How do grandparenting requirements differ from the regular licensure requirements?
Because LPCCs must meet standards that are equivalent to those of the currently licensed MFTs and LCSWs, grandparented applicants must meet all the requirements of the regular license with these exceptions:
Education: Those with degrees issued before 1996 may add units to complete the required 48 semester-units and they may add three core content courses post-degree, rather than only two. Note that the supervised practicum requirement cannot be met post-degree.
Supervision: Because most counselors would have received supervision before there were regulations in place, supervision for grandfathering has only minimal stipulations and counselors only need to document 1,700 post-degree supervised hours, which is the same number of post-degree supervised hours that MFTs must have for licensure, rather than 3,000 hours. A nationally certified counselor or nationally registered art or dance/movement therapist may serve as the supervisor for grandfathering only.
Examination: Applicants for grandparenting must pass the NCE or the CRCE, the NCMHCE and a California jurisprudence exam, to be developed and administered by the BBS. If the national exams are not adopted by the Board in 2012, grandparented counselors will have to pass California-produced exams within six years of licensure, in order to renew.
Renewal: Grandparented counselors will need to renew each year for the first six years.
