REFERENCE TITLE: board of psychologist examiners

 

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-sixth Legislature

First Regular Session

2023

 

 

 

HB 2046

 

Introduced by

Representative Bliss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Act

 

amending sections 32-2061, 32-2067, 32-2071, 32-2071.01, 32-2072 and 32-2073, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the state board of psychology examiners.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 32-2061, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE32-2061. Definitions

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Active license" means a valid and existing license to practice psychology.

2. "Adequate records" means records containing that contain, at a minimum, sufficient information to identify the client or patient, the dates of service, the fee for service, the payments for service, the type of service given and copies of any reports that may have been made.

3. "Board" means the state board of psychologist examiners.

4. "Client" means a person or an entity that receives psychological services. A corporate entity, a governmental entity or any other organization may be a client if there is a professional contract to provide services or benefits primarily to an organization rather than to an individual.  If an individual has a legal guardian, the legal guardian is the client for decision-making purposes, except that the individual receiving services is the client or patient for:

(a) Issues that directly affect the physical or emotional safety of the individual, such as sexual or other exploitative relationships.

(b) Issues that the legal guardian agrees to specifically reserve to the individual.

5. "Committee on behavior analysts" means the committee established by section 32-2091.15.

6. "Exploit" means actions by a psychologist who takes undue advantage of the professional association with a client or patient, a student or a supervisee for the advantage or profit of the psychologist.

7. "Health care institution" means a facility as defined in section 36-401. 

8. "Letter of concern" means an advisory letter to notify a psychologist that while there is insufficient evidence to support disciplinary action the board believes the psychologist should modify or eliminate certain practices and that continuation of the activities that led to the information being submitted to the board may result in action against the psychologist's license.

9. "Patient" means a person who receives psychological services.  If an individual has a legal guardian, the legal guardian is the client or patient for decision-making purposes, except that the individual receiving services is the client or patient for:

(a) Issues that directly affect the physical or emotional safety of the individual, such as sexual or other exploitative relationships.

(b) Issues that the legal guardian agrees to specifically reserve to the individual.

10. "Practice of psychology" means the psychological assessment, diagnosis, treatment or correction of mental, emotional, behavioral or psychological abilities, illnesses or disorders or purporting or attempting to do this consistent with section 32-2076.

11. "Psychologically incompetent" means a person lacking in who lacks sufficient psychological knowledge or skills to a degree likely to endanger the health of clients or patients.

12. "Psychological service" means all actions of the psychologist in the practice of psychology.

13. "Psychologist" means a natural person holding who holds a license to practice psychology pursuant to this chapter.

14. "Supervisee" means any person who functions under the extended authority of the psychologist to provide, or while in training to provide, psychological services.

15. "Telepractice":

(a) Means providing psychological services through interactive audio, video or electronic communication that occurs between the psychologist and the patient or client, including any electronic communication for diagnostic, treatment or consultation purposes in a secure platform, and that meets the requirements of telehealth pursuant to section 36-3602.  Telepractice

(b) Includes supervision.

16. "Unprofessional conduct" includes the following activities whether occurring in this state or elsewhere:

(a) Obtaining a fee by fraud or misrepresentation.

(b) Betraying professional confidences.

(c) Making or using statements of a character tending to deceive or mislead.

(d) Aiding or abetting a person who is not licensed pursuant to this chapter in representing that person as a psychologist.

(e) Committing gross negligence in the practice of a psychologist.

(f) Having sexual intimacies or sexual intercourse with a current client or patient or a supervisee or with a former client or patient within two years after the cessation or termination of treatment. For the purposes of this subdivision, "sexual intercourse" has the same meaning prescribed in section 13-1401.

(g) Engaging or offering to engage as a psychologist in activities that are not congruent with the psychologist's professional education, training and experience.

(h) Failing or refusing to maintain and retain adequate business, financial or professional records pertaining to the psychological services provided to a client or patient.

(i) Commission of Committing a felony, whether or not involving moral turpitude, or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. In either case, conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction or a plea of no contest is conclusive evidence of the commission.

(j) Making a fraudulent or untrue statement to the board or its investigators, staff or consultants.

(k) Violating any federal or state laws or rules that relate to the practice of psychology or to obtaining a license to practice psychology.

