WSR 22-05-059
PERMANENT RULES
HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY
[Filed February 10, 2022, 11:54 a.m., effective March 13, 2022]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: The health care authority is adopting rules to define the process of becoming a behavioral health certified peer counselor.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: WAC 182-115-0100 and 182-115-0200.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 22-02-027 on December 28, 2021.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 2, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 2, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: February 10, 2022.
Wendy Barcus
Rules Coordinator
OTS-3227.3
Chapter 182-115 WAC
CERTIFIED PEER COUNSELOR
NEW SECTION
WAC 182-115-0100Certified peer counselor—General.
(1) The authority recognizes a person as a certified peer counselor who can provide medicaid-reimbursable peer counseling services when the person meets the requirements in WAC 182-115-0200.
(2) Certified peer counselors who provide services to people enrolled in medicaid must be under the clinical supervision of a mental health professional and/or substance use disorder professional who understands rehabilitation and recovery. The clinical supervisor's expertise should be aligned with the needs of the populations served by the certified peer counselor.
(3) Certified peer counselors must provide services to people enrolled in medicaid under a licensed community behavioral health agency as defined in WAC 246-341-0200 and certified under WAC 246-341-0724.
NEW SECTION
WAC 182-115-0200Certified peer counselor—Application, training, examination, and authority approval.
(1) Applicants applying to become a certified peer counselor with the authority must meet all of the following:
(a) Self-identify as a person with lived experience in behavioral health recovery or as a parent or legal guardian of a child under the age of 18 who experienced behavioral health challenges;
(b) Demonstrate they have been well-grounded in their own recovery for at least one year and be willing to tell their recovery story;
(c) Demonstrate basic reading and writing comprehension;
(d) Meet the minimum education requirements of a high school diploma or GED. The authority may grant a waiver of this requirement;
(e) Be 18 years of age or older;
(f) Be credentialed as an agency affiliated counselor under chapter
18.19 RCW;
(g) Complete specialized training provided by or contracted through the authority. If the person was trained by trainers approved by the department of social and health services before October 1, 2004, and has met the requirements in (a), (b), and (f) of this subsection by January 31, 2005, the person is exempt from completing this specialized training; and
(h) Successfully pass the authority's examination.
(2) In order to take the authority's examination to become a certified peer counselor who can provide medicaid-reimbursable peer counseling services, applicants must:
(a) Successfully complete an approved certified peer counselor training course administered by the authority's approved training entity with approved trainers; and
(b) Pass the Washington state certified peer counseling examination with a score of 80 percent or higher.
(3) Upon successful completion of the authority's examination, the authority issues a letter stating the authority recognizes the person as a "certified peer counselor."