The American Counseling Association and licensed professional counselors nationwide are celebrating the signing of Delaware Senate Bill 257 in support of the Counseling Compact, which will authorize counselors to practice across state lines once enacted.
The dream of many licensed professional counselors to practice across state lines moves toward reality as Governor John Carney signed into law his state’s Counseling Compact legislation.
This milestone marks the seventeenth state to sign the Counseling Compact into law, allowing professional counselors licensed and residing in a compact member state to practice in other compact member states without the need for multiple licenses.
Funded and created by the American Counseling Association, the Counseling Compact was finalized in December 2020 and has now been passed by the legislatures in Georgia, Maryland, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, Utah, Maine, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee, Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Delaware. Currently, the Counseling Compact has been introduced in 21 states this legislative session.
Compacts provide a pathway for counselors to move seamlessly from one state to another through an agreement among states to recognize another state’s license. Previously, counselors have had difficulty transferring their licenses from one state/jurisdiction to another because of the independent nature of jurisdictional licensing rules and regulations. There was little consistency regarding the requirements for licensure and these varying requirements make it difficult to transfer one’s license.
The Counseling Compact enables professional counselors who meet uniform licensure requirements to quickly obtain a privilege to practice, which is equivalent to a license to practice counseling in another state.
For more information, please visit CounselingCompact.org