(l) Practicing psychology while impaired or incapacitated to the extent and in a manner that jeopardizes the welfare of the client or patient or renders the psychological services provided ineffective.

(m) Using fraud, misrepresentation or deception to obtain or attempt to obtain a psychology license or to pass or attempt to pass a psychology licensing examination or in assisting another person to do so.

(n) Committing unprofessional conduct in another jurisdiction that resulted in censure, probation or a civil penalty or in the denial, suspension, restriction or revocation of a certificate or license to practice as a psychologist.

(o) Providing services that are unnecessary or unsafe or otherwise engaging in activities as a psychologist that are unprofessional by current standards of practice.

(p) Falsely or fraudulently claiming to have performed a professional service, charging for a service or representing a service as the licensee's own when the licensee has not rendered the service or assumed supervisory responsibility for the service.

(q) Representing activities or services as being performed under the licensee's supervision if the psychologist has not assumed responsibility for them and has not exercised control, oversight and review.

(r) Failing to obtain a client's or patient's informed and written consent to release personal or otherwise confidential information to another party unless the release is otherwise authorized by law.

(s) Failing to make client or patient records in the psychologist's possession promptly available to another psychologist who is licensed pursuant to this chapter on receipt of proper authorization to do so from the client or patient, a minor client's or patient's parent, the client's or patient's legal guardian or the client's or patient's authorized representative or failing to comply with title 12, chapter 13, article 7.1.

(t) Failing to take reasonable steps to inform or protect a client's or patient's intended victim and inform the proper law enforcement officials in circumstances in which the psychologist becomes aware during the course of providing or supervising psychological services that the client or patient intends or plans to inflict serious bodily harm on another person.

(u) Failing to take reasonable steps to protect a client or patient in circumstances in which the psychologist becomes aware during the course of providing or supervising psychological services that the client or patient intends or plans to inflict serious bodily harm on self.

(v) Abandoning or neglecting a client or patient in need of immediate care without making suitable arrangements for continuation of the care.

(w) Engaging in direct or indirect personal solicitation of clients or patients through the use of coercion, duress, undue influence, compulsion or intimidation practices.

(x) Engaging in false, deceptive or misleading advertising.

(y) Exploiting a client or patient, a student or a supervisee.

(z) Failing to report information to the board regarding a possible act of unprofessional conduct committed by another psychologist who is licensed pursuant to this chapter unless this reporting violates the psychologist's confidential relationship with the client or patient pursuant to section 32-2085. Any psychologist who reports or provides information to the board in good faith is not subject to an action for civil damages.  For the purposes of this subdivision, it is not an act of unprofessional conduct if a licensee addresses an ethical conflict in a manner that is consistent with the ethical standards contained in the document entitled "ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct" as adopted by the American psychological association and in effect at the time the licensee makes the report.

(aa) Violating a formal board order, consent agreement, term of probation or stipulated agreement issued under this chapter.

(bb) Failing to furnish information in a timely manner to the board or its investigators or representatives if requested or subpoenaed by the board as prescribed by this chapter.

(cc) Failing to make available to a client or patient or to the client's or patient's designated representative, on written request, a copy of the client's or patient's record, including Excluding raw test data, psychometric testing materials and other information as provided by law.

(dd) Violating an ethical standard adopted by the board.END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 32-2067, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE32-2067. Fees; alternative payment methods

A. The board, by a formal vote at its annual fall meeting, may establish fees and penalties that do not exceed:

1. Four hundred dollars $400 for an application for an active license to practice psychology.

2. Two hundred dollars $200 for an application for a temporary license to practice psychology.

3. Two hundred fifty dollars $250 for reapplication for an active license.

4. Five hundred dollars $500 for issuing an initial license. The board shall prorate this fee pursuant to subsection D of this section.

5. Fifty dollars $50 for a duplicate license.

6. Five hundred dollars $500 for biennial renewal of an active license.

7. Eighty-five dollars $85 for biennial renewal of an inactive license.

8. Three hundred dollars $300 for the reinstatement of an active or inactive license.

9. Three hundred fifty dollars $350 for any additional examination.

10. Two hundred fifty dollars $250 for delinquent compliance with continuing education requirements.

11. Five dollars $5 for the sale of a duplicate renewal receipt.

12. Five dollars $5 for the sale of a copy of the board's statutes and rules.

13. Two dollars $2 for verification of a license.

14. Ten dollars $10 for the sale of each audiotape of board meetings.

15. Five cents $.05 per name for the sale of computerized discs that contain the name of each licensee.

16. Twenty-five cents $.25 per name for the sale of computerized discs that contain the name and address of each licensee.

