§1133. State participation in the compact

            A. To participate in the compact, a state shall currently:

            (1) License and regulate licensed professional counselors.

            (2) Require licensees to pass a nationally recognized exam approved by the commission.

            (3) Require licensees to have a sixty semester-hour or ninety quarter-hour master's degree in counseling or sixty semester-hours or ninety quarter-hours of graduate course work in the following areas:

            (a) Professional counseling orientation and ethical practice.

            (b) Social and cultural diversity.

            (c) Human growth and development.

            (d) Career development.

            (e) Counseling and helping relationships.

            (f) Group counseling and group work.

            (g) Diagnosis, treatment, assessment, and testing.

            (h) Research and program evaluation.

            (i) Other areas as determined by the commission.

            (4) Require licensees to complete a supervised postgraduate professional experience as defined by the commission.

            (5) Have a mechanism in place for receiving and investigating complaints about licensees.

            B. A member state shall:

            (1) Participate fully in the commission's data system, including using the commission's unique identifier as defined in rules.

            (2) Notify the commission, in compliance with the terms of the compact and rules, of any adverse action or the availability of investigative information regarding a licensee.

            (3)(a) Implement or utilize procedures for considering the criminal history records of applicants for an initial privilege to practice.

            (b) The licensing board shall be entitled to the criminal history record and identification files of the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information located within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, referred to hereafter in this Subparagraph as the "bureau", of any person who is required to be licensed as a licensed professional counselor. Fingerprints, biometrics, and other identifying information of the applicant shall be submitted to the bureau for qualification and registry, and the bureau shall, upon request of the licensing board and after receipt of such fingerprint card and other identifying information from the applicant, make available to the licensing board all arrest and conviction information contained in the bureau's criminal history record and identification files which pertain to the applicant for licensure. In addition, the fingerprints shall be forwarded by the bureau to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check. In accordance with the authority provided for in this Chapter, the costs of providing the information required pursuant to this Section shall be charged by the bureau, as specified in R.S. 15:587(B), to the licensing board for furnishing information contained in the bureau's criminal history record and identification files, including any additional cost of providing the national criminal history records check, which pertains to the applicant. The licensing board may impose any or all such fees or costs on the applicant.

            (c) A member state shall fully implement a criminal background check requirement, within a timeframe established by rule, by receiving the results of the Federal Bureau of Investigation record search on criminal background checks and use the results in making licensure decisions.

            (d) Communication between a member state, the commission, and among member states regarding the verification of eligibility for licensure through the compact shall not include any information received from the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information and from the Federal Bureau of Investigation relating to a federal criminal records check performed by a member state under P.L. 92-544.

            (4) Comply with the rules of the commission.

            (5) Require an applicant to obtain or retain a license in the home state and meet the home state's qualifications for licensure or renewal of licensure, as well as all other applicable state laws.

            (6) Grant the privilege to practice to a licensee holding a valid unencumbered license in another member state in accordance with the terms of the compact and rules.

            (7) Provide for the state commissioner's attendance of the Counseling Compact Commission meetings.

            C. Member states may charge a fee for granting the privilege to practice.

            D. Individuals not residing in a member state shall remain eligible to apply for a member state's single-state license as provided under the laws of each member state. However, the single-state license granted to these individuals shall not be recognized as granting a privilege to practice professional counseling in any other member state.

            E. Nothing in this compact shall affect the requirements established by a member state for the issuance of a single-state license.

            F. A license issued to a licensed professional counselor by a home state to a resident in that state shall be recognized by each member state as authorizing a licensed professional counselor to practice professional counseling, under a privilege to practice, in each member state.

            Acts 2022, No. 341, §1.