Rule 4757-9-04 | Clock hours for continuing professional education.
A "clock hour" is sixty minutes spent in a program meeting the requirements for renewal of a license or certificate of registration issued by the board. Clock hours exclude refreshment breaks, receptions and other social gatherings, and meals that do not include an acceptable program.
(A) Continuing education credit shall only be issued for coursework that qualifies per rule 4757-9-06 of the Administrative Code. Fifteen clock hours shall be granted for one academic semester hour. Ten clock hours shall be granted for one academic quarter hour.
(B) Continuing education credit may only be issued for coursework that qualifies per rule 4757-9-06 of the Administrative Code. Up to ten clock hours may be granted for a journal article. Up to thirty clock hours may be granted for a book.
(C) Credit may be awarded to licensees for first time presentations of a continuing education program, an in-service training workshop, a seminar or a conference presentation at the rate of one and one-half hours for every hour of the actual, board approved, presentation, up to ten hours per renewal period.
(D) The number of clock hours granted for a program offered by an approved provider will be determined by the definition of clock hour in this rule.
(E) Effective January 1, 2015, distance learning courses, that are text based reading courses, shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Content of courses shall meet at least one of the following criteria:
(a) Based on published research in peer-reviewed journals or from academic publishing houses (e.g., Sage, Guilford, Springer) with citations to support the theories and treatments discussed; or
(b) Based on appropriate government published documents which includes, but is not limited to: the board's laws and rules: center for disease control, national institute for health: and substance abuse and mental health services administration; or
(c) Training that is practice-informed rather than research-informed, based on individual practice experience as long as the presenter clearly states that content is based on his or her experience and includes references to published research in peer-reviewed journals and/or from academic publishing houses (e.g., Sage, Guilford, Springer) and/or government documents with citations to support the theories and treatments discussed.
(d) Training that is designed to facilitate compliance with national accreditation standards (e.g., joint commission on the accreditation of healthcare organizations "JCAHO," commission on accreditation of rehabilitation facilities, "CARF," council on accreditation "COA," other appropriate accrediting bodies) and/or established agency policies and procedures relating to clinical care.
(2) Courses shall be updated at least every five years to reflect current research and treatment practices and/or newer government document sources. Sources from seminal works or works of historical importance to the profession are clearly still valid, but newer research may broaden and/or deepen the material.
(3) The board may have a random selection of courses audited by experienced licensed professionals, who are not board members, to review the content as to the referenced material and hours awarded for those programs.
(a) Results of those audits shall result in consultations with the individual or company as to changes in future offerings and how to treat existing offerings that do not meet the standards as noted in the reviews.
(b) If the audit reveals changes that should be made in course content or hours awarded, the provider shall be given a copy of the resulting audit;
(c) If the provider does not agree with the audit, a notice for hearing per Chapter 119. of the Revised Code shall be issued by the board;
(d) If the provider agrees with the audit results or the board prevails following a hearing, the provider shall be allowed to continue offering the course or courses until the end of the two-year cycle anticipated by the publisher, which shall be stated on the publisher's information page of their course documents; and
(e) Should the final results of an audit be presented to a provider that operates on a two-year publishing cycle that publisher shall make corrections on the next published continuing education documents. If the publisher is within a six months period prior to the beginning of a new two-year publishing cycle, for which the provider is approved to offer continuing education, the changes in course content or credit hours awarded will not be effective until the end of the next full two-year publishing cycle.
(F) Counselors, marriage and family therapists, and social workers may earn all hours of continuing professional education per renewal period in distance learning credit as defined in paragraph (A)(11) of rule 4757-9-06 of the Administrative Code.
(G) Counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists may use up to twelve hours from the prior renewal period for their current renewal, only if they had an excess of hours over thirty hours from the immediate prior renewal. This practice is known as "banking" continuing education hours (CEUs). Registered social work assistants may bank up to six hours of excess continuing education from the immediate prior renewal.
(1) Hours earned as a professional counselor may not be banked to renew a professional clinical counselor license.
(2) Hours earned as a social work assistant may not be banked to renew a social worker license.
(3) Hours earned as a social worker may not be banked to renew an independent social worker license.
(4) Hours earned as a marriage and family therapist may not be banked to renew an independent marriage and family therapist license.
(H) All licensees and registrants shall complete continuing education renewal requirements prior to renewing as specified in: rule 4757-9-01 of the Administrative Code for marriage and family therapists; rule 4757-9-02 of the Administrative Code for professional counselors; and rule 4757-9-03 of the Administrative Code for social workers; unless granted a waiver under rule 4757-7-01 of the Administrative Code.
Last updated December 27, 2023 at 8:19 AM
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