17. Thirty-five cents $.35 per name for the sale of customized computerized discs that contain additional licensee information that is not required by law to remain confidential.

18. Twenty-five cents $.25 per page for copying records, documents, letters, minutes, applications, files and policy statements. This fee includes postage.

B. The board may charge additional fees for services the board deems necessary and appropriate to carry out this chapter. These fees shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the service.

C. The board shall not refund fees except as provided in section 32-2073, subsection H. On special request and for good cause the board may return the license renewal fee.

D. The board shall prorate the fee for issuing an initial license by dividing the biennial renewal fee by twenty-four and multiplying that amount by the number of months that remain until the next biennial renewal date.

E. Subject to the requirements of section 41-2544, the executive director may enter into agreements to allow licensees to pay fees by alternative methods, including credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and electronic funds transfers. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 32-2071, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE32-2071. Qualifications of applicants; education; training

A. An applicant for licensure shall have a doctoral degree from an institution of higher education in clinical or counseling psychology, school or educational psychology or any other subject area in applied psychology acceptable to the board and shall have completed a doctoral program in psychology from an educational institution that has:

1. Been accredited by one of the following regional accrediting agencies at the time of the applicant's graduation:

(a) The New England association of schools and colleges.

(b) The middle states association of colleges and schools.

(c) The north central association of colleges and schools.

(d) The northwest association of schools and colleges.

(e) The southern association of colleges and schools.

(f) The western association of schools and colleges.

2. A program that is identified and labeled as a psychology program and that stands as a recognized, coherent organizational entity within the institution with clearly identified entry and exit criteria for graduate students in the program.

3. An identifiable psychology faculty in the area of health service delivery and a psychologist responsible for the program.

4. A core program that requires each student to demonstrate competence by passing suitable comprehensive examinations or by successfully completing at least three or more graduate semester hours, five or more quarter hours or six or more trimester hours or by other suitable means in the following content areas:

(a) Scientific and professional ethics and standards in psychology.

(b) Research, which may include design, methodology, statistics and psychometrics.

(c) The biological basis bases of behavior, which may include physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception and psychopharmacology.

(d) The cognitive-affective basis bases of behavior, which may include learning, thinking, motivation and emotion.

(e) The social basis bases of behavior, which may include social psychology, group processes, cultural diversity and organizational and systems theory.

(f) Individual differences, which may include personality theory, human development and abnormal psychology.

(g) Assessment, which includes instruction in interviewing and administering, scoring and interpreting psychological test batteries to diagnose cognitive abilities and personality functioning.

(h) Treatment modalities, which include instruction in the theory and application of a diverse range of psychological interventions to treat mental, emotional, psychological and behavioral disorders.

5. A psychology program that leads to a doctoral degree requiring at least the equivalent of three full-time academic years of graduate study, two years of which are at the institution from which the doctoral degree is granted.

6. A requirement that the student must successfully defend a dissertation, the content of which is primarily psychological, or an equivalent project acceptable to the board.

7. Official transcripts that have been prepared solely by the institution and not by the student and, except for manifest clerical errors or grade changes, have not been altered by the institution after the student's graduation.

8. Given the student credit only for coursework that is listed on its official transcripts and that is obtained only at regionally accredited educational institutions as listed in paragraph 1 of this subsection and does not give credit for continuing education experiences or courses.

B. If the institution is located outside the United States, the applicant shall demonstrate that the program meets the requirements of subsection A, paragraphs 2 through 7 and subsections C through M of this section.

C. The applicant shall complete relevant didactic courses of the program required under subsection A, paragraph 4 of this section before starting the supervised professional experiences as described pursuant to subsection F of this section.

