Youngstown Daily Legal News

Bill would adjust dependency profession laws

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: April 18, 2012

A pair of Ohio Senators have partnered to craft a bill that would revise state law governing the professions of chemical dependency counseling and alcohol and other drug prevention.

The proposal, Senate Bill 287, is jointly sponsored by Sens. Frank LaRose, R-Akron, and Capri Cafaro, D-Warren.

Cafaro said the proposed legislation would revise the provisions of the Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board’s statute.

“Many of these changes are the result of recommendations made by the Ohio Alcohol and Other Drug Addiction Workforce Development Project that met between 2006 and 2007,” she said.

“Since then, the OCDP board has been working with the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, as well as other interested parties to develop those recommendations into a legislative proposal.”

SB 287 calls for the OCDP board to license independent chemical dependency counselor-clinical supervisors and certify prevention specialist assistants.

The measure would also realign work experience and education requirements for certain credentials and seeks to eliminate obsolete laws regarding chemical dependency counselors.

Cafaro said SB 287 would repeal language that gave the ODADAS the authority to establish the certification and credentialing process for counselors and specialists.

“That authority rests with the OCDP Board and is no longer necessary,” she said.

“The intent of this legislation is to sustain the current workforce and encourage growth in the number of individuals entering the profession.”

If the bill is enacted, Cafaro said the proposed changes are designed to increase access to the OCDP board’s credentials while ensuring these professionals are “demonstrating competency, ethical standards and pursuing sufficient continuing education.”

“Additionally, these changes will open up OCDP board licensure and certification to professionals in related health occupations, such as nurses, psychologists, social workers, professional counselors and marriage and family therapists,” she said.

Cafaro said the recommended changes have been vetted and thoroughly discussed by health professionals.

Lori Criss, associate director of the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Services Providers, recently offered proponent testimony for SB 287 before the Senate Health, Human Services and Aging Committee.

“SB 287 builds capacity for the profession of addiction treatment and prevention and supports the integration of licensed professionals in the context of health care practice,” she said.

“Improvements made through this bill help to align the profession with other credentialed and certified professionals in Ohio, streamline the process and requirements to gain and maintain certification and make the credential desirable to practitioners of physical and behavioral health care in Ohio.”

Criss said the bill’s provisions are necessary to ensure that Ohio has the capacity to provide “competent, quality addiction treatment and prevention services at a time when substance use problems and the need for treatment are growing in our state.”

“It has been well documented and broadcast that prescription drug abuse is a public health crisis resulting in unnecessary expenses, suffering, and death for Ohioans,” she said, adding that there has been a 335 percent increase in Ohio’s death rate due to unintentional drug poisonings.

“Accidental overdose is now the leading cause of injury death in Ohio, exceeding both traffic accidents and suicide. This epidemic is placing an increasing demand on a system with an already taxed capacity, and prescription drug abuse is not the only type of substance abuse and addiction from which many Ohioans need recovery.”

The Ohio Council is a trade and advocacy organization representing more than 170 private, nonprofit, small businesses employing more than 18,000 Ohioans that provide addiction recovery, mental health and family services.

On behalf of the organization’s membership, Criss encouraged lawmakers to move SB 287 forward.

“As small businesses, our members continually strive to hire and retain a quality workforce. We need professionals that understand the multiple and complex aspects of substance use disorders and have the demonstrated competencies to successfully treat people,” she said.

“Many professionals in the addictions treatment and prevention field are nearing retirement, so there is a need to generate new professionals qualified to provide services that treat and prevent substance abuse and addiction in our communities.”

Pat Weston-Hall, the CEO of Glenbeigh, a non-profit specialty hospital in Rock Creek, also testified in support of SB 287.

“Having been with Glenbeigh for 30 years, beginning as a counselor and advancing to chief executive officer, I am concerned that our workforce is aging and there is a lack of qualified chemical dependency counselors available to sustain our current capacity and to provide for future growth,” she said.

Weston-Hall said she believes the proposed legislation is an important step in modernizing the licensing procedures in Ohio for chemical dependency professionals.

“I support the changes proposed in SB 287 as they will streamline the credentialing process and provide more opportunity for individuals, including our alumni, to enter the field of chemical dependency counseling and receive appropriate supervision,” she said.

SB 287 is backed by Sens. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati; Edna Brown, D-Toledo; and Charleta Tavares, D-Bexley.

The bill has been reported out of committee.

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