ID H0393

Idaho enacts the Interstate Counseling Compact to facilitate interstate practice of licensed professional counselors and improve public access to counseling services while maintaining state regulatory authority.

Member states must license and regulate professional counselors, require passage of nationally recognized exams, and require a 60 semester-hour (or 90 quarter-hour) master's degree in counseling with specified topic areas including ethics, diversity, human development, and diagnosis/treatment.

Licensed professional counselors holding valid unencumbered licenses in their home state receive a "privilege to practice" in other member states without obtaining separate licenses, provided they meet continuing education and jurisprudence requirements.

The compact establishes the Counseling Compact Commission with voting delegates from each member state to develop rules, maintain a data system tracking licensure and adverse actions, and enforce compliance.

Remote states can take adverse action against a licensee's privilege to practice, but only the home state can take action against the home license; the act becomes effective July 1, 2024.