News
Archive (prior to September, 2007)
Saturday, March 29, 2008
OBLPCT
LISTSERV OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Becky
Eklund, Executive Director of the Oregon
Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists
announces the formation of a new
OBLPCT Listserv.
The Board will post information occasionally, including Board
meeting information.
HB
3616: ITS DRAMATIC REVERSAL OF VICTORY
(This
article by Mary Lou Brophy first appeared in the newsletter
of the Mental Health Resource
and Education Network. It has been slightly abridged.)
After
winning in the Salem House of Representatives on February
5 by a huge 53-5 vote, then winning in the Senate on February
22 by a squeaker of one vote, the revised “Consumer
Mental Health Choice” bill, HB 3616, was killed by the
House in its concurrent vote.
After
amendments alter a bill, it must go back to its originating
legislative body for concurrence since it has been changed
since its first vote there.
This February
’08 Supplemental Session of 3 weeks held lots of melodrama
for HB 3616. A headline in THE OREGONIAN of 2/8, “Bill
to Ban Unlicensed Therapists Progresses,” flushed out
panicked art/music therapists who bombarded the Senate Committee
on Health & Human Services. This Committee heard from
several of them testifying to their training, code of ethics,
and certification. The irony is that many of them could be
licensed but, as one wrote to Sen. Monnes Anderson, Committee
chair: “It does not serve the public to FORCE qualified
mental health professionals to JUMP THROUGH THE BUREAUCRATIC
HOOPS OF LICENSURE after we have shown our commitment to healing
and provided ethically sound service to our clients.”
This negative view of licensing confused the Committee which
voted to exempt recreational, art, music and dance therapists
from the “Consumer Mental Health Protection” piece
of HB 3616.
Next in
the melodrama was the exchange of e-mails among members of
the Oregon Psychological Association with much DIS-information,
MIS-information and some hysteria. They activated their several
lobbyists to seed the minds of legislators with confusion,
doubt, and bits of information, e.g., this is not a Practice
Act, there is no investigator in this bill, LPC’s &
LMFT’s are not sufficiently trained. One of the senators
in the Floor discussion clearly named OPA’s efforts
a “turf battle.”
Representative
Peter Buckley, who spearheaded our bill again, wrote: “Our
bill was killed by one vote at the last minute through fierce
lobbying by Mark Nelson, the highest paid lobbyist in Salem…”
The lobbyist for our Coalition for Consumer Mental Health
Protection & Choice, Kristen Leonard, reports that one
of Mark Nelson’s “many clients is the Oregon Society
of Clinical Social Workers and that is who he was representing
in his lobbying efforts.” This is a different organization
from the Nat’l Assn of Social Workers who did not participate
to defeat HB 3616.
While
the Coalition’s legislative effort has always been bipartisan,
Mark Nelson’s many clients contribute heavily to Republican
campaigns. The final House vote to defeat HB 3616 evidenced
this as ALL Republicans voted “NO” in lock-step,
including Rep. Sal Esquivel of Medford and Rep. Ron Maurer
of Grants Pass. Rep. Buckley writes: “Of particular
distress is the decision by Rep. Maurer, Rep. Esquivel, and
Rep. Olson to break faith and side with the insurance lobby
at the last minute to defeat our effort. All three representatives
assured me that they would definitely support the bill, even
with the changes made on the Senate side.” They did
not keep their word. The Republicans were joined by one Democrat,
Rep. Phil Barnhart, a psychologist.
Saturday,
February 23, 2008
[REVISED
3-12-08]
HOUSE
BILL 3616 DEAD IN LATE-NIGHT AMBUSH
Legislative Support Evaporates After Insurance Company "Drive-By"
Last
night, House Bill 3616 was defeated by a margin of one in
an Oregon House floor vote during the final hours of the 2008
special legislative session. This vote was preceded earlier
in the week by the removal of the "consumer protection"
piece of HB 3616 in the Senate Rules Committee. This was deemed
necessary as stiff opposition to this part of the bill arose
within the ranks of art therapists who lobbyed strongly against
restrictions on the use of titles such as therapist and counselor.
