Rule Proposal

VOLUME 49, ISSUE 18
ISSUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 18, 2017
RULE PROPOSALS
LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY
DIVISION OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
AUDIOLOGY AND SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Proposed Amendment: N.J.A.C. 13:44C-3.5

Click here to view Interested Persons Statement

Requirements for Clinical Internship
 
Authorized By: Steve C. Lee, Acting Director, Division of Consumer Affairs.
 
Authority: N.J.S.A. 45:3B-24.
 
Calendar Reference: See Summary below for explanation of exception to calendar requirement.
 
Proposal Number: PRN 2017-235.
 
Submit written comments by November 17, 2017, to:
 
   Renee Clark, Executive Director
   Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Committee
   Division of Consumer Affairs
   124 Halsey Street
   PO Box 45002
   Newark, New Jersey 07101
   or electronically at: http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/Proposals/Pages/default.aspx.
 
The agency proposal follows:
 
Summary

N.J.S.A. 45:3B-8 requires an applicant for licensure as an audiologist or speech-language pathologist to submit evidence that he or she has completed a clinical internship. N.J.S.A. 45:3B-14 allows the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs (Division) to issue a temporary license to a person who is participating in a clinical internship. The Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Committee (Committee) believes that, in order to ensure that a person completing a clinical internship is being supervised properly and is practicing in a safe and effective manner, any individual completing a clinical internship in New Jersey should be required to hold a temporary license. Upon the recommendation of the Committee, the Director proposes to amend N.J.A.C. 13:44C-3.5 to make this a requirement.

The proposed amendments to N.J.A.C. 13:44C-3.5 delete existing subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e). Proposed new subsection (b) requires an applicant who seeks to complete a clinical internship to obtain a temporary license. This includes applicants who are completing a clinical internship in a setting that exempts a person from licensing requirements pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:3B-17. Proposed new subsection (c) streamlines existing work-hour requirements for clinical internships. Under the proposed amendments, clinical internships will be at least 1,200 hours completed within nine to 18 months.

The Director has determined that the comment period for this notice of proposal shall be 60 days; therefore, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 1:30-3.3(a)5, this notice is excepted from the rulemaking calendar requirement.
 
[page=3098] Social Impact

The Director anticipates that the proposed amendments will benefit patients who receive audiology or speech-language pathology services from individuals completing clinical internships. The proposed amendments will ensure that such individuals hold temporary licenses and are being supervised properly when they are providing services to patients.
 
Economic Impact

The proposed amendments will have a slight economic impact in that they require any individual completing a clinical internship to hold a temporary license. While the Director believes that most of individuals completing clinical internships already hold temporary licenses, there are some who do not. These individuals will need to obtain and pay the temporary license fee of $ 50.00. The Director does not believe the proposed amendments will have any other economic impact.
 
Federal Standards Statement

A Federal standards analysis is not required because there are no Federal standards or requirements applicable to the subject matter of the proposed amendments.
 
Jobs Impact

The proposed amendments will not increase or decrease the number of jobs in New Jersey.
 
Agriculture Industry Impact

The Director does not believe that the proposed amendments will have any impact on the agriculture industry of this State.
 
Regulatory Flexibility Statement

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (Act), N.J.S.A. 52:14B-16 et seq., requires the Director to give a description of the types and an estimate of the number of small businesses to which the proposal will apply. A regulatory flexibility analysis is not required because the proposed amendments only apply to applicants for licensure who cannot be considered "small businesses" because they do not yet have a license to practice audiology or speech-language pathology.
 
Housing Affordability Impact Analysis

The proposed amendments will have an insignificant impact on the affordability of housing in New Jersey and there is an extreme unlikelihood that the rule would evoke a change in the average costs associated with housing because the proposed amendments concern temporary license requirements for those completing clinical internships in audiology or speech-language pathology.
 
Smart Growth Development Impact Analysis

The proposed amendments will have an insignificant impact on smart growth and there is an extreme unlikelihood that the rule would evoke a change in housing production in Planning Areas 1 or 2, or within designated centers, under the State Development and Redevelopment Plan in New Jersey because the proposed amendments concern temporary license requirements for those completing clinical internships in audiology or speech-language pathology.
 
Full text of the proposal follows (additions indicated in boldface thus; deletions indicated in brackets [thus]):
 
SUBCHAPTER 3.    REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSURE AS AUDIOLOGIST OR SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST
 
13:44C-3.5    Requirements for clinical internship
 
(a) An applicant who completed a doctoral degree shall have completed a clinical internship that met the requirements of (b) through [(h)] (f) below during or after the doctoral degree program. An applicant who completed a master's degree shall have completed a clinical internship that met the requirements of (b) through [(h)] (f) below after he or she completed the master's degree program.
 
[(b) For purposes of this section, "professional employment" means direct clinical work with patients, consultations, recordkeeping, and any other duties relevant to a bona fide program of clinical work.
 
(c) For purposes of this section, "full-time employment" means a minimum of 30 clock hours of work per week or part time equivalent employment as follows:
 
1. Work of 15 to 19 hours per week over 18 months;
 
2. Work of 20 to 24 hours per week over 15 months;
 
3. Work of 25 to 29 hours per week over 12 months.
 
(d) The clinical internship shall comprise no less than nine months of full-time professional employment.
 
(e) In the event that part-time employment is used to fulfill a part of the clinical internship, 100 percent of the minimum hours of the weekly part-time work must be spent in direct professional employment, and the internship must be completed within a maximum period of 18 consecutive months.]
 
(b) An applicant who seeks to complete a clinical internship in New Jersey after he or she has completed his or her doctoral or master's degree program, including an applicant completing a clinical internship in an exempt setting, shall not begin the clinical internship until he or she obtains a temporary license pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:44C-5.2.
 
(c) A clinical internship shall consist of at least 1,200 hours completed in no less than nine months and no more than 18 months.
 
Recodify existing (f)-(h) as (d)-(f) (No change in text.)