MARION, SC (WBTW) – South Carolina lawmakers are looking to strengthen how substance abuse counselors are taught.
Right now, addiction counselors in South Carolina must get a certification, but a bill in the state house of representatives wants to create an option for counselors to get a license.
Supporters say the bill could help those battling substance abuse get easier access to help.
“What that would allow us to do is, more than anything, help our workforce development,” said Donny Brock with the South Carolina Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors. “We have a hard time getting enough counselors and you might think that’s because of the opiate epidemic, but it really isn’t.”
Brock is also the executive director of Trinity Behavioral Care, which works with people suffering from addiction in Marion.
He’s also part of SCAADAC, which is supporting a bill to create a licensing system in South Carolina. Brock says the bill would motivate colleges to start programs for addiction counseling.
New counselors also wouldn’t need as much on-the-job training as they do now.
“Even when you come out with a graduate degree, you don’t get the depth of addictions counseling training that you need to frankly be a competent counselor,” Brock said.
Brock says patients who rely on addiction counselors would also benefit as more insurance companies would pay for licensed counselors in South Carolina.
“Some of your private insurers are requiring now addictions-specific licenses,” said Brock. “We don’t have them here.”
While the bill wouldn’t require licenses, Brock says it would make becoming an addiction counselor more efficient and a more attractive career path.
“It’s more about where healthcare is these days, the era that we’re working in, demanding more specialties, more oversight,” he said.
State representatives Russell Fry of Surfside Beach, Terry Alexander of Florence and Lee Hewitt of Murrells Inlet are among the bill’s sponsors.
A house subcommittee is expected to discuss this bill in Columbia on Tuesday.
