The Connecticut Association for
Marriage and Family Therapy
     A Division of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

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State of Connecticut Continuing Education Regulations 
for Marriage and Family Therapists

ACTION:  Adopted Regulations
AGENCY: Department of Public Health - 20-195c
SUMMARY: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
TEXT:

Continuing Education for Marital and Family Therapists

The Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies are amended by adding sections 20-195c-1 to 20-195c-7, inclusive, as follows:

Sec. 20-195c-1. Definitions

For the purposes of sections 20-195c-1 to 20-195c-7, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies:

(1) ''Active practice'' means the treatment in Connecticut of one or more patients by a licensee during any given registration period;

(2) ''Certificate of completion'' means a document issued to a participant by a provider which certifies that the participant has successfully completed a continuing education activity;

(3) ''Contact hour'' means a minimum of fifty minutes of continuing education activity;

(4) ''Department'' means the Department of Public Health;

(5) ''Face-to-face instruction'' means in-person, live instruction which a participant physically attends, either individually or as a part of a group of participants;

(6) ''Home study program'' means continuing education activities clearly related to maintaining skills necessary for the safe and competent practice of marital and family therapy that include a proficiency examination and are sponsored, endorsed or approved by a regionally accredited academic institution, or the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy or its affiliates;

(7) ''Licensee'' means a marital and family therapist licensed pursuant to section 20-195c of the Connecticut General Statutes;

(8) ''License renewal due date'' means the last day of the month of the licensee's date of birth;

(9) ''Participant'' means a licensee who successfully completes a continuing education activity;

(10) ''Provider'' means the individual educator or sponsoring organization conducting a continuing education activity; and

(11) ''Registration period'' means the one-year period for which a license has been renewed in accordance with section 19a-88 of the Connecticut General Statutes and is current and valid.

Sec. 20-195c-2. Number of contact hours required

(a) Each licensee applying for license renewal shall have completed a minimum of fifteen contact hours of qualifying continuing education during each registration period.

(b) Continuing education contact hours completed in one registration period shall not carry over to a subsequent registration period.

(c) Each licensee applying for license renewal shall sign a statement attesting that the licensee satisfies the continuing education requirements specified in sections 20-195c-1 to 20-195c-7, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

Sec. 20-195c-3. Basic requirements for qualifying continuing education activities

(a) Qualifying continuing education activities are the following:

(1) courses offered or approved by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy or its affiliates;

(2) courses accredited, approved or offered by the Commission on Accreditation for Marital and Family Therapist Education, National Board of Certified Counselors, the American Counseling Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Association of Social Workers, the American Psychological Association, or their affiliates, provided the coursework is clearly related to maintaining skills necessary for the safe and competent practice of marital and family therapy;

(3) courses offered or approved by institutions accredited by the commission on accreditation for marital and family therapist education;

(4) graduate coursework in or  related to the discipline of marital and family therapy field offered by a regionally accredited academic institution, either audited or by credit; or

(5) programs in or related to the discipline of marital and family therapy sponsored or approved by a regionally accredited academic institution, provided the coursework is clearly related to maintaining skills necessary for the safe and competent practice of marital and family therapy.

(b) Continuing education activities shall meet the following requirements:

(1) the activity involves face-to-face instruction or a home study program;

(2) the provider implements a mechanism to monitor and document physical attendance at such instruction or to verify licensee completion in the case of a home study program;

(3) the provider retains written records for a period of three years from the participant's actual successful completion of the activity, including but not limited to: content description; instructor; date of activity; location of activity; list of participants; participant's evaluation of instruction presented and number of contact hours; and

(4) the provider issues a certificate of completion after the participant's successful completion of the activity. Such certificate shall include the participant's name, provider's name, title or subject area of the activity, date and location of attendance and number of contact hours completed.

(c) Subject matter for qualifying continuing education activities shall reflect the scope of practice authorized under Chapter 383a of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(d) Activities which do not qualify for award of contact hours include: professional organizational business meetings; reading of books, articles, or professional journals; correspondence courses and other mechanisms of self instruction, except when used as a component of a home study program; and audio-visual materials, except when the latter is used as a component of a qualifying continuing education activity identified in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

Sec. 20-195c-4. Award of contact hours

(a) Continuing education contact hours shall be awarded as follows:

(1) Courses, institutes, seminars, programs, clinics, conferences and teleconferences: one contact hour for each hour of attendance;

(2) first presentation by licensee of an original paper, essay or formal lecture or workshop in marriage and family therapy to a recognized group of colleagues at a professional meeting: five contact hours; and

(3) original paper published by licensee in a professional journal that accepts papers or an invited chapter or book only on the basis of independent review by experts: six contact hours for the first publication only of the material.

