South Carolina Code of Regulations
Chapter 36 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, LICENSING AND REGULATION BOARD OF EXAMINERS FOR LICENSURE OF PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS, ADDICTION COUNSELORS, AND PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL SPECIALISTS
Article 7 - CODES OF ETHICS
Section 36-25 - Code of Ethics for Psycho-educational Specialists
Universal Citation: SC Code Regs 36-25
Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 9, September 27, 2024
(A) Professional Competency.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
recognize the strengths and limitations of their training and experience and
engage only in practices for which they are qualified.
(2) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
represent competence levels, education, training, and experience accurately and
in a professional manner.
(3)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall not use affiliations with persons,
associations, or institutions to imply a level of professional competence
exceeding that actually achieved.
(4) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
enlist the assistance of other specialists in supervisory, consultative, or
referral roles as appropriate in providing services.
(5) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
refrain from any activity in which their personal problems or conflicts may
interfere with professional effectiveness. Competent assistance is sought to
alleviate conflicts in professional relationships.
(B) Professional Relationships and Responsibilities.
(1) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall apply their professional expertise for the purpose of
promoting improvement in the quality of life for students, their families, and
the school community.
(2)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall respect all persons and must be sensitive
to physical, mental, emotional, political, economic, social, cultural, ethnic,
and racial characteristics, gender and sexual orientation, and
religion.
(3) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall be responsible for the direction and nature of their personal
loyalties or objectives. When these commitments may influence a professional
relationship, the Psycho-educational Specialist shall inform all concerned
persons of relevant issues in advance.
(4) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
maintain professional relationships with students, parents, the school, and
community. Parents and students must be fully informed about all relevant
aspects of services in advance, taking into account language and cultural
differences, cognitive capabilities, developmental level, and age so that the
explanation may be understood by the student, parent, or guardian.
(5) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
attempt to resolve situations in which there are divided or conflicting
interests in a manner which is mutually beneficial and protective of the rights
of all parties involved.
(6)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall not exploit clients through professional
relationships nor condone these actions in their colleagues. All individuals,
including students, clients, employees, colleagues, and research participants,
shall not be exposed to deliberate comments, gestures, or physical contacts of
a sexual nature. Psycho-educational Specialists shall not harass or demean
others based on personal characteristics nor engage in sexual relationships
with their students, supervisees, trainees, or past or present
clients.
(7) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall not enter into personal or business relationships with
students/clients or their students'/clients' parents.
(8) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
notify the Board if aware of a suspected detrimental or unethical practice of
another professional.
(9)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall respect the confidentiality of information
obtained during their professional work and reveal this information only with
the informed consent of the client, or the client's parent or legal guardian,
except as provided by law.
(C) Students.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
engage only in professional practices which maintain the dignity and integrity
of students and other clients.
(2)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall explain important aspects of their
professional relationships with students and clients in a clear, understandable
manner, including the reason why services were requested, who will receive
information about the services provided, and the possible outcomes.
(3) When a child initiates services,
Psycho-educational Specialists shall respect the right of the student or client
to initiate, participate in, or discontinue services voluntarily. When another
party initiates services, the Psycho-educational Specialists shall make every
effort to secure voluntary participation of the child/student.
(4) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
discuss recommendations, including all alternatives available.
(D) Parents, Legal Guardians, and Appointed Surrogates.
(1) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall explain all services to parents in a clear, understandable
manner, and explain options taking into account the values and capabilities of
each parent. Provision of services by associates, practicum students, and other
unlicensed personnel must be explained and agreed to in advance.
(2) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
assure that there is direct parent contact prior to seeing the student/client
on an on-going basis. Frank and prompt reporting to the parent of findings and
progress shall be made so long as it conforms to the limits of
confidentiality.
(3)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall encourage and promote parental
participation in designing services provided to their children, including when
appropriate, linking interventions between the school and the home, tailoring
parental involvement to the skills of the family, and helping parents to gain
the skills needed to help their children.
(4) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
respect the wishes of parents who object to services and attempt to guide
parents to alternative community resources.
(5) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
discuss recommendations and plans for assisting the student/client with the
parent. The discussion must include alternatives associated with each set of
plans, showing respect for the ethnic/cultural values of the family. The
parents must be advised as to sources of help available at school and in the
community.
(6) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall discuss the rights of parents and students regarding
creation, modification, storage, and disposal of confidential
materials.
(E) Service Delivery.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists
shall be knowledgeable of the organization, philosophy, goals, objections, and
methodologies of the setting in which they are employed.
(2) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
recognize that an understanding of the goals, processes, and legal requirements
of their particular workplace is essential for effective functioning within
that setting.
(3)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall become integral members of the client
systems to which they are assigned.
(4) Psycho-educational Specialists providing
services to several different groups must disclose potential conflicts of
interest to all parties.
(F) Community.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists shall not
engage in or condone practices that discriminate against clients based on race,
handicap, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, economic
status, or native language.
(2)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall avoid any action that could violate or
diminish the civil or legal rights of clients.
(3) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
adhere to federal, state, and local laws and ordinances governing their
practice.
(G) Related Professional.
(1) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall cooperate with other professional disciplines in
relationships based on mutual respect.
(2) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
encourage and support the use of all resources to best serve the interests of
students and clients.
(3)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall explain their field and their professional
competencies, including roles, assignments, and working relationships to other
professionals.
(4)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall cooperate and coordinate with other
professionals and agencies with the rights and needs of their clients in mind
and must promote coordination of services.
(5) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
refer a student or client to another professional for services whenever a
condition is identified which is outside the professional's competencies or
scope of practice.
(6)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall ensure that all relevant and appropriate
individuals, including the student/client when appropriate, are notified when
transferring the intervention responsibility.
