HF3859

Purpose

This bill updates education and training requirements for licensure and ongoing professional education in several Minnesota health-related occupations. It adds or tightens rules on degrees, supervised practice, examinations, and continuing education (CE), with new emphasis on cultural diversity, cultural humility, and domestic violence training.

Main Provisions by Occupation

• Licensed Psychologist

  • Education: Adds a requirement for at least three credit hours of graduate-level courses related to domestic violence.
  • Postgraduate supervision: Requires at least one full year (or the equivalent part-time) of postdoctoral supervised practice, totaling not less than 12 months and not more than 60 months. The board may grant a variance if the period exceeds 60 months.
  • Licensure renewal: Adds CE requirements (see Continuing Education section) including diversity-focused content and domestic violence topics.

• Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT)

  • Continuing Education: At least four of the 40 CE hours must focus on serving clients from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds (diversity, cultural humility, etc.).
  • Domestic violence: At least two of the 40 CE hours must cover domestic violence.
  • Board duties: The board must adopt and enforce licensing rules, supervise compliance, ethics code, and continuing education standards for MFTs.

• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)

  • Education and credentials: Requires a master’s or doctoral degree in counseling or a related field, with specified credit-hour requirements and supervised field experience, plus a plan for supervision during the first 2,000 hours of practice.
  • Examination: Must pass the National Counselor Examination (NCE) or an approved equivalent; also requires a background check and fees.
  • Coursework content: Coursework must include a broad set of topics, including a specific item on domestic violence.
  • Cross-licensure note: A Minnesota-licensed psychologist can show evidence of psychology licensure instead of meeting the LPC-specific coursework requirements.

• Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)

  • Education and clinical hours: Adds detailed requirements for graduate coursework and clinical clock hours across specified knowledge areas (differential diagnosis and biopsychosocial assessment; treatment planning; clinical intervention; evaluation methodologies; ethics and social work values; cultural foundations; and a substantial portion on domestic violence).
  • Examination: Must pass the clinical or equivalent examination and meet supervision and background-check requirements.
  • Clock hours: Specifies minimum clock-hour totals across the clinical knowledge areas and allows alternative paths (e.g., accredited programs, or up to 120 CE hours including independent study) to satisfy the training hours.

Continuing Education and Content Requirements

• General CE framework
  • For psychologists and MFTs, and LPCs and LICSWs, CE must be approved by the board and meet state CE rule requirements.
  • A minimum portion of CE must address work with diverse populations, cultural competence, or related topics (detailed below).
• Diversity and cultural topics
  • At least a defined portion of CE hours must cover increasing knowledge, understanding, self-awareness, and practice skills to serve clients from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
  • Topics typically include: culture and its functions/strengths; understanding clients’ cultures and differences; social diversity and oppression; cultural humility; and human diversity related to race, ethnicity, religion, language, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/mental capabilities, and socioeconomic status.
• Domestic violence
  • A specified number of CE hours (varying by profession) must address domestic violence issues and related clinical considerations.

Specific Academic and Licensing Requirements

• Documentation and qualifications
  • Applicants must provide documentation showing age, good character, and appropriate education, including master’s or doctoral degrees from regionally accredited programs or accreditation bodies (with equivalents for specific professions).
  • Licensure by examination or by other approved pathways includes passing relevant exams, completing supervised practice, and meeting ethics requirements.
• Accreditation and standards
  • Some professions require degrees from programs accredited by recognized bodies (e.g., CACREP for counseling programs, COAMFTE for marriage and family therapy programs), or other board-approved equivalents.

Implementation and Scope

• The rules apply to psychology, marriage and family therapy, professional counseling, and social work licensure and renewal processes in Minnesota.
• The board is tasked with adopting or updating rules, administering continuing education, ethics codes, and compliance procedures consistent with these changes.
• The bill strengthens emphasis on culturally informed practice and safe, informed care for diverse populations and for individuals affected by domestic violence.

Potential Impacts

• Practitioners may need to take additional coursework (e.g., domestic violence, diversity, cultural humility) to obtain or renew licensure.
• Some licensure pathways introduce more explicit accreditation and credentialing requirements (CACREP, COAMFTE) or clarified equivalency options.
• Enhanced focus on ethical practice, ongoing professional development, and public safety through more standardized CE topics.

Note on Cross-licensure

• There is an exception allowing a Minnesota-licensed psychologist to rely on evidence of psychology licensure instead of the LPC-specific education/credentialing provisions.

Implementation Considerations

• Boards will implement by-rule CE hour tallies, topic lists, and acceptable formats (e.g., coursework, examinations, or independent study).
• The changes aim to improve cultural responsiveness and domestic violence awareness across mental health and behavioral health professions.

Relevant Terms

• licensure, continuing education, domestic violence, cultural diversity, cultural humility, multicultural issues, social diversity, oppression, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, postdoctoral supervision, supervised clinical hours, clock hours, semester hours, CACREP, COAMFTE, NBCC, ASWB, ethics, code of ethics, examinations, licensure by examination, post-licensure supervision, ethics compliance, accreditation, regionally accredited, California? (Note: not listed; keep to Minnesota-identified terms), professional practice standards, professional counselor, licensed psychologist, licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed professional counselor, licensed independent clinical social worker.

Relevant Terms - licensure - continuing education (CE) - domestic violence - cultural diversity - cultural humility - multicultural issues - diverse socioeconomic backgrounds - race - ethnicity - gender identity - sexual orientation - socioeconomic status - postdoctoral supervision - supervised practice - clock hours - semester hours - CACREP - COAMFTE - NBCC - ASWB - ethics - code of ethics - examinations - licensure by examination - regionally accredited - professional counselor - licensed psychologist - licensed marriage and family therapist - licensed independent clinical social worker