D. Each applicant for licensure shall obtain three thousand hours of supervised professional work experiences. The applicant shall demonstrate clearly how the applicant met this requirement.  The applicant shall obtain a minimum of one thousand five hundred hours through an internship as described in subsection F of this section. The applicant shall obtain the remaining one thousand five hundred hours through any combination of the following:

1. Supervised preinternship professional experiences as described in subsection E of this section.

2. Additional internship hours as described in subsection F of this section.

3. Supervised postdoctoral experiences as described in subsection G of this section.

E. If the applicant chooses to include up to one thousand five hundred hours of supervised preinternship professional experience to satisfy a portion of the three thousand hours of supervised professional experience, the following requirements must be met:

1. The applicant's supervised preinternship professional experiences shall reflect a faculty directed, organized, sequential series of supervised experiences of increasing complexity that follows appropriate academic coursework and that prepares the applicant for an internship.

2. The applicant's supervised preinternship professional experiences shall follow appropriate academic preparation.  There must be a written training plan between the student and the graduate training program.  The training plan for each supervised preinternship professional experience training site must designate an allotment of time for each training activity and must ensure the quality, breadth and depth of training experience by specifying goals and objectives of the supervised preinternship professional experience, the methods of evaluation of the student and supervisory experiences. If supervision is to be completed by qualified site supervisors at external sites, their approval must be included in the plan.

3. More than one part-time supervised preinternship professional experience placement of appropriate scope and complexity over the course of the graduate training may be combined to satisfy the one thousand five hundred hours of supervised preinternship professional experiences.

4. Every twenty hours of supervised preinternship professional experience must include the following:

(a) At least fifty percent of the supervised preinternship professional experiences must be in psychological service-related activities. Psychological service-related activities may include treatment, assessment, interviews, report writing, case presentations, seminars on applied issues providing cotherapy, group supervision and consultations.

(b) At least twenty-five percent of the supervised preinternship professional experiences must be devoted to face-to-face patient-client contact.

(c) At least one hour per week of regularly scheduled contemporaneous in-person individual supervision per twenty hours of supervised preinternship professional experience that addresses the direct psychological services provided by the student.

(d) At least two hours of regularly scheduled contemporaneous supervision per twenty hours of supervised preinternship professional experience that addresses the direct psychological services provided by the student.  At least fifty percent of the supervision during the total supervised preinternship professional experience shall be provided through contemporaneous in-person individual supervision. Not more than fifty percent shall be through in-person group supervision. At least seventy-five percent of the supervision shall be by a psychologist who is licensed or certified to practice psychology at the independent level by a licensing jurisdiction of the United States or Canada and who is designated by the academic program. Not more than twenty-five percent of the supervision shall be by a licensed mental health professional who is licensed or certified by a licensing jurisdiction of the United States or Canada, a psychology intern currently under the supervision of a licensed psychologist or an individual completing a postdoctoral supervised experience currently under the supervision of a licensed psychologist.

5. The applicant must provide to the board the written training plan developed by the applicant's program and documentation of the total hours accrued by the applicant during the supervised preinternship professional experience, including the number of face-to-face patient-client contact hours and the amount of supervision and qualifications of the supervisors for the entire supervised preinternship professional experiences.  Documentation must include an acknowledgement that ethics training was included throughout the supervised preinternship professional experience.

6. Supervised professional preinternship experiences must be completed within seventy-two months.

F. The applicant shall have one thousand five hundred hours of supervised professional experience, which shall be either an internship that is approved by the American psychological association committee on accreditation, an internship that is a member of the association of psychology postdoctoral and internship centers or an organized training program that is designed to provide the trainee with a planned, programmed sequence of training experience, the focus and purpose of which are to ensure breadth and quality of training, and that meets the following requirements:

1. The training program has a clearly designated staff psychologist who is responsible for the integrity and quality of the training and who is licensed or certified to practice psychology at the independent level by any licensing jurisdiction of the United States or Canada in which the program exists.

2. The training program provides at least two psychologists on staff as supervisors, at least one of whom is licensed or certified to practice psychology at the independent level by a licensing jurisdiction of the United States or Canada in which the program exists and at least one of whom is directly available to the trainee in case of emergency.

3. Supervision is provided by the person who carries clinical responsibility for the cases being supervised. At least half of the training supervision shall be provided by one or more psychologists.

