Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
A "clock hour" is sixty minutes spent in a program meeting the
requirements for renewal of a license or certificate of registration issued by
the board. Clock hours exclude refreshment breaks, receptions and other social
gatherings, and meals that do not include an acceptable program.
(A) Continuing education credit shall only be
issued for coursework that qualifies per rule
4757-9-06 of the Administrative
Code. Fifteen clock hours shall be granted for one academic semester hour. Ten
clock hours shall be granted for one academic quarter hour.
(B) Continuing education credit
may
only be issued for coursework that qualifies per rule
4757-9-06 of the Administrative
Code. Up to ten clock hours may be granted for a
journal article. Up to thirty clock hours may be granted for a book.
(C)
Credit may be awarded to licensees for first time
presentations of a continuing education program, an in-service training
workshop, a seminar or a conference presentation at the rate of one and
one-half hours for every hour of the actual, board approved, presentation, up
to ten hours per renewal period.
(D) The number of clock hours granted for a
program offered by an approved provider will be determined by the definition of
clock hour in this rule.
(E)
Effective January 1, 2015, distance learning courses, that are text based
reading courses, shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Content of courses shall meet at least
one of the following criteria:
(a) Based on
published research in peer-reviewed journals or from academic publishing houses
(e.g., Sage, Guilford, Springer) with citations to support the theories and
treatments discussed; or
(b) Based
on appropriate government published documents which includes, but is not limited to: the
board's laws and rules: center for disease control, national institute for
health: and substance abuse and mental health services administration;
or
(c) Training that is
practice-informed rather than research-informed, based on individual practice
experience as long as the presenter clearly states that content is based on his
or her experience and includes references to published research in
peer-reviewed journals and/or from academic publishing houses (e.g., Sage,
Guilford, Springer) and/or government documents with citations to support the
theories and treatments discussed.
(d) Training that is designed to facilitate
compliance with national accreditation standards (e.g., joint commission on the
accreditation of healthcare organizations "JCAHO," commission on accreditation
of rehabilitation facilities, "CARF," council on accreditation "COA," other
appropriate accrediting bodies) and/or established agency policies and
procedures relating to clinical care.
(2) Courses shall be updated at least every
five years to reflect current research and treatment practices and/or newer
government document sources. Sources from seminal works or works of historical
importance to the profession are clearly still valid, but newer research may
broaden and/or deepen the material.
(3) The board may have a
random selection of courses audited by experienced licensed professionals, who
are not board members, to review the content as to the referenced material and
hours awarded for those programs.
(a) Results
of those audits shall result in consultations with the individual or company as to
changes in future offerings and how to treat existing offerings that do not
meet the standards as noted in the reviews.
(b) If the audit reveals changes that should
be made in course content or hours awarded, the provider shall be given a copy
of the resulting audit;
(c) If the
provider does not agree with the audit, a notice for hearing per Chapter 119.
of the Revised Code shall be issued by the board;
(d) If the provider agrees with the audit
results or the board prevails following a hearing, the provider shall be
allowed to continue offering the course or courses until the end of the
two-year cycle anticipated by the publisher, which shall be stated on the
publisher's information page of their course documents; and
(e) Should the final results of an audit be
presented to a provider that operates on a two-year publishing cycle that
publisher shall make corrections on the next published continuing education
documents. If the publisher is within a six months period prior to the
beginning of a new two-year publishing cycle, for which the provider is
approved to offer continuing education, the changes in course content or credit
hours awarded will not be effective until the end of the next full two-year
publishing cycle.
(F) Counselors, marriage and family
therapists, and social workers may earn all hours of continuing professional
education per renewal period in distance learning credit as defined in
paragraph (A)(11) of rule
4757-9-06 of the Administrative
Code.
(G) Counselors, social
workers and marriage and family therapists may use up to twelve hours from the
prior renewal period for their current renewal, only if they had an excess of
hours over thirty hours from the immediate prior renewal. This practice is
known as "banking" continuing education hours (CEUs). Registered social work assistants may bank up to six hours
of excess continuing education from the immediate prior renewal.
(1) Hours earned as a
professional counselor may not be banked to renew a professional clinical
counselor license.
(2) Hours earned
as a social work assistant may not be banked to renew a social worker
license.
(3) Hours earned as a
social worker may not be banked to renew an independent social worker
license.
(4) Hours earned as a
marriage and family therapist may not be banked to renew an independent
marriage and family therapist license.
(H) All licensees and registrants shall
complete continuing education renewal requirements prior to renewing as
specified in: rule
4757-9-01 of the Administrative
Code for marriage and family therapists; rule
4757-9-02 of the Administrative
Code for professional counselors; and rule
4757-9-03 of the Administrative
Code for social workers; unless granted a waiver under rule
4757-7-01 of the Administrative
Code.
