AASCB CONFERENCE

The LPC Board attended the American Association of State Counseling Boards' (AASCB) annual conference which was held in San Diego, from January 7th through the 10th. AASCB currently has 44 state members, with several organizations as associate members. This year's

conference was very significant for several reasons. First of all, the Portability Policy and Procedures were made official. This means that AASCB will now begin developing the "Credentials Bank". The purpose of the bank is to allow License holders to keep their credentialing information, such as current license information, transcripts, supervision experience, etc., in one location so when a registrant wants to move to a member state, all of
this information will be made available to the receiving board. For more information on Portability, check out their web site: www.aascb.org.

To give some perspective on the significance of the Portability Issue, the very first plenary session was an overview of the progress made by the portability subcomission during the past year. This included a powerpoint presentation by Charlie Gagnon, who was the subcommittee
chair. Along with the opening session, there were two committee breakout sessions, as well as a Question and Answer period at the end of the second day of the conference.

Along with general organizational meetings, there were several "break out" sessions. Among those sessions was one presented by Ted Remley and June Williams. They addressed the issue of "preventing unauthorized counseling practice of Ministers".

Another highlight was a Plenary session presented by Rick Gressard (NBCC), who discussed International Portability. According to Rick, this is becoming a very "hot topic". Rick was able to visit such countries as South Africa, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. He stated that the most difficult thing for these countries to understand was the issue of separate licensure in EACH STATE. The only way he was able to help them understand was by explaining that each state was like it's own little country. In other words, the United States was like 50 different countries!!! An interesting concept, but one that is quite different from the rest of the world.

On a lighter side, as a fund raiser, AASCB asked that each state bring a basket with items that represent that state. These baskets were sold at a silent auction - with a prize being given to the most creative basket. Of course, Louisiana won. How could anyone compete with the state that declares Mardi Gras as a national holiday. By the way, the silent auction raised almost $600.00, with Louisiana bringing in the highest bid.

Last, but not least, one more significant event at this year's conference was the election of Charlie Gagnon to the Executive Board. Charlie has been the portability draft chair for the past two years
and will be AASCB's President-Elect (04-05), President (05-06), and he will serve as Past-President in '06-'07. Our hats are off to Charlie.

ENCOURAGE NEW GRADUATES TO REGISTER THEIR SUPERVISION

Counselor educators are asked to encourage their new graduates to register their supervision with the LPC board for licensure as a Professional Counselor or Marriage and Family Therapist prior to actually graduating. A three-part form is used to register supervision. Candidates may submit the first part of the form prior to graduating, and it will be reviewed by the board and approved for qualified applicants within a month after the board receives their official transcripts indicating graduation has occurred.

If applicants know prior to graduation who their board approved supervisor will be, and have secured a site to complete their supervised experience, they may submit all three sections of the application form at the same time. Applicants who have not already secured a board approved supervisor or a site where they will complete their supervised experience may submit the other two parts of the form after the supervisor and site have been secured.

By applying early, LPC and LMFT applicants can begin earning hours toward licensure as soon as they have been notified by the board that all three parts of their registration application form has been approved.

LPC and LMFT Interns are cautioned, however, that they may not begin counseling clients or earning hours toward licensure until they have received official notification from the board that all three parts of the supervision registration forms have been approved.

BOARD ACTION