South Dakota aims reduce barriers for addiction counseling licensing
PIERRE — A new bill would allow people seeking an addiction counseling license to have their application screened by the South Dakota Board of Addiction and Prevention Professionals even if they have a felony conviction. The board can then determine to grant the license based if they find the person does not pose a risk to public safety.
It's the latest step in reducing barriers for people attempting to get professional licensing. The bill, which passed Monday out of Senate Health and Human Services Monday, will now head to the Senate for consideration.
"As you can imagine in the addictions field, we see a number of people who themselves are in recovery," said Jennifer Stalley, who testified on behalf of the Board of Addiction and Prevention Professionals. "And they may have come through through recovery by way of some criminal convictions."
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Each licensing application would be taken on a case-by-case basis and the board would have authority to ask the person to take a physical or mental health exam. Currently, someone with a criminal conviction applying for an addiction counseling license must wait five years after their incarceration or must have complied with all parts of their probation.
"We have a number of people who have first-hand experience in these areas," said Stalley. "That is an asset to the profession in many ways."
The bill also allows for re-licensing to take place every two years, instead of annually and someone can place their license on inactive status for four years at most if they wish to take a step back from counseling services.
However, because of the two-year re-licensing, fees have gone up, Stalley explained. She said the rise in fees is what applicants would pay each year they were re-licensed.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota aims reduce barriers for addiction counseling licensing
