Rule 24-3-16.8 - Renewal Continuing Education (CE) Requirement - CMHT/LCMHTA.A minimum of 30 successfully completed continuing education (CE) hours (15 hours per year) is required for renewal. B. Continuing education hours or college course work counted for renewal must have been successfully completed during the current two-year certification/licensure period. Renewal periods run from July 1 st to June 30 th of the appropriate two-year renewal cycle. C. CEs earned outside of the current two-year certification/licensure period will not be counted; CEs may not be carried over from one renewal cycle to the next. D. One continuing education hour is equal to 60 consecutive minutes in an appropriate CE activity. E. At least 26 of the 30 required hours must be mental health-related; (Individuals may count up to four (4) of the 30 CE hours in non-mental health-related areas, such as technology or administrative types of training or non-mental health-related annual training, which they or their programs deem important or necessary for continued professional enhancement; the Division and/or the PLACE Review Board makes the determination as to whether a CE activity is considered "mental health-related.")F. Up to 6 of the required 30 hours may be obtained by presenting applicable (mental health-related) training events. G. At least two (2) of the required CE hours must be in the area of cultural competency. (These hours can be counted as part of the required number of "mental health-related" hours.) H. At least two (2) of the required CE hours must be in the area of ethics. (These hours can be counted as part of the required number of "mental health-related" hours.) I. At least 20 percent of the required CE hours (6 hours) must be accrued through participation in live, face-to-face continuing education activities; thus, no more than 80 percent of the required CE hours may be earned through online or distance learning continuing education (CE) activities (applicable mental health-related online college courses from an approved educational institution taken during the appropriate certification/licensure time period are exempt from this provision). J. One three-semester hour (or equivalent) graduate-level mental health-related college course from an approved educational institution, taken during the appropriate certification/licensure time period, will be considered to meet the entire continuing education hour (CE) requirement for renewal.K. Courses claimed for continuing education hours must be beyond the course work necessary to meet the educational requirement for DMH professional credentialing. L. CE hours will not be prorated. M. The renewal fee is not prorated. N. DMH allows for the preapproval of various conferences, workshops/educational activities, etc., for DMH professional credentialing continuing education hours. Information on activities which have received CE preapproval will be maintained by DMH and may also be maintained on the agency (DMH) website.O. For continuing education activities which have not been through the CE preapproval process, the continuing education activities will be subject to the approval of the Division at the time of renewal. P. Within the parameters outlined above, opportunities for CE accrual include, but are not limited to: training provided through the certified/licensed individual's place of employment (including DMH-required training as indicated in the DMH Operational Standards for Mental Health, Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Disorders Community Service Providers), DMH-sponsored training opportunities, and/or conferences/workshops approved by the Division. Q. Relevant training which is completed on an annual basis may only be counted once during the two-year renewal cycle period. R. Continuing education activities should be presented by a qualified presenter and contain clearly-outlined learning objectives. Meetings, regular work activities, staffing sessions, breaks, social activities, etc., do not count towards fulfilling the CE requirement. S. Any activity completed for the purpose of achieving the Mental Health Therapist certification (such as the web-based training component for upgrade from PCMHT to CMHT) is not eligible for CE credit. 24 Miss. Code. R. § 3-16.8
Section 41-4-7 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, Annotated