House votes to beef up mental health provider training requirements

Mental health provider hopefuls are a signature away from seeing new requirements before they can practice.

Sponsored by Rep. Tony Albright (R-Prior Lake) and Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Vernon Center), HF3432/SF3066* was passed 127-0 by the House Monday. Passed 66-0 by the Senate May 1, it now goes to Gov. Mark Dayton for action.

Albright said the bill would help address the shortage of mental health providers in the state.

The bill would change requirements so that a person could qualify as a mental health practitioner if they:

• complete at least 30 semester hours of coursework or 45 quarter hours in behavioral sciences or related fields;
• complete 4,000 hours of supervised work experience in treating mental illness, substance use disorder, or emotional disturbance or traumatic brain injury, or developmental disabilities, and complete any extra specified training;
• have 2,000 supervised hours of treating mental illness or substance use disorder and receive specified clinical supervision from a mental health professional on traumatic brain injury or developmental disabilities and complete any additional specified training;
• have a graduate student internship if the practitioner is a graduate student in behavioral science or a related field and is formally assigned by an accredited college or university to an facility for clinical training; and
• hold a masters/graduate school degree in behavioral sciences or related fields or hold a bachelor’s degree and complete an internship.