NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES REGARDING POST-DEGREE COURSE WORK, CONTINUING EDUCATION ACTIVITIES, AND DEFINITIONS IN THE REGULATIONS OF THE ALASKA BOARD OF MARITAL AND FAMILY[...]

NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES REGARDING POST-DEGREE COURSE WORK, CONTINUING EDUCATION ACTIVITIES, AND DEFINITIONS IN THE REGULATIONS OF THE ALASKA BOARD OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY

Brief Description: The Board of Marital and Family Therapy (Board) proposes to adopt regulation changes in Title 12, Chapter 19 of the Alaska Administrative Code, dealing with clarifying and streamlining language, aligning regulations with statute changes from HB126, updating approved continuing education activities, and updating definitions including the following:

1. 12 AAC 19.110. License by Examination, is proposed to update the term 'courses' to 'course work' throughout, per the statute changes from HB 126 that go into effect on July 1, 2025, and to update the process on how to schedule the Professional Examination Service's Examination in Martial and Family Therapy.
2. 12 AAC 19.120. Substitution of Post-Degree Courses or Practice, is proposed to update the term 'courses' to 'course work' throughout, including in the title of this section, per the statute changes from HB 126 that go into effect on July 1, 2025.
3. 12 AAC 19.130. Supervised Experience, is proposed to make technical updates to cross-references in accordance with state drafting conventions for legislation and regulations.
4. 12 AAC 19.200. License for Supervised Practice, is proposed to add the process of requesting an extension of a license for supervised practice per the updated statutes in HB 126.
5. 12 AAC 19.320. Approved Continuing Education Activities, is proposed to remove specific provider-approved courses to decrease confusion from licensees, and to update language regarding synchronous vs. individual study continuing education.
6. 12 AAC 19.340. Failure to Meet Continuing Education Requirements and License Reinstatement, is proposed to repeal the definition for "reasonable cause or excusable neglect". This definition is being moved to section 12 AAC 19.990 (definitions) to clarify that this definition may be used for this term throughout the regulations.
7. 12 AAC 19.990. Definitions, is proposed to update and add definitions for the terms "one year of supervised clinical practice", "asynchronous", "synchronous", "jurisdiction" and "reasonable cause or excusable neglect".

You may comment on the proposed regulation changes, including the potential costs to private persons of complying with the proposed changes, by submitting written comments to Stefanie Davis, Regulations Specialist, Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, P.O. Box 110806, Juneau, AK 99811-0806. Additionally, the Board will accept comments by facsimile at (907) 465-2974 and by electronic mail at [email protected]. Comments may also be submitted through the Alaska Online Public Notice System by accessing this notice on the system at http://notice.alaska.gov/218921, and using the comment link. The comments must be received not later than 4:30 p.m. on April 24, 2025.

You may submit written questions relevant to the proposed action to Stefanie Davis, Regulations Specialist, Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, P.O. Box 110806, Juneau, AK 99811-0806 or by e-mail at [email protected]. The questions must be received at least 10 days before the end of the public comment period. The Board will aggregate its response to substantially similar questions and make the questions and responses available on the Alaska Online Public Notice System and on the Board's website at https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/cbpl/ProfessionalLicensing/BoardofMaritalFamilyTherapy.aspx.

If you are a person with a disability who needs a special accommodation in order to participate in this process, please contact Stefanie Davis at (907) 465-2537 or [email protected] not later than April 17, 2025 to ensure that any necessary accommodation can be provided.

A copy of the proposed regulation changes is available on the Alaska Online Public Notice System and by contacting Stefanie Davis at (907) 465-2537, [email protected], or at https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/portals/5/pub/MFT-1124.pdf.

After the public comment period ends, the Board will either adopt the proposed regulation changes or other provisions dealing with the same subject, without further notice, or decide to take no action. The language of the final regulation may be different from that of the proposed regulation. You should comment during the time allowed if your interests could be affected.

Statutory Authority: AS 08.63.050; AS 08.63.100; AS 08.63.110
Statutes Being Implemented, Interpreted, or Made Specific: AS 08.63.050; AS 08.63.100; AS 08.63.110

Fiscal Information: The proposed regulation changes are not expected to require an increased appropriation.

For each occupation regulated under the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, the Division keeps a list of individuals or organizations who are interested in the regulations of that occupation. The Division automatically sends a Notice of Proposed Regulations to the parties on the appropriate list each time there is a proposed change in an occupation's regulations in Title 12 of the Alaska Administrative Code. If you would like your address added to or removed from such a list, send your request to the Division at the address above, giving your name, either your e-mail address or mailing address (as you prefer for receiving notices), and the occupational area in which you are interested.

DATE: 3/23/2025
Stefanie Davis, Regulations Specialist
Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing

ADDITIONAL REGULATION NOTICE INFORMATION
(AS 44.62.190(d))

1. Adopting agency: Board of Marital and Family Therapy - Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing.

2. General subject of regulation: Update regulations for license by examination, substitution of post-degree courses or practice, license for supervised practice, supervised experience, approved continuing education activities, failure to meet continuing education requirements and license reinstatement, and definitions.

3. Citation of regulation: 12 AAC 19.110, 12 AAC 19.120, 12 AAC 19.130, 12 AAC 19.200, 12 AAC 19.320, 12 AAC 19.340, and 12 AAC 19.990.

4. Department of Law file number: 2025200028.

5. Reason for the proposed action: Update and clarification of current regulations; compliance with state statute.

6. Appropriation/Allocation: Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing - #2360.

7. Estimated annual cost to comply with the proposed action to:
A private person: None known.
Another state agency: None known.
A municipality: None known.

8. Cost of implementation to the state agency and available funding (in thousands of dollars): No costs are expected in FY 2025 or in subsequent years.

9. The name of the contact person for the regulation:
Amberly Northcutt, Licensing Examiner
Board of Marital and Family Therapy
Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing
Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
E-mail: [email protected]

10. The origin of the proposed action: Staff of state agency.

11. Date: 3/23/2025
Prepared by: Stefanie Davis, Regulations Specialist

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