1. (A) The Board may contract with providers of impaired treatment programs, or refer practitioners to Board-approved programs, receive and evaluate reports of suspected impairment from any source, intervene in cases of verified impairment, monitor treatment and rehabilitation of the impairment, provide post-treatment monitoring, and support and provide other functions as necessary to carry out the provisions of this regulation.
2. (B) The Board-approved treatment programs shall be provided with all relevant information from the Board and other sources regarding a practitioner referred to the program, including but not limited to, the potential impairment. The program shall report in a timely fashion any impaired professional counselor, marriage and family therapist, or psycho-educational specialist who refuses to cooperate with an evaluation or investigation, or who refuses to submit to treatment or rehabilitation, or whose impairment is not substantially alleviated through treatment or who, in the opinion of the evaluators, is unable to practice professional counseling, marriage and family therapy, or psycho-education with reasonable skill and safety.

3. (C) All Board-approved programs must:

   1. (1) report to the Board the name of any impaired practitioner who fails to enter treatment within forty-eight (48) hours following the provider’s determination that the practitioner needs treatment; and
   2. (2) require every practitioner who enters treatment to agree to a treatment contract establishing the terms of treatment and aftercare, including any required supervision or restrictions of practice during treatment or aftercare; and
   3. (3) require a practitioner to suspend practice upon entry into any required inpatient treatment; and
   4. (4) report to the Board any failure by an impaired practitioner to comply with the terms of the treatment contract during inpatient or outpatient treatment or aftercare; and
   5. (5) report to the Board the resumption of practice of any impaired practitioner before the treatment provider has made a clear determination that the practitioner is capable of practicing according to acceptable and prevailing standards of care; and
   6. (6) require a practitioner who resumes practice after completion of treatment to comply with an aftercare contract that meets the requirements of rules adopted by the Board for approval of treatment providers.

Editor's Note

Former R. 36-21 was titled Code of Ethics for Psycho-educational Specialists and had the following history: Added by State Register Volume 25, Issue No. 5, Part 2, eff May 25, 2001. Amended by SCSR42-5 Doc. No. 4795, eff May 25, 2018. Transferred by SCSR43-5 Doc. No. 4850, eff May 24, 2019. See now S.C. CODE REGS. 36-25.

HISTORY: Added by State Register Volume 25, Issue No. 5, Part 2, eff May 25, 2001. Amended by SCSR 42-5 Doc. No. 4795, eff May 25, 2018. Renumbered from 36-18 and amended by SCSR 43-5 Doc. No. 4850, eff May 24, 2019. Amended by SCSR 46-5 Doc. No. 5075, eff May 27, 2022.