to Georgia's private and public mental health services and to its public mental health, educational, and vocational support systems. The General Assembly seeks in such regulatory process to protect the public and assure it receives high quality and appropriate services and to define the scopes of practice and diagnostic authority for each of these professional groups consistent with the graduate level training and supervision, or its equivalent, that the members of each profession have sought and successfully completed. The General Assembly has empowered and authorized the Georgia Composite Medical Board, the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, and the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists to fulfill these responsibilities and expects them to work together to assure a continuum of professional services that ensure appropriate diagnostic and assessment functions for each profession and the psychotherapeutic and counseling treatment services appropriate to each profession. The General Assembly recognizes that advances in medicine, science, education, training, and service delivery occur constantly in our modern history and therefore also expects the regulatory boards for each profession to assure that its licensees seek and successfully complete appropriate continuing education and training for the functions and services authorized to each profession." Administrative Rules and Regulations. - Continuing education, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists, Chapter 135-9.