To amend sections 3107.014 and 4757.41 and to enact section 5903.101 of the Revised Code to require relevant military experience to be considered by state licensing boards and agencies and by private state contractors, to permit state licensing entities to consider relevant military training if certain criteria are met, to provide a waiver of a licensure or certification fee if a veteran is within six months of separation from active military duty, and to eliminate certain exemptions to the licensure and certification requirements for counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.

Section 1. That sections 3107.014 and 4757.41 be amended and section 5903.101 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3107.014.  (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, only an individual who meets all of the following requirements may perform the duties of an assessor under sections 3107.031, 3107.032, 3107.082, 3107.09, 3107.101, 3107.12, 5103.0324, and 5103.152 of the Revised Code:

(1) The individual must be in the employ of, appointed by, or under contract with a court, public children services agency, private child placing agency, or private noncustodial agency;

(2) The individual must be one of the following:

(a) A professional counselor, social worker, or marriage and family therapist licensed under Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code;

(b) A psychologist licensed under Chapter 4732. of the Revised Code;

(c) A student working to earn a four-year, post-secondary degree, or higher, in a social or behavior science, or both, who conducts assessor's duties under the supervision of a professional counselor, social worker, or marriage and family therapist licensed under Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code or a psychologist licensed under Chapter 4732. of the Revised Code. Beginning July 1, 2009, a student is eligible under this division only if the supervising professional counselor, social worker, marriage and family therapist, or psychologist has completed training in accordance with rules adopted under section 3107.015 of the Revised Code.

(d) A civil service employee engaging in social work without a license under Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code, as permitted by division (A)(5) of section 4757.41 of the Revised Code An employee of a court or public children services agency employed to conduct the duties of an assessor;

(e) A former employee of a public children services agency who, while so employed, conducted the duties of an assessor.

(3) The individual must complete training in accordance with rules adopted under section 3107.015 of the Revised Code.

(B) An individual in the employ of, appointed by, or under contract with a court prior to September 18, 1996, to conduct adoption investigations of prospective adoptive parents may perform the duties of an assessor under sections 3107.031, 3107.032, 3107.082, 3107.09, 3107.101, 3107.12, 5103.0324, and 5103.152 of the Revised Code if the individual complies with division (A)(3) of this section regardless of whether the individual meets the requirement of division (A)(2) of this section.

(C) A court, public children services agency, private child placing agency, or private noncustodial agency may employ, appoint, or contract with an assessor in the county in which a petition for adoption is filed and in any other county or location outside this state where information needed to complete or supplement the assessor's duties may be obtained. More than one assessor may be utilized for an adoption.

(D) Not later than January 1, 2008, the department of job and family services shall develop and maintain an assessor registry. The registry shall list all individuals who are employed, appointed by, or under contract with a court, public children services agency, private child placing agency, or private noncustodial agency and meet the requirements of an assessor as described in this section. A public children services agency, private child placing agency, private noncustodial agency, court, or any other person may contact the department to determine if an individual is listed in the assessor registry. An individual listed in the assessor registry shall immediately inform the department when that individual is no longer employed, appointed by, or under contract with a court, public children services agency, private child placing agency, or private noncustodial agency to perform the duties of an assessor as described in this section. The director of job and family services shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code necessary for the implementation, contents, and maintenance of the registry, and any sanctions related to the provision of information, or the failure to provide information, that is needed for the proper operation of the assessor registry.

Sec. 4757.41.  (A) This chapter shall not apply to the following:

(1) A person certified by the state board of education under Chapter 3319. of the Revised Code while performing any services within the person's scope of employment by a board of education or by a private school meeting the standards prescribed by the state board of education under division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code or in a program operated under Chapter 5126. of the Revised Code for training individuals with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities;

(2) Psychologists or school psychologists licensed under Chapter 4732. of the Revised Code;

(3) Members of other professions licensed, certified, or registered by this state while performing services within the recognized scope, standards, and ethics of their respective professions;

(4) Rabbis, priests, Christian science practitioners, clergy, or members of religious orders and other individuals participating with them in pastoral counseling when the counseling activities are within the scope of the performance of their regular or specialized ministerial duties and are performed under the auspices or sponsorship of an established and legally cognizable church, denomination, or sect or an integrated auxiliary of a church as defined in federal tax regulations, paragraph (g)(5) of 26 C.F.R. 1.6033-2 (1995), and when the individual rendering the service remains accountable to the established authority of that church, denomination, sect, or integrated auxiliary;