(b) Eight contact hours shall be the maximum continuing education contact hours granted for any one day's participation in the activities specified in subsection (a) of this section.

(c) Graduate level coursework shall be credited at one contact hour for each hour of attendance. Audited courses shall have hours of attendance documented.

(d) Continuing education activities that provide content related to organizational structure, marketing and similar topics relating to business management, shall be limited to not more than six contact hours in any one registration period.

(e) The licensee shall successfully complete a continuing education activity for award of any continuing education contact hours.

Sec. 20-195c-5. Record retention by licensees

(a) Each licensee shall obtain a certificate of completion from the provider of continuing education activities successfully completed. Each licensee shall maintain, for continuing education activities specified in subsection (a) of section 20-195c-3 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, written documentation of completion. Certificates of completion shall be retained by the licensee for a minimum of three years following the license renewal due date for which the activity satisfies license renewal requirements.

(b) The department may inspect such licensee records as it deems necessary. Certificates of completion shall be submitted by the licensee to the department only upon the department's request. Such records shall be submitted to the department by the licensee within 45 days of the department's request.

(c) A licensee who fails to comply with the continuing education requirements of sections 20-195c-1 to 20-195c-7, inclusive, of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies may be subject to disciplinary action, pursuant to section 20-195d of the Connecticut General Statutes.

Sec. 20-195c-6. Exemptions from and waiver of the continuing education requirements

(a) A waiver of the continuing education requirements may be extended to a licensee who is not engaged in active practice during a given registration period provided the licensee submits, prior to the expiration of the registration period, a notarized application on a form provided by the department. The application shall contain a statement that the licensee shall not engage in active practice until the licensee has shown proof of completion of the requirements specified in sections 20-195c-1 to 20-195c-7, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(b) The Department may, in individual cases involving a medical disability or illness, grant waivers of the minimum continuing education requirements or extensions of time within which to fulfill the same. The application for waiver or time extension shall be accompanied by a verifying document signed by a licensed physician. Waivers of the minimum continuing education requirements or extensions of time may be granted by the department for a period not to exceed one (1) calendar year. If the medical disability or illness, upon which a waiver or time extension has been granted continues beyond the period of the waiver or extension, the licensee shall reapply for the waiver or extension.

(c) A licensee whose license is due to expire within twelve months of the effective date of sections 20-195c-1 to 20-195c-7, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, shall be exempt from continuing education requirements until such licensee's next registration period.

(d) A licensee applying for license renewal for the first time is exempt from continuing education requirements.

Sec. 20-195c-7. Requirements for return to active practice following waiver of the continuing education requirements

(a) A licensee who has received a waiver pursuant to subsection (a) of section 20-195c-6 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies shall successfully complete seven contact hours of qualifying continuing education prior to returning to active practice, which shall be applied to the continuing education requirements for the current registration period.

Statement of purpose: To establish mandatory continuing education requirements for persons licensed as marital and family therapists.

Be it known that the foregoing regulations are adopted by the aforesaid agency pursuant to Sec. 20-195c of the General Statutes, after publication in the Connecticut Law Journal on June 26, 2001, of the notice of the proposal to adopt such regulations.

Wherefore, the foregoing regulations are hereby adopted, effective when filed with the Secretary of the State.

In Witness Whereof: August 6, 2003, Norma Gyle, R.N., Ph. D., Acting Commissioner.

Approved by the Attorney General as to legal sufficiency in accordance with Sec. 4-169, as amended, Connecticut General Statutes: August 25, 2003.

Approved by the Legislative Regulation Review Committee in accordance with Sec. 4-170, as amended, of the General Statutes: October 23, 2003.

Two certified copies received and filed, and one such copy forwarded to the Commission on Official Legal Publications in accordance with Sec. 4-172, as amended, of the General Statutes, Secretary of the State: November 4, 2003. 

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