HB5594 Summary

• Renames the Professional Counselor and Clinical Professional Counselor Licensing Act to the Professional Counselor and Clinical Professional Counselor Licensing and Practice Act and makes conforming changes throughout Illinois law.

• Extends the sunset date for the Professional Counselor and Clinical Professional Counselor Licensing Act from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2023.

• Creates new provisions establishing practice requirements for licensed professional counselors, including restrictions on independent practice of clinical professional counseling without proper licensure and requirements for employment status when providing such services.

• Adds new Section 98 establishing confidentiality protections for investigative information collected by the Department, while making formal complaints and disciplinary orders public records.

• Updates definitions, disciplinary grounds, and administrative procedures throughout the Act, and makes conforming amendments to the Elder Abuse and Neglect Act and the Unified Code of Corrections to reference the renamed Act.