Missouri Mental Health Counselors Association

   At the very end of this year's legislative session two bills sponsored by MMHCA passed the State Legislature!  HB 1791, sponsored by Rep. Wayne Cooper and SB 1177, sponsored by Sen. Frank Barnitz both have been truly agreed and finally passed.  HB 1791 was signed into law by Gov. Blunt on 6-19-08.  As you probably know these were identical companion bills which have the effect of inserting Licensed Professional Counselors into the Dept. of Mental Health, Div. of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services statute which defines "mental health professionals".  This definition is key to DMH recognition of clinicians that it will recognize as being responsible for performing assessments leading to potential involuntary detention into the Department.  When these bills are enacted in regulation they will allow the Community Mental Health Centers that serve as Administrative Agents for DMH to utilize LPCs to perform these critical assessments.  The CMHC's across the state and DMH were strong supporters of our initiative and the bills sailed through unnopposed and were finally passed by each chamber.  Feel free to send your individual thanks to Rep. Cooper and Sen. Barnitz along with the thanks we will send them from MMHCA as a whole.

    This issue was brought to our attention by MMHCA members serving in CMHCs several years ago and we have finally realized one of our important goals in getting this legislation passed.  While we are very happy to see this important recognition of the skills of LPCs finally take place we also take note that our primary goal of getting the term diagnosis included in our defined scope of practice remains a goal for next year's session.  HB 1792 and SB 1107 were not passed and will be our sole focus in next years session.  We did make significant progress by getting a strong sponsor in the Senate, Sen. Delbert Scott, who chairs the committee where our bills were heard.  Sen. Scott is interested in working with us again in the next session so we start next year in our strongest position to date. 

HB 1791

HB 1792

SB 1109

SB 1177

U.S. Congress passes Veteran's Administration bill that includes mental health counselors!

A bill important to all LPCs passed both the U.S. House and Senate during the waning hours of the 109^th Congress. The provision, included in S. 3421, the Veterans Benefits, Healthcare, and Information Act, opens up the VA health care system to mental health counselors, increasing access to care for veterans. S. 3421 now goes to President Bush to be signed into law.

The bill, which passed the House by voice vote and the Senate under unanimous consent, includes the AMHCA and ACA provision to add mental health counselors to the list of appointed positions within the Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA). The provision would also delineate the qualifications mental health counselors would need to be appointed to a position in the VHA.

Currently, the VA cannot hire mental health counselors at the same pay grade as clinical social workers, nor can mental health counselors apply for supervisory positions open to clinical social workers and others. Partially as a result, the VA is the largest employer of social workers in the United States, and the VA employs very few mental health counselors on a full-time basis.

The AMHCA and ACA supported provision will allow mental health counselors to be eligible for better paying jobs with a greater potential for promotion at the VA. Currently, licensed mental health counselors do not have a federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) General Schedule (GS) occupational classification, which is necessary for a counselor to be employed by the U.S. Government. With enactment of the provision, OPM will be required to create an occupational classification for mental health counselors.

Among S. 3421’s other provisions, is authorization of an additional $180 million for the provision of readjustment counseling and related mental health services provided at VA Vet Centers. The bill also adds funding to increase the number of clinicians, including mental health counselors, treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and authorizes an additional $2 million for VA community based outpatient clinics to support the provision of mental health services. Finally, the bill expands access to bereavement counseling for immediate family members as a service to be offered at Vet Centers when a servicemember dies on active duty.

Representative Robert Wayne Cooper and Dan Holdinghaus are shown here accepting their AMHCA awards in Rep. Cooper's office at the State Capital. In 2005 at the AMHCA Annual Conference in Philadelphia Rep. Cooper was given the award for Public and Community Service and Dan was given the award for Professional Service and Leadership to a State Chapter.