Coalition
lobbyist, Kristen Leonard, notes
there were other "monumental pieces of legislation and
budgets" that died along the way in this special session.
The Coaltion is now contemplating an uncertain legislative
future for consumer protection and choice in Oregon's mental
health care system. Stay tuned.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
HOUSE
BILL 3616 PASSES HOUSE 53-5
From Committee Vote to Landslide 53-5 Floor Vote
On
Tuesday, February 5, Marcus Berglund represented the Coalition
on House Bill 3616 before the House
Human Services and Women's Wellness Committee.
He reports that the committee voted 6 to 1 to send the bill
to the House floor with a "do pass recommendation."
Mary Lou Brophy credits much of this positive development
to our lobbists, Kristen Leonard and Elizabeth Cushwa. Both
have been working behind the scenes to address "issues"
as they pop up. For example, the Oregon Psychological Association
attempted to derail the bill on this morning with the testimony
of Teri Strong. According to Mary Lou, committee chair Rep.
Carolyn
Tomei (D)
refused
to be involved in a "turf manipulation."
With
Unprecedented Haste
Moving
quickly, HB 3616 came to the House floor the following day
where it was passed on a vote of 53-5 (two abstentions.) Elizabeth
Cushwa notes that more representatives than hoped for spoke
eloquently in support of our cause.
In
the House chamber, the Coalition was also represented by Marcus
Berglund, Art Tolentino, Bark Brasted, as well as Gina Nikkel,
Executive Director of the Association of Community Mental
Health Programs, whose organization testified on behalf of
our bill.
Elizabeth
states that she and Kristen will continue to work with our
Senators to educate them on a bill they never had a chance
to vote on in the previous session.
Read,
Listen
The
Oregonian recently reported on HB 3616 in an article, Bill
to ban unlicensed therapists progresses. Proceedings on
the House floor can be found in audio form at the Legislative
Audio and Video web site. From this page, follow this
series of links: 2008 Special Session > Archives
of House Chamber Sessions from the 2008 Special Session
> 02/07/2008 at 12:02 p.m. An audio archive of
the House Human
Services and Women's Wellness Committee session
is also available on this site.
OBLPCT'S
POSITION ON SCOPES OF PRACTICE
On
January 10, 2008, the Oregon
Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists
officially reviewed the Coalition document/table, Scopes
of Practice for Licensed Professional Counselors and Licensed
Marriage and Family Therapists Under Oregon Statutes and Rules.
In
a letter dated January 11, 2008, the Board specifically referenced
this Scopes of Practice table, stating,
"...it
is the position of the Oregon
Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists (OBLPCT)
that the scope of practice for LPC's and LMFT's includes
the diagnosis and treament of personal problems,
conditions and other behavioral health issues."
[emphasis added]
This
table is the result of research by Art
Tolentino, Ph.D. Art was also crucial in communicating
his findings to the Board, and his efforts helped persuade
the Board to take this new position.
Because the Board's letter references the Scopes of Practice
table, both can be considered a single "statement"
for distribution. As such, we have updated the Scopes of Practice
table to include the Board's letter (see OBLPCT
Scopes of Practice)
and placed it on a new web page, Scopes
of Practice.
Together,
the OBLPCT
Scopes of Practice and
Comparison
of Mental Health Providers
documents counter two common misperceptions about LPCs and
LMFTs. The first compiles existing Oregon statutes and rules
that allow scopes of practice comparable with that of LCSWs.
The second provides irrefutable evidence that our professional
training and competence matches or exceeds that of LCSWs and
LMHNPs.
When
printing out the combined letter and table, we suggest using
light yellow paper. Experience with the blue Comparison
of Mental Health Providers reveals
that colored paper can help legislators quickly locate (and
remember!) critical Coalition documents during committee hearings.
Monday, January 21, 2008
