Section 645.31.8. Licensure by endorsement.

 An applicant who has been a licensed marriage and family therapist or mental health counselor under the laws of another jurisdiction may file an application for licensure by endorsement with the board office.

         31.8(1) The board may receive by endorsement any applicant from the District of Columbia or another state, territory, province or foreign country who:

            a.                Submits to the board a completed application;

            b.                Pays the licensure fee;

            c.                Shows evidence of licensure requirements that are similar to those required in Iowa;

      d.         Provides official transcripts sent directly from the school to the board verifying completion of a master’s degree of 45 hours or equivalent if the applicant entered a program of study prior to July 1, 2012, or verifying completion of a master’s degree of 60 hours or equivalent if the applicant entered a program of study on or after July 1, 2012, or the appropriate doctoral degree. Graduates from a non-CACREP-accredited mental health counselor program or a non-COAMFTE-accredited marital and family therapy program shall provide an equivalency evaluation of their educational credentials by the Center for Credentialing and Education, Inc.       (CCE), Web site  http://cce-global.org . The professional curriculum must be equivalent to that stated in these rules. Applicants shall bear the expense of the curriculum evaluation;

            e.                Supplies satisfactory evidence of the candidate’s qualifications in writing on the prescribed forms by the candidate’s supervisors. If verification of clinical experience is not available, the board may consider submission of documentation from the state in which the applicant is currently licensed or equivalent documentation of supervision;

            f.                 Provides verification(s) of license(s) from every jurisdiction in which the applicant has been licensed, sent directly from the jurisdiction(s) to the board office. Web-based verification may be substituted for verification direct from the jurisdiction’s board office if the verification provides:

             (1)              Licensee’s name;

             (2)              Date of initial licensure;

             (3)              Current licensure status; and

             (4)              Any disciplinary action taken against the license; and

            g.                Has the examination score sent directly from the testing service to the board.

         31.8(2) In lieu of meeting the requirements of paragraphs 31.8(1)“d” and “e,” applicants who meet the qualifications below may instead submit documentation demonstrating how each of the qualifications below is satisfied:

            a.                The applicant has been licensed as a mental health counselor or a marital and family therapist in another state for at least five years at the independent level (independent level means the highest level of licensure in the field offered by the particular state);

            b.                The applicant has been practicing under the independent license in a clinical mental health or marital and family therapy counseling setting for at least five years;

            c.                The applicant possesses a master’s degree or higher in mental health counseling or marital and family therapy or an equivalent counseling-related field; and

            d.                The applicant does not have any past or pending disciplinary action from any state licensing boards related to any mental health counseling or marital and family therapy license currently or previously held by the applicant.

[ ARC 7673B , IAB 4/8/09, effective 4/30/09;    ARC 0777C , IAB 6/12/13, effective 7/17/13;    ARC 1758C , IAB 12/10/14, effective 1/14/15;    ARC 2845C , IAB 12/7/16, effective 1/11/17]