Bill > A3381

This bill updates requirements for occupational therapy licensure by expanding the definition of "client" to include groups and populations, and introducing new terms like "continuing competence and professional development" (meaning ongoing learning to maintain skills) and "LGBTQIA+" (referring to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, genderqueer, queer, intersex, agender, asexual, questioning, and other non-heterosexual-identifying community), and "NBCOT" (the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy). It also clarifies "occupational performance" as the ability to perform life skills and roles, and broadens the scope of "occupational therapy services" to include emerging areas like parental health, women's health, LGBTQIA+ issues, and disaster preparedness, while also removing the requirement for specific supervised fieldwork experience for initial licensure, instead emphasizing successful completion of an examination by the NBCOT or a similar recognized agency. Additionally, the bill increases the number of required annual meetings for the Occupational Therapy Advisory Council from two to four, allows council members to serve up to three successive terms, and mandates that license renewals will require proof of continuing competence and professional development.