Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A)
All applicants for first licensure as a professional counselor, social worker,
professional clinical counselor, independent social worker, marriage and family
therapist, independent marriage and family therapist, art therapist, and music therapist, or for
registration of title as a social work assistant, counselor trainee, marriage
and family therapist trainee or social worker trainee, shall file with the
executive director of the board an application in a form prescribed by the
board. For the purposes of applying online in the
system designated by the board, the applicant shall establish user
identification and password. The use of the user identification and password is
solely the responsibility of the licensee to be used for all applications
within the online system, including, but not limited to, an initial licensure
application, a renewal application, updating the address, requesting a wall
certificate or license verification to another state or entity. The user
identification and password shall constitute the legally recognized signature
for the purposes of this rule. Any person who knowingly makes a false
statement on a written application or electronic application may be found
guilty of falsification under section
2921.13 of the Revised Code, a
misdemeanor of the first degree. Applications shall be maintained for two years
from the date of receipt by the board. Submitted applications which remain
incomplete after two years shall be considered abandoned. The license
application and fee shall be forfeit and individuals seeking licensure shall be
required to re-apply.
(B) The
appropriate non-refundable fee, shall accompany the application for licensure
or registration.
(C) All applicants
for licensure or registration shall provide:
(1) Grade transcripts showing all coursework
and/or academic degrees necessary to meet the education requirements for the
license or registration for which the applicant is applying.
(a) Such transcripts shall bear the official
seal of the college or university and the signature of the registrar. The
applicant shall bear sole responsibility for transcripts sent directly from the
college or university to the board office.
(b) If an applicant's transcript does not
clearly indicate that the applicant meets the education requirements for the
license for which they are applying, the applicant shall provide additional
information about their coursework in a manner prescribed by the
board.
(2) Statements,
on a form prescribed by the board, to document all professional employment
experience required by any rule under this chapter, or for licensure or
registration by the board. Statements, if required, shall be completed by the
person(s) who supervised the required professional employment experience, or
who are judged by the board to be in a position to make a professional judgment
about the nature of the applicant's duties and the quality of their work, and
who meet the criteria established for such respondents by the board in any
rules under this chapter.
(3)
In the case of an art therapist or music therapist,
evidence of board certification by the certification board for art therapists
or music therapists or successor organizations.
(D) Applicants for any license or certificate
of registration issued by the board shall meet the board's requirements for
criminal convictions as established under section
9.79 of the Revised
Code.
(E) All applicants for an
initial license or registration shall submit a request to the bureau of
criminal identification and investigation for a criminal records check of the
applicant per sections
4776.02 and
4776.03 of the Revised Code and
shall include a federal bureau of identification criminal records check
request. This requirement applies to all initial applications for professional
counselor, social worker, professional clinical counselor, independent social
worker, marriage and family therapist, independent marriage and family
therapist, art therapist, and music therapist or
for registration of title as a social work assistant, counselor trainee,
marriage and family therapist trainee or social worker trainee. The
applications for criminal records check shall comply with section
109.572 of the Revised Code. The
criminal records check shall be received within one year prior to licensure or
a new criminal records check shall be required. Section
4776.02 of the Revised Code
requires that all fingerprint reports be sent directly to the board office from
the bureau of criminal identification and investigation. Any fingerprint
results mailed to or from some other source shall not be accepted.
(1) Applicants in the state of Ohio shall go
to a county sheriff's office or other agency approved by Ohio's attorney
general to request an electronic criminal records check and submit fingerprints
to the bureau of criminal identification and investigation. A link to
electronic fingerprint sites is available on the board's web page under
"forms."
(a) Each applicant shall pay the fee
to the agency scanning their fingerprints and provide the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation with the applicant's name and address and with
the board's name and address as the results addressee. The agency code
fingerprint card shall be "1AB002."
(b) An applicant who has poor fingerprint
quality on the electronic scanning shall be notified by the board to request a
waiver from electronic scanning and mailed the required forms for submission of
ink rolled fingerprints. The bureau of criminal identification and
investigation has suggested using cornhuskers lotion when having difficulties
getting a good electronic scan.
(c)
The applicant shall ask the superintendent of the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation in the criminal records check request to
obtain from the federal bureau of investigation any information it has
pertaining to the applicant.
(2) Applicants outside the state of Ohio
shall go to a police agency in their state and complete the blank criminal
records check cards provided to them by the board and submit fingerprints by
mailing the completed forms directly to the bureau of criminal identification
and investigation. Note: this process may be quicker and more convenient, if
the applicant waits until she or he is in Ohio, to complete an electronic scan.
(a) Each applicant shall pay the fee to the
agency completing the fingerprinting and to the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation for both the Ohio and federal bureau of
investigation records checks. Applicants shall follow the directions provided
with the fingerprint cards. The applicant shall ask the superintendent of the
bureau of criminal identification and investigation in the request to obtain
from the federal bureau of investigation any information it has pertaining to
the applicant. Part of that application requires a waiver from electronic
submission form citing out-of-state as the reason.
(b) An applicant requesting a criminal
records check shall provide the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation with the applicant's name and address and with the board's name
and address as the results addressee. The agency code on the fingerprint card
shall be "1AB002."
(3)
The board shall not issue a license or registration until receipt of the
criminal records check and any follow-up actions are completed.
(4) The results of any criminal records check
conducted pursuant to a request made under this chapter and any report
containing those results, including any information the federal bureau of
investigation provides, are not public records for purposes of section
149.43 of the Revised Code and
shall not be made available to any person or for any purpose other than as
follows:
(a) The superintendent of the bureau
of criminal identification and investigation shall make the results available
to the board for use in determining, under Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code,
whether the applicant who is the subject of the criminal records check should
be granted a license under that chapter.
(b) The board shall make the results
available to the applicant who is the subject of the criminal records check or
to the applicant's representative upon their written request.