(H) Other Psycho-educational Specialists.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists who
employ, supervise, or train other professionals shall provide continuing
professional development and must provide appropriate working conditions, fair
and timely evaluations, and constructive consultation.
(2) Psycho-educational Specialists who
supervise associates shall be responsible for all professional practices of the
supervisee and assure the students/clients and the profession that the
associate is adequately supervised.
(I) Advocacy.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists shall be
responsible to students/clients when acting as advocates for their rights and
welfare.
(2) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall communicate to the school administration and staff service
options, taking into consideration the primary concern for protecting the
rights and welfare of students.
(J) Assessment and Intervention.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
maintain the highest standards for educational and psycho-educational
assessment.
(2) In conducting
psycho-educational, educational, or behavioral evaluations, or in providing
therapy, counseling, or consultation services, Psycho-educational Specialists
must give consideration to individual integrity and individual
differences.
(3) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall respect the differences in age, gender, sexual orientation,
and socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and must select and use
appropriate assessment or treatment procedures, techniques, and
strategies.
(4) Psycho-educational
Specialists must maintain knowledge about the validity and reliability of their
instruments and techniques so as to choose those that have up-to-date
standardization data and are applicable and appropriate for the benefit of the
student/client.
(5)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall not condone the use of psycho-educational
assessment techniques, or the mis-use of the information these techniques
provide, by unqualified persons in any way, including teaching, sponsorship, or
supervision.
(6) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall develop interventions which are appropriate to the presenting
problems and are consistent with data collected and must modify or terminate
the treatment plan when the data indicate the plan is not achieving the desire
goals.
(K) Use of Materials and Technology.
(1)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall maintain test security, preventing the
release of underlying principles and specific content that would undermine the
use of the device, and shall be responsible for the security requirements
specific to each instrument used.
(2) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
abide by all copyright laws and obtain permission from the authors before
reproducing un-copyrighted published instruments.
(3) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
obtain written prior consent or remove identifying data presented in public
lectures or publications.
(4) When
producing materials for consultation, intervention, teaching, public lectures,
or publication, Psycho-educational Specialists shall acknowledge sources and
assign credit to those whose ideas are reflected in the product.
(5) Psycho-educational Specialists shall not
promote or encourage inappropriate use of computer generated test analyses or
reports and must select scoring and interpretation services on the basis of
accuracy and professional alignment with the underlying decision
rules.
(6) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall bear responsibility for any technological services used. All
ethical and legal principles regarding confidentiality, privacy, and
responsibility for decisions apply to the Psycho-educational Specialist and
cannot be transferred to equipment, software companies, or data processing
departments.
(7) Technological
devices shall be used to improve the quality of client services.
(L) Research, Publication, and Presentation.
(1) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall, when designing and implementing research in schools, employ
research methodology, subject selection techniques, data gathering methods, and
analysis and reporting techniques which are grounded in sound research
practice.
(2) Psycho-educational
Specialists working in agencies without review committees shall have peer
review prior to initiating research.
(3) In publishing reports of their research,
Psycho-educational Specialists shall provide discussion of limitations of their
data and acknowledge existence of disconfirming data, as well as alternate
hypotheses and explanations of their findings.
(M) Relationships with School Districts.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists employed
in both the public and private sector shall separate their roles and protect
and completely inform the consumer of all potential conflicts of interest or
concerns.
(2) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall not accept any form of remuneration from clients who are
entitled to the same service provided by the same Psycho-educational
Specialists while working in the public sector. This prohibition includes
students who attend the non-public schools within the public school assignment
area.
(3) Psycho-educational
Specialists in private practice shall inform parents of any free school
psycho-educational services available from the public or private schools prior
to delivering such services for remuneration.
(4) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
conduct all private practice outside of the hours of contracted public
employment.
(5) Psycho-educational
Specialists engaged in private practice shall not use tests, materials,
equipment, facilities, secretarial assistance, or other services belonging to
the public sector employer, unless approved in advance through a written
agreement.
(6) Psycho-educational
Specialists shall not barter psycho-educational services.
(N) Service Delivery.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
conclude a financial agreement in advance of service delivery.
(2) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
ensure to the best of their ability that the client clearly understands the
financial agreement.
(3)
Psycho-educational Specialists shall not give or receive any remuneration for
referring clients for professional services.
(4) Psycho-educational Specialists in private
practice shall adhere to the conditions of a contract until service thereunder
has been performed, the contract has been terminated by mutual consent, or has
otherwise been legally terminated.
(5) Psycho-educational Specialists shall not
engage in personal diagnosis and therapy by means of public lectures, newspaper
columns, magazine articles, radio or television programs, or mail.
(O) Announcements/Advertising.
(1) Psycho-educational Specialists shall
present accurate representations of training, experience, services provided,
and affiliations, and shall advertise these in a restrained manner.
(2) Listings in telephone directories shall
be limited to name, highest relevant degree, state certification/licensure
status as provided for by statute, address, telephone number, brief
identification of major areas of practice, office hours, appropriate fee
information, foreign languages spoken, policy regarding third party payments,
and license number.
(3)
Announcements of services by Psycho-educational Specialists in private practice
shall be made in a formal, professional manner, using the guidelines for
advertising in the telephone directory. In addition, clear statements of
purposes with unequivocal descriptions of the experiences to be provided shall
be given, along with education, training, and experience of all staff members
appropriately specified.
(4)
Psycho-educational Specialists in private practice shall not directly solicit
clients for individual diagnosis or therapy.
(5) Psycho-educational Specialists shall not
compensate in any manner a representative of the press, radio, or television in
return for professional publicity in a news item.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. South Carolina may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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