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I think it is a wonderful idea to let school psychologists work independently and privately. There is a dearth of mental health professions to help children and school psychologists have a ton of experience with that particular population. Additionally, they work with staff and parents so they have plenty of experience with adults. Many school psychologists also have clinical backgrounds but have not had supervisors that had supervision classes and have been denied the ability to practice outside of the school environment. I believe that allowing school psychologists to work independently of schools with be most beneficial. Especially in the climate that we are currently in.
This petition is worth considering. While allowing school psychologists to practice privately, may cause further shortages in the school setting, it certainly would provide additional opportunities for families to receive mental health supports in a more timely. Many families who are referred to private providers have lengthy waitlists before they can be seen by a provider. And depending on where you live in Virginia your options for mental health services are extremely limited. The profession is well-trained beyond master's level practitioners and they have internships with supervision at the school level before they are even licensed by VDOE.
Please consider supporting this petition. As school psychologists, we have been thoroughly trained with supervision through our three-year graduate level programs which included a year long internship. Five years of experience adds to the wealth of knowledge that we have. In addition, we complete continuing education as required by the Department of Education. Allowing us to practice independently would be one additional way to resolve the mental health shortage that is resulting in months long waitlists. The following article reports that 40% of Virginians have symptoms of anxiety and depression, "2/3 of Virginia localities are federally designated as mental health professional shortage areas", and many of the current providers are nearing retirement without sufficient replacements being trained.
I am support of this petition to amend requirements for residency in school psychology to accept five years of experience working as a school-psychologist limited in lieu of 1,500 hours of a supervised residency. School psychologists are highly trained. Our credentials reflect our specialized training in both fields of psychology and education. Our collective years of experience with youth of all ages and ability levels lends itself to expertise in the field.
There are not enough expertise in our rural Virginia areas to support youth's mental health needs. School Psychologists live and work in these rural areas and need to have full access and opportunity to support youth in and outside of the school building. Fully licensed and credentialed School Psychologists with more than 5 years' experience should be allowed to serve the mental health needs of all youth in our community and practice privately as well as in school, to support the vast mental health needs in our rural, and urban, communities.
Thank you for your consideration.
As a school psychologists currently in my 11th year working in the school setting, I truly believe our education, training, and experience make us highly qualified candidates to provide support to youth in private practice. We already play a vital role in supporting the whole child by understanding their social, emotional, behavioral, and academic needs. School psychologist are providing mental health supports within the school setting, and we see the need for more mental health support outside of school where our students are often left waiting for help as families are searching for providers but often met with months long waitlists. I believe that any opportunity to expand the role of school psychologists, whether in the school setting or private practice, will be a huge benefit for children and adolescents.
Supervision as a requirement for a license assures at a minimum that the individual has demonstrated competency in important areas such as ethics, assessment, understanding of key psychological principles and the developmental needs of the population being served. Typically in a school system, especially a rural school system, there are no other licensed school psychologists, licensed clinical psychologists or other licensed mental health professionals to learn from or provide any type clinical supervision or even clinical peer consultation. Supervision is typically Administrative Supervision in these school systems and are not clinical. Years of employment in any job does mean the individual received the typical clinical benefits and understanding unique to clinical supervision. School Psychologists do have a certification/licensing process by the State Board of Education, but it only assures that the individual has taken specific educational classes and a graduate level internship. I have 20 years of experience in working with three school systems in providing mental health intervention. Being a licensed mental health professional in the school system requires understanding of the complex mental health symptoms and/or behavioral symptoms of students of all age groups. It is my opinion that the current requirement of clinical supervision hours should remain post-graduate to fully concentrate and complete the professional process to prepare the licensed school psychologist to provide minimal competent services to the youth, their families and advice giving to the school administration. This license should not be considered in any manner as a qualification for independent practice.
This proposal for changing the current School Psychologist licensure requirements is worthy of consideration or at the very lease start a review and discussion of current requirements at the State Board Level. In this environment of position shortages, it is important that we increase the numbers of practitioners that understand the needs and guidelines of today’s public school system; particularly in regard to Special Education Eligibility requirements and the types of assessments required to make these determinations. My personal opinion is that the current coursework and required supervision hours equips the school psychologist for both practice in the public schools, alternative and private settings if they so desire. Additionally, the 5 years of experience threshold insures that the School Psychologist has the ability to apply theoretical knowledge into practical situations. Finally, over the years, I have been told by a number of School Psychologists seeking licensure that it is difficult to find licensed psychologists that are able to undertake the supervisory role which limits their ability to complete the current requirements as written.
The Virginia Academy of School Psychologist (VASP) supports school psychologists in promoting and advocating for the educational and mental health development of all Virginia's students, schools, families, and communities. To assist in determining the appropriateness of this rules change, we would like to make the board aware of the following information related to the training of school psychologists.
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) provides a national certification (NCSP) with the following requirements:
Applicants must complete an organized program of study that is officially titled "School Psychology" that consists of at least 60 graduate semester/90 quarter hours. At least 54 graduate semester/81 quarter hours must be exclusive of credit for the supervised internship experience.
Successful completion of a 1,200-hour internship in school psychology, of which at least 600 hours must be in a school setting.
NCSP applicants must achieve a passing score of 147 on the Praxis School Psychologist exam #5402 .
For the first renewal of the NCSP credential for all new NCSPs obtaining the credential after January 1, 2016, there should be evidence of having successfully completed a minimum of 1 academic year of professional support from a mentor or supervisor. For professional practice within a school setting, supervision or mentoring shall be provided by a credentialed school psychologist with a minimum of three years of experience. For any portion of the experience that is accumulated in a nonschool setting, supervision or mentoring shall be provided by a psychologist appropriately credentialed for practice in that setting. Supervision and/or mentoring conducted either individually or within a group for a minimum average of 1 hour per week is recommended.
Those holding the NCSP credential must complete a minimum of 75 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) activities within 36 months of renewal and maintain documentation of activities. At least 10 of the 75 CPD hours must come from a NASP- or APA-approved provider. NCSPs must also accrue 3 hours of CPD regarding ethical practice and/or the legal regulation of school psychology; and 3 hours in equity, diversity, and inclusion; both of which may be met with any appropriate CPD activity category.
School psychologists who graduate from NASP approved programs are trained in the following areas: Data collection and analysis; Assessment; Progress monitoring; School-wide practices to promote learning; Resilience and risk factors; Consultation and collaboration; Academic/learning interventions; Mental health interventions; Behavioral interventions; Instructional support; Prevention and intervention services; Special education services; Crisis preparedness, response, and recovery; Family-school-community collaboration; Diversity in development and learning; Research and program evaluation; and Professional ethics, school law, and systems.
As mental health and educational professionals, we are acutely aware of the difficulties families face in accessing necessary psychological services both inside and outside of the school setting. As an association we would like to encourage flexible problem solving to help address this need.