(5) Any person employed in the civil service as defined in section 124.01 of the Revised Code while engaging in social work or professional counseling as a civil service employee;

(6) A student in an accredited educational institution while carrying out activities that are part of the student's prescribed course of study if the activities are supervised as required by the educational institution and if the student does not hold herself or himself out as a person licensed or registered under this chapter;

(7) Until two years after the date the department of alcohol and drug addiction services ceases to administer its process for the certification or credentialing of chemical dependency counselors and alcohol and other drug prevention specialists under section 3793.07 of the Revised Code, as specified in division (B) of that section, or in the case of an individual who has the expiration date of the individual's certificate or credentials delayed under section 4758.04 of the Revised Code, until the date of the delayed expiration, individuals with certification or credentials accepted by the department under that section who are acting within the scope of their certification or credentials as members of the profession of chemical dependency counseling or as alcohol and other drug prevention specialists;

(8)(6) Individuals who hold a license or certificate under Chapter 4758. of the Revised Code who are acting within the scope of their license or certificate as members of the profession of chemical dependency counseling or alcohol and other drug prevention services;

(9)(7) Any person employed by the American red cross while engaging in activities relating to services for military families and veterans and disaster relief, as described in the "American National Red Cross Act," 33 Stat. 599 (1905), 36 U.S.C.A. 1, as amended;

(10)(8) Members of labor organizations who hold union counselor certificates while performing services in their official capacity as union counselors;

(11)(9) Any person employed in a hospital as defined in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code or in a nursing home as defined in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code while providing as a hospital employee or nursing home employee, respectively, social services other than counseling and the use of psychosocial interventions and social psychotherapy.

(B) Divisions (A)(5), (9),(7) and (11)(9) of this section do not prevent a person described in those divisions from obtaining a license or certificate of registration under this chapter.

(C) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require licensure or certification for a caseworker employed by a public children services agency under section 5153.112 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5903.101. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, a state department, division, board, commission, agency, or other state governmental unit, or a private state contractor, authorized by the Revised Code to grant a licensure or certification shall, upon presentation of satisfactory evidence, consider relevant education, training, or service completed by an individual as a member of the armed forces of the United States or reserve components thereof, the national guard of any state, the military reserve of any state, or the naval militia of any state toward the qualifications required to receive the licensure or certification.

(B)(1) If an individual is required to successfully complete specific training or education authorized by a state or nationally accredited entity as a prerequisite for obtaining a state license or certification and the state or nationally accredited entity accepts relevant military education, service, or training to fulfill part or all of those requirements, the state department, division, board, commission, agency or other state governmental unit, or a private state contractor has met the duty specified in division (A) of this section upon receiving proof by the individual of completion of the specific training or education authorized by a state or nationally accredited entity.

(2) An education program approved by a state department, division, board, commission, agency or other state governmental unit, or a private state contractor, may grant advanced standing to an individual who served as a member of the armed forces of the United States or reserve components thereof, the national guard of any state, the military reserve of any state, or the naval militia of any state for the individual's prior relevant military experience and coursework, in accordance with specific written policies and procedures of the education program and in accordance with rules promulgated by the appropriate governmental unit or contractor that permit granting advanced standing in those education programs. If applicable, such advanced standing shall be applied to the individual's status toward completion of an education program if the individual satisfies all of the program requirements adopted under the appropriate governmental unit's or contractor's rules.

(C) If, within six months before or after discharge or separation, an individual otherwise qualified to receive a licensure or certification presents satisfactory evidence of honorable discharge or separation under honorable conditions, the state department, division, board, commission, agency, or other state governmental unit, or a private state contractor, issuing the licensure or certification shall waive any licensure or certification fee.

Section 2.  That existing sections 3107.014 and 4757.41 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. Within one year after the effective date of this act, the Office of Collective Bargaining within the Department of Administrative Services shall implement the change by this act to division (A)(5) of section 4757.41 of the Revised Code.

Within ninety days after the effective date of this act, the Office of Collective Bargaining shall negotiate with each state agency and the affected union to reach a mutually agreeable resolution for employees impacted by this change.

Notwithstanding divisions (A) and (D) of section 124.14 of the Revised Code or any other contrary provision of law, for employees in the service of the state exempt from Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code who are impacted by this change, the Director of Administrative Services may implement any or all of the provisions of the resolutions described in the preceding paragraph. Nothing in this Section shall be construed as restricting the Director from developing new classifications related to this change or from reassigning impacted employees to appropriate classifications based on the employee's duties and qualifications.