The freedom to move from state to state

A new plan aims to end the hassles and frustrations of getting licensed in another jurisdiction.

By Patrick A. McGuire
Monitor staff

In their mail this month, 80,000 licensed psychologists across the United States and Canada will find details of a new plan for making it easier to transfer their credentials across state and provincial borders.

The key word is easier?not to be confused with easy. For, as many psychologists have learned the hard way, moving their career across a state or provincial border is anything but easy. Common are the horror stories told by licensed psychologists with years of experience in one state who have moved to a new jurisdiction only to find it impossible, or nearly so, to get a license without massive red tape, further training or even starting all over in a new doctoral program.

Keenly aware of that, the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) will begin accepting applications on Aug. 1 for a Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology (CPQ). At a cost of $175 up-front, and a $75 maintenance fee every two years, the CPQ still won?t guarantee relicensure in another jurisdiction.

But if enough people sign up, the new plan could eventually resolve the problem of immobility that has irked psychologists for decades, says ASPPB Committee Chair Stephen DeMers, EdD. The CPQ would amount to an endorsement by the ASPPB?which represents the various psychology regulatory boards in the United States and Canada.

It would certify that a psychologist has a license based on a doctoral degree, five years of independent practice and no history of disciplinary action. 'We will put our stamp of approval on you as an individual,'says DeMers, who heads the committee that developed the CPQ concept, 'and try to get as many boards as possible to accept you for a license.'

He admits, though, that may be easier said than done. Psychological licensing requirements vary widely from state to state?from the type of degree required to specific courses required, to the minimum acceptable score on a national test, and even the specific test recognized. In fact, getting its 61 states and provinces to agree on a common set of standards has been a point of debate in the ASPPB for years.

Maintaining control

At the core of the debate, says DeMers is 'the old parochialism of believing that licensing boards in other juridictions don?t take their licensing responsibility as seriously as our jurisdictions.' You get caught up in states? rights issues. People don?t want to delegate their authority [to license] to a different jurisdiction. These are philosophical differences, but deeply held.'

Several years ago, the association raised hopes that those differences could be overcome when it enacted its Agreement of Reciprocity. This voluntary plan established a standardized set of licensing criteria that allows subscribing states and provinces to accept each other?s psychology licenses, without requiring relicensure.

But to work, the agreement effectively requires member states and provinces to modify their local laws to meet the standardized criteria, says Tom Vaughn, PhD, president of the association. Some states, like Oklahoma and Missouri, did enact new laws in accordance with ASPPB guidelines. 'Reciprocity has led to a little more standardization,'says Vaughn, 'and we clearly need that in psychology. Some professions are light years ahead of us.'

An end to hassles

The CPQ also aims to resolve one of the more frustrating problems psychologists face when moving across jurisdictions: the difficulty in tracking down people who can verify completion of an internship or postdoctoral program. Often, the programs have closed, or the people who acted as supervisors have died.

'Usually there is some way to get it done,'says Vaughn, 'but it?s an incredible hassle. It?s tough to get signatures from dead people.'In fact, without that primary source of verification, he says, many states refuse to grant a new license.

'Think of a person who has practiced ethically for years and had appropriate credentials, and then finds they are not qualified to do what they?ve been doing,'says Janet Matthews, PhD, a member of the APA?s Board of Directors, who acts as a liaison with ASPPB.

To counter situations like those, the CPQ will create a centralized data bank where a psychologist can archive important records.

'It would become a credentials repository of certain basics that are required across jurisdictions?scores on national tests, proof of graduation, a doctorate in psychology, proof of internships, proof of postdoctoral years,'says Matthews.

The CPQ will also help psychologists who find that a new state or province requires certain courses they never had to take during their training.

'One of the major calls I get are from people who want to move and are running into problems,'says Billie Hinnefeld, JD, PhD, director of legal and regulatory affairs in the APA?s Practice Directorate.

'For example, they don?t have a particular course that is now required by the new state. They are outraged that they have reached a new impasse, insofar as the decision about whether an individual psychologist?s credentials are acceptable rests strictly with the licensing board for the new state.'

In those cases, says DeMers, the CPQ would, in effect, say to that new state, 'Granted, this person may not meet the current 1998 requirements for licensure, but he or she has demonstrated evidence of competence.?'

A dozen jurisdictions have already agreed to participate in the CPQ program, almost twice as many as had signed up for the reciprocity agreement, DeMers says.

The CPQ, adds Matthews, is not likely to dissuade a jurisdiction from requiring an out-of-state applicant to meet other requirements, such as being familiar with local laws.

'It seems reasonable that the new jurisdiction would say, ?Take our jurisprudence exam,'she says. 'The CPQ would just facilitate the process of paperwork.'

APA, in a vote by its Council of Representatives, supports the concept of mobility, and the Practice Directorate supports the development of creative strategies to help alleviate related obstacles.

But the association does not endorse any particular plan, Matthews notes.

Marketing the plan

DeMers and Vaughn hope their direct mail campaign this month will create a critical mass of interested psychologists, which would likely convince jurisdictions of the CPQ?s viability, they say.

They have reason for their optimism. ASPPB?s successes on the mobility front include the establishment of a central registry of each regulatory board?s disciplinary actions. And it has created a standardized passing grade on the EPPP test, setting 70 percent as the mark now recognized by most jurisdictions.

One thing the CPQ does not cover is licensing issues surrounding services offered via telehealth technology, says DeMers. Some states are considering requiring anyone who practices telehealth to be licensed in that state, says Hinnefeld, although the ability to enforce those laws has not yet been tested.

DeMers, a past president of ASPPB, says the lack of a standardized mobility policy undermines the whole ideal of licensure. 'You take an ethical practitioner who?s never had a problem, and their only sin is deciding to move. And they get into a hassle with a licensing board and all of a sudden you have someone who used to support licensure and is now writing letters fomenting opposition. We are taking people and turning them into opponents of licensure.'

In the meantime, the ASPPB will continue to work with each jurisdiction to help it comply with the Agreement of Reciprocity, though that is likely to take many years, says Vaughn.

'The CPQ is going to be helpful to the vast majority of psychologists,'he says. 'It?s going to be much easier to do than rewriting state laws.'