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Military and Family Life Counselor Licensure Waiver

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Key Message

The state licensure process can be a barrier to providing timely mental health support to service members and families. States can expedite licensure, waive licensure or adopt occupational licensure compacts to reduce this barrier.

Analysis

Provisions in U.S. Code Title 10, Section 1094, allow licensed professionals working in the DOD health care system — as members of the armed forces, civilian employees or under personal service contracts — to hold a license from any state, regardless of where they are providing services; however, non-medical counselors working as Military OneSource counselors or in the Military and Family Life Counseling Program are not covered.

Statistic

More than 2,500 counselors from the MFLC Program provide non-medical support to military members, families and survivors worldwide. In fiscal year 2021, the MFLC Program conducted more than 1.6 million face-to-face counseling sessions, serving 3.6 million participants. Military and family life counselors provided an additional 1.4 million outreach activities.

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State Policymakers

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