Lawmakers in 2 States Pass Bills for Interstate Compact for Licensed Counselors

An interstate compact that will allow professional counselors who are licensed and reside in one member state to practice in all participating states is closer to being enacted after bills were approved by two state legislatures in recent weeks.

Georgia lawmakers approved the compact on March 25, legislators in Maryland followed suit on March 29, sending the bills to the respective states’ governors for signature. Similar legislation is currently being crafted in Nebraska, Tennessee, North Carolina and Delaware. The Counseling Compact will go into effect once 10 states enact legislation.

The project is led by the National Center for Interstate Compacts, and was launched with $600,000 in funding from the American Counseling Association Governing Council in 2018. Once enacted, licensed professional counselors will be able to practice across state lines—both in person and virtually—among participating states. Counselors will be required to obtain privilege to practice—an equivalent to a license to practice counseling in another state based on universal licensure requirements.

More information about the Counseling Compact is available on the project’s website.