4. Training includes a range of assessment, consultation and treatment activities conducted directly with clients or patients.

5. A minimum of twenty-five percent of a trainee's supervised professional experience hours is in direct client or patient contact.

6. Training includes regular in-person, individual supervision conducted on a contemporaneous basis, with a minimum of one hour of in-person, individual supervision for each twenty hours of experience and with the specific intent of dealing with psychological services rendered directly by the trainee and at least two additional hours per week in other learning activities. The supervisor shall ensure that the telepractice supervision is conducted using secure, confidential real-time visual telecommunication.

7. The training program includes interaction with other psychology trainees.

8. Trainees have a title that designates their trainee status.

9. The applicant provides from the training organization a written statement that describes the goals and content of the training program and documents that clear expectations existed for the breadth, depth and quality and quantity of a trainee's work at the time of the supervised professional experience.

10. The supervised professional experience is completed within twenty-four consecutive months.

G. Not more than one thousand five hundred hours of supervised professional experience shall be postdoctoral and may start on written certification by the applicant's education program that the applicant has satisfied all requirements for the doctoral degree and on written certification that the applicant has completed an appropriate supervised professional experience as required in subsection F of this section. The applicant may complete more than one thousand five hundred hours of a supervised postdoctoral experience, but not more than one thousand five hundred hours may count towards the requirements of this subsection.  The one thousand five hundred hours of supervised professional experience shall meet the following requirements:

1. Supervision is conducted by a psychologist who is licensed or certified to practice psychology at the independent level in any licensing jurisdiction of the United States or Canada in which the supervision occurs or by a psychologist who is on full-time active duty in the United States armed services and who is licensed or certified by a board of psychologist examiners in a United States jurisdiction, who has been licensed or certified for at least two years and who is competent in the areas of professional practice in which the supervisee is receiving supervised professional experience.

2. The supervisor takes full legal responsibility for the welfare of the client or patient as well as the diagnosis, intervention and outcome of the intervention and takes reasonable steps to ensure that clients or patients are informed of the supervisee's training and status and that clients or patients may meet with the supervisor at the client's or patient's request.

3. The supervisor or the appropriate custodian of records is responsible for ensuring that adequate records of client or patient contacts are maintained and that the client or patient is informed that the source of access to this information in the future is the supervisor.

4. The supervisor is fully available for consultation in the event of an emergency and provides emergency consultation coverage for the supervisee.

5. Regular in-person, individual supervision is conducted on a contemporaneous basis, with a minimum of one hour of in-person, individual supervision for each twenty hours of supervised professional experience.  At least forty percent of the supervisee's time shall be in direct contact with clients or patients. The supervisor shall ensure that the telepractice supervision is conducted using secure, confidential real-time visual telecommunication technology.

6. The supervised professional experience as described in this subsection is completed within thirty-six consecutive months.

7. The applicant provides from the training organization a written training plan that describes the goals and content of the training experience and documents that clear expectations existed for the breadth, depth and quality and quantity of a trainee's work at the time of the supervised professional experience.

H. In meeting the supervised preinternship professional experience as described in subsection E of this section and the supervised professional experience as described in subsections F and G of this section, an applicant shall not receive credit for more than forty hours of experience per week.

I. An applicant who does not satisfy the supervised professional experience requirements of subsection F of this section may qualify on demonstration of twenty years' licensed or certified practice as a psychologist in a jurisdiction of the United States or Canada.

J. An applicant who does not satisfy the supervised preinternship professional experience requirements of subsection E of this section or the supervised professional experience requirements of subsection G of this section, or a combination of subsections E and G of this section, may qualify on demonstration of ten years' licensed or certified practice as a psychologist in a jurisdiction of the United States or Canada.

K. The applicant shall complete a residency at the institution that awarded the applicant's doctoral degree. The residency shall require the following:

1. The student's active participation and involvement in learning.

2. Direct regular contact with faculty and other matriculated doctoral students.

3. Eighteen semester hours or thirty quarter hours or thirty-six trimester hours completed within a twelve-month consecutive period at the institution or a minimum of three hundred hours of student-faculty contact that involves face-to-face educational meetings conducted by the institution's psychology faculty and fully documented by the institution and the student.  These meetings shall include interaction between the student and faculty and the student and other students and shall relate to the program content areas specified in subsection A, paragraph 4 of this section. These meetings shall be in addition to the supervised preinternship professional experience, clerkship or externship supervision hours or dissertation hours. On request by the board, the applicant shall obtain documentation from the institution showing how the applicant's performance was assessed and documented.

