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Licensing Compacts

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Key Message

Many military spouse professionals must relicense each time they move to a new state with their active-duty spouse. States can facilitate the ability of professionals, including military spouses, to work across state lines by enacting occupational licensure interstate compacts.

Analysis

Occupational licensure compacts provide consistent rules for licensed practitioners to work in other states. The military provisions added to most of these compacts assist military spouses to establish a home state where they hold a license and the privilege to practice in all other compact-member states.

Statistic

The Defense-State Liaison Office is currently assisting with the following eight compacts: Nurse Licensure Compact, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact, Physical Therapy Compact, Occupational Therapy Compact, Emergency Medical Services Compact, Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, Counseling Compact, and Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Compact. Through an agreement between the DOD and the Council of State Governments, four professions have received funding to develop compacts and will be presented to the states in the future.

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