Virginia Code Title 54.1. Professions and Occupations § 54.1-3521. Scope of practice, supervision, and qualifications of qualified mental health professional-trainees

A. A qualified mental health professional-trainee shall be qualified to perform, under Board-approved supervision, collaborative behavioral health services, including the supportive functions of (i) screening; (ii) intake; (iii) orientation; (iv) care coordination; (v) client education; (vi) referral activities; (vii) initiating crisis de-escalation; (viii) gathering histories of mental and physical health conditions, alcohol and drug use, past mental health treatment, and interactions with the criminal justice system; (ix) providing psychosocial skills development; (x) implementing interventions as assigned on individual plans of care and documenting the interventions for the purposes of recordkeeping; and (xi) prevention of mental health and substance use disorders. A registered qualified mental health professional-trainee shall not engage in independent or autonomous practice and shall only perform collaborative behavioral health services.

B. Such registered qualified mental health professional-trainees shall be supervised by a mental health professional licensed by the Department of Health Professions who has completed the required supervisor training, a person under supervision that has been approved by the Board of Counseling, Board of Psychology, or Board of Social Work as a prerequisite for licensure and who has completed the required supervisor training, or a registered qualified mental health professional who has practiced for three years and completed the required supervisor training.

C. Pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board, an applicant for registration as a qualified mental health professional-trainee shall submit evidence satisfactory to the Board that the applicant has (i) completed a specified number of hours of didactic education in a program or programs recognized or approved by the Board and (ii) received, at a minimum, a bachelor's degree from an institution of higher education accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board or is actively enrolled and in good standing in a bachelor's degree program from an institution of higher education accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board.