Article archive / December 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 4. Source pages: 1, 3.
Some wrinkles smoothed with LPA Psychology Board Moves Toward Specialist License
In what some consider a historic move, the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psycho- logists is advancing plans to create an optional license for school specialists under the state psychology board, creating a multi-level license for the first time.
While still in development, Executive Director Kelly Parker told the Times, “They [the Board] did vote to accept the Task Force report and proceed with meeting other interested and important parties.” If these plans go forward, the credential, to be termed the Licensed Specialist in School Psychology, would open up opportunities for school psychology specialists in private and charter schools that have previously been closed to them.
In a report to the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists by its task force charged with studying the issue, Dr. Rita Culross, wrote, “The task force believes strongly that the creation of this additional level of licensure under LSBEP would strengthen the practice of psychology within LA, increase the availability of services to children and families throughout the state, and provide an enhanced level of protection to the public. We urge the board to support its recommendations.”
The report highlighted a severe shortage of psychological services for school children throughout the state, noting that there are 69 psychologists with a specialty in school, licensed by the LSBEP and residing in the state. And, only 17 of the 64 parishes have a local school psychologist in the area. While there are 240 certified school psychologists in Louisiana, none of these can practice outside of a public school.
With a population of 690,000 students in Louisiana schools, the ratio of certified school psychologists to Louisiana students is 2875 to 1, and the ratio of licensed school psychologists is greater than 10,000 to 1, said the report authors. The report also outlined the proposed new scope of practice, qualifications, and aspects of standards, among other issues for the proposed Licensed Specialist in School Psychology.
"Even though the Board has accepted the report,” said Executive Director Parker, “the actual move to license these individuals has not been made official. We are still exploring the idea with other important parties. I anticipate that the Board will make an ‘official’ decision after the meetings."
She indicated that this may involve governmental groups. “We will be meeting with the Department of Education as well as other school board association groups,” she said.
According to several sources, the task force had to resolve some concerns raised by the Executive Council of the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA).
The Times spoke with LPA President Dr. John Fanning who explained, “The task force’s recommendations said that ‘Licensed specialists in school psychology may practice independently as employees or contractors of public, private, or charter schools or through a contractual arrangement with a licensed psychologist.’” This sentence and the word contractual caused some in the LPA Executive Council a concern, he explained. “Whatever ‘contractual’ might prove to be, it's not ‘supervisory.’”
“We viewed this as potentially opening a broad precedent to independent practice in what has been heretofore defined as the practice of psychology,” Fanning told the Times. “It was disturbingly easy to envision other groups approaching the legislature with the argument that, ‘The school specialists have been deemed qualified to do psychological testing in private practice outside the school system, and we think we are, too.’”
“Members of the EC with whom I spoke would have been satisfied with even distance supervision by licensed school or other psychologists–given the geographic distribution issues involved–but this idea got no traction with the task force,” Fanning said.
LPA Council members Drs. Jesse Lambert, Lucinda DeGrange, and Fanning attended the joint meeting, along with task force members and Dr. Chavez Phelps, the Government Relations representative for the Louisiana School Psychological Association.
“I anticipated the possibility that discussion of the issue could be adversarial,” Fanning told the Times. But, “That proved not to be the case at all,” he said.
Kelly Parker told the Times the representatives worked very well together. “Members from LPA and the Louisiana School Psychological Association offered up possibilities and were able to effectively collaborate with one another and come to a good median that was acceptable to both groups, and the board as well.”
Discussions led to a change in wording: “Licensed specialists in school psychology may practice independently as employees or contractors of public, private, or charter schools or through a contractual arrangement with a licensed psychologist.”
The group also agreed on the wording about diagnosis. “The types of evaluations performed by licensed specialists in school psychology will be those that are germane to the current state educational bulletins, specifically Louisiana Bulletins 1706 and 1508. No school based evaluations conducted by licensed specialists in school psychology would employ DSM or lCD diagnosis.”
Members of the task force include Dr. Rita Culross, LSBEP Chair and licensed school psychologist, Dr. Carmen Broussard, licensed school psychologist representing Nicholls State University Specialist Program in School Psychology; Ms. Susan Ratterree, Louisiana representative to the National Association of School Psychologists, Dr. Constance Patterson, licensed school psychologist, representing the Tulane University doctoral program in School Psychology, Ms. Francois Parr, representing the Louisiana Association of School Psychologists; Dr. Steven Welsh, retired Nicholls State dean and licensed school psychologist; David White, Executive Director for the Louisiana Psychological Association, and Ms. Kelly Parker, Executive Director of LSBEP (ex-officio).
Members of the Louisiana School Psychological Association look over agendas for the conference, held last month in Lafayette. L to R: Candice Dozier, Annie Holmes, Nancy Alleman, and E. Francoise Parr, current President of the association. Dr. Chavez Phelps, Government Relations representative for the Louisiana School Psychological Association met with the LSBEP task team and community members to work out details of the “Licensed Specialist in School Psychology.” Above, Dr. Phelps presents at a LSPA convention.
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