L. To determine whether an applicant satisfies the requirements of subsection A of this section relating to subject areas in applied psychology, the board may require the applicant to complete a respecialization program in a program or professional school of psychology that has either an established American psychological association accredited doctoral program in clinical or counseling psychology or school or educational psychology or an established doctoral program that meets board rules.  The applicant must also:

1. Meet all of the requirements of the new respecialization area.  The board shall give the applicant credit for coursework that the applicant has previously successfully completed and that meets the requirements of subsection A, paragraph 4 of this section.

2. Complete one thousand five hundred hours of supervised professional experience as prescribed in subsection F of this section.

3. Present a certificate or letter from the department head, training director or dean that verifies that the applicant completed the program and that identifies the specialty area of applied psychology the applicant completed.

M. For the purposes of subsection A, paragraph 4 of this section, "other suitable means" means that an applicant demonstrates competence by being a diplomate of the American board of professional psychology or, if an applicant fails to demonstrate completion of coursework in two content areas prescribed in subsection A, paragraph 4 of this section, the applicant has fulfilled the two deficient requirements by successfully passing a graduate course in each deficient content area as a nonmatriculated student in a doctoral level psychology program at a university that is accredited pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 32-2071.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE32-2071.01. Requirements for licensure; remediation; credentials

A. An applicant for licensure shall demonstrate to the board's satisfaction that the applicant:

1. Has met the education and training qualifications for licensure prescribed in section 32-2071 or subsection D of this section.

2. Has passed any examination or examinations required by section 32-2072.

3. Has a professional record that indicates that the applicant has not committed any act or engaged in any conduct that constitutes grounds for disciplinary action against a licensee pursuant to this chapter.

4. Has not had a license or a certificate to practice psychology refused, revoked, suspended or restricted by a state, territory, district or country for reasons that relate to unprofessional conduct.

5. Has not voluntarily surrendered a license in another regulatory jurisdiction in the United States or Canada while under investigation for conduct that relates to unprofessional conduct.

6. Does not have a complaint, allegation or investigation pending before another regulatory jurisdiction in the United States or Canada that relates to unprofessional conduct.

7. Beginning January 1, 2022, has applied for a fingerprint clearance card pursuant to title 41, chapter 12, article 3.1.

B. If the board finds that an applicant committed an act or engaged in conduct that would constitute grounds for disciplinary action in this state, or if the board or any jurisdiction has taken disciplinary action against an applicant, the board may issue a license if the board first determines to its satisfaction that the act or conduct has been corrected, monitored or resolved.  If the act or conduct has not been resolved before issuing a license, the board must determine to its satisfaction that mitigating circumstances exist that prevent its resolution.

C. An applicant for licensure meets the requirements of section 32-2071, subsection A, paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 if the applicant earned a doctoral degree from a program that was accredited by the American psychological association, office of program consultation and accreditation, the Canadian psychological association or the psychological clinical science accreditation system at the time of graduation.

D. An applicant for licensure who is licensed to practice psychology at the independent level in another licensing jurisdiction of the United States or Canada meets the requirements of subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section if the applicant meets any of the following requirements:

1. Holds a certificate of professional qualification in psychology in good standing issued by the association of state and provincial psychology boards or its successor.

2. Is currently credentialed by the national register of health service providers in psychology or its successor and submits evidence of having practiced psychology independently at the doctoral level for a minimum of five years.

3. Is a diplomate of the American board of professional psychology.

E. The board may accept primary-source verified credentials from a credentials verification service approved by the board.  The board is not required to verify any documentation or information received by the board from a credentials verification service that has been approved by the board. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Section 32-2072, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE32-2072. Examinations; exemptions

A. An applicant for licensure must pass the examination for professional practice in psychology, which is the national examination established by the association of state and provincial psychology boards.  An applicant is considered to have passed the national examination if the applicant's score equals or exceeds either:

1. Seventy per cent percent on the written examination.

2. A scaled score of five hundred on the computer-based examination.

B. The board may implement an additional examination for all applicants to cover areas of professional ethics and practice consistent with the applicant's education and experience, state law relating to the practice of psychology or other areas the board determines are suitable.

C. An applicant may not take an the knowledge portion of the examination administered for or by the board until after the applicant completes the education requirements of this article, which do not include the dissertation or experience requirements prescribed in this article. The board may approve an applicant who has obtained a doctoral degree in psychology as required under section 32-2071 to take the national examination before completing the experience requirements of this article. Except as provided in subsection D of this section, an applicant may not take an additional board examination until the applicant passes the national examination.  An applicant who fails the national examination administered for or by any jurisdiction three times is not eligible to take that examination again until the applicant meets additional requirements prescribed by the board.

D. An applicant is exempt from taking the national examination administered pursuant to this section if the applicant either:

1. Is a diplomate of the American board of professional psychology.

2. Holds a certificate of professional qualification in psychology in good standing issued by the association of state and provincial psychology boards or its successor. END_STATUTE

Sec. 6. Section 32-2073, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE32-2073. Temporary licenses; inactive status; reinstatement to active status

A. If the board requires an additional examination, it may issue a temporary license to a psychologist who is licensed or certified under the laws of another jurisdiction, if the psychologist applies to the board for licensure and meets the educational, experience and first examination requirements of this article.

B. The board may issue a temporary license to an individual who submits an application for temporary licensure, who is working under supervision for postdoctoral experience and who meets the requirements of section 32-2071, subsections A, B, C and D, as applicable. The individual's postdoctoral experience must meet the requirements of section 32-2071, subsection G. The applicant shall submit the written training plan for the supervised professional experience required in section 32-2071, subsection G, paragraph 7 as part of the application for the temporary license.

C. A temporary license issued pursuant to subsection A of this section is effective from the date that the application is approved until the last day of the month in which the applicant receives the results of the additional examination as provided in section 32-2072.

D. A temporary license issued pursuant to subsection A of this section shall not be extended, renewed, reissued or allowed to continue in effect beyond the period authorized by this section.

E. A temporary license issued pursuant to subsection B of this section is effective for thirty-six months after the date the application is approved and is subject to an initial license fee pursuant to section 32-2067, subsection A, paragraph 4.  A temporary license is not subject to renewal.

F. A person who holds a valid temporary license issued pursuant to this section shall use the title "licensed associate psychologist".

F. G. Denial of an application for licensure terminates a temporary license.

G. H. The board may place on inactive status and waive the license renewal fee requirements for a person who is temporarily or permanently unable to practice as a psychologist due to physical or mental incapacity or disability. An initial request for the waiver of renewal fees shall be accompanied by the renewal fee for an active license, which the board shall return if the waiver is granted. The board shall judge each request for the waiver of renewal fees on its own merits and may seek the verification it deems necessary to substantiate the facts of the situation. A psychologist who is retired is exempt from paying the renewal fee. A psychologist may request voluntary inactive status by submitting to the board an application on a form prescribed by the board and an affirmation that the psychologist shall not practice as a psychologist in this state for the duration of the voluntary inactive status and paying the required fee.

H. I. A psychologist who is on any form of inactive status shall renew the inactive status every two years by submitting a renewal form provided by the board and paying any applicable fee. A notice to renew is fully effective by mailing the renewal application to the licensee's last known address of record in the board's file. Notice is complete at the time of its deposit in the mail. A psychologist on inactive status due to physical or mental incapacity or disability or retirement shall use the term "inactive" to describe the person's status and shall not practice as a psychologist.

I. J. A psychologist on inactive status may request reinstatement of the license to active status by applying to the board. The board shall determine whether the person has been or is in violation of any provisions of this chapter and whether the person has maintained and updated the person's professional knowledge and capability to practice as a psychologist. The board may require the person to take or retake the licensure examinations and may require other knowledge or skill training experiences. If approved for active status, the person shall pay a renewal fee that equals the renewal fee for the license to be reinstated.

J. K. Beginning January 1, 2022, an applicant for a temporary license pursuant to this section shall have applied for a fingerprint clearance card pursuant to title 41, chapter 12, article 3.1. END_STATUTE