A new research report released by the Institute for Justice analyzes 30 years worth of sunrise reviews and draw lessons for licensing policy. Co-authors Lisa Knepper and Kathy Sanchez define sunrise reviews as studies examining whether proposed occupational licenses and other regulations are really a good idea and genuinely in the public's interest, not just the occupation's interest. They discuss some of the common features of sunrise laws and programs across states and share what the...

Lise Betteridge, Andrew Charnock, and Nancy Spector discuss social media policies and regulating licensees' use of social media. The theme that arose from the conversation is "the changing times," as the speakers consider why it's important to develop a social media policy or guidelines, protecting privacy and confidentiality, and guiding licensees to make the link between standards of practice and their professional judgment around social media use. They discuss the legal framework and...

Adam Diersing, policy analyst for the Center of Innovation with the Council of State Governments, shares information about CSG's 2021 survey of universal license recognition laws. He describes what ULR laws mean and how they differ from other license portability models such as endorsement, reciprocity agreements, or interstate compacts. He details some of the variations in ULR laws among states that have implemented them. He shares what survey respondents indicated about their experiences in...

Al Carter, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, discusses the report from NABP's work group to consider extending waivers that were issued during the pandemic. He shares how the work group evaluated policy changes into three categories: what should be looked at for permanent consideration in all circumstances, what should be considered during special or unusual public health circumstances, and what should only be considered during declared emergencies. Hear...

CLEAR is celebrating Episode 50 of our podcast!  Listen as CLEAR presidents past and present take a look back at trends in professional regulation during 2021.  Hear international perspectives on the following themes: Disciplining practitioners for COVID mis/disinformation, Mobility, DEI and discrimination in regulation, Reducing barriers to licensure, Licensure issues for veterans and military members, and Telepractice. And view the CLEAR Regulatory News blog summary of 2021 regulatory...

The health regulatory colleges in British Columbia signed a declaration to cultural safety and humility with First Nations Health Authority partners, committing to strengthening relationships with Indigenous peoples and ensuring that culturally safe practices are embedded in the operations and proceedings of the colleges. Hear from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC about their journey of organizational transformation and addressing Indigenous-specific racism in healthcare. Heidi...

Caroline Miller, Cathi Mietkiewicz, and Marc Spector speak from their perspectives from both the vendor side and the regulator side about the relationship between regulatory organizations and the vendor community. They talk about how technology is really embedded in all of the work that regulators do, so leveraging the expertise of the regulators and the vendors is important in order to be effective and efficient with solutions. They talk about challenges in how regulators and vendors...

Sandy Greenberg and Marlon Brown talk about where regulatory organizations are with the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.  After providing some working definitions of DEI terminology, Sandy shares results from a recent survey of CLEAR stakeholders - asking where they rate DEI as a priority, what prompted their interest in DEI, how they are responding to the issue, what obstacles they're experiencing in implementing DEI-related initiatives, and what metrics they will use to measure...

The Questions a Legislator Should Ask series is designed to provide important questions to be asked, as well as background information, to assist policymakers in their deliberation of proposed new professional regulation as well as revisions to current statutes. This series of online conversations, as well as the book on which it is based (order here: https://www.clearhq.org/page-1721424), can also be of value to legislative staff and regulators who may need to provide information to...

Line Dempsey, chair of CLEAR's National Certified Investigator Training committee, talks with longtime NCIT instructors Mike Ferjak and Amigo Wade to share insights from their vast experience as investigators. The take-away: preparation is the key to success in investigations. Mike, Line, and Amigo share their stories from experience about the importance of being properly prepared and maintaining credibility. They stress the importance of knowing what tools are in your investigator tool box...

Kathy Parry, corporate energy expert and keynote speaker for CLEAR's 2021 Annual Educational Conference, talks about three phases on the resilience curve and the meaning of rubber band resilience. She offers some tips to help teams and organizations understand and manage their reactions to disruptive situations and some tips to help you make a plan to de-stress. Hear all of Kathy's insights and tips during the conference keynote session, “Rubber Band Resilience: How to Stretch without...

The UK Department of Health and Social Care has published proposed changes to healthcare regulation. How might this influence professional regulation in other jurisdictions? Mark Stobbs with the UK's Professional Standards Authority gives an overview of what the PSA does, including an annual report to Parliament on how each regulator is meeting the 18 Standards of Good Regulation. Richard Steinecke with Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc in Ontario talks about how the PSA has influenced professional...

Carla Caro with ACT and Rebecca Durcan with Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc explore how regulatory bodies consider and deal with criminal history or record among applicants for licensure. Carla shares results of an international survey about where regulatory bodies currently are regarding their consideration of criminal background in licensure decisions, showing a great deal of variation in what is considered, how far back they looked, and whether the criminal history was related to the license...

Sarah Blackmore with Social Work England shares the journey and progress of establishing a new specialist social work regulator in England, including consultation and development of professional standards, a focus on dialog and collaboration with all stakeholders in the sector--social workers, student social workers, academics and those with lived experience of social work, and development of education and training standards with a focus on ensuring that people who use social work services...

This episode of the CLEAR podcast celebrates the important contribution of long-time CLEAR Exam Review editorial board members Steve Nettles and Jim Zukowski. Steve and Jim just stepped down from a tenure of 26+ years with CER, so who better to give some perspective on the testing industry through the years. Steve and Jim talk about changes, innovations and challenges they've seen in the testing industry - when credentialing programs began to accept and comply with the Uniform Guidelines for...

Nicholas Woloszczuk, recipient of the 2020 CLEAR Investigative Excellence Award, talks about the case for which he was nominated, challenges he encountered during the investigation, and the investigative tools and techniques he used to bring the case to successful conclusion. The case involved a 14-year-old girl who was subjected to grooming by her 38-year-old male teacher. At first, it seemed like a simple open-and-shut case. But through perseverance to further pursue a lengthy interview...

Dr. Elizabeth Carter with the Virginia Board of Health Professions provides an overview of the Sanction Reference Points program, a tool used by licensing boards in Virginia to ensure fair and consistent treatment during the discipline and sanctioning process. She talks about the process to statistically analyze past case data and consult with the boards to determine factors that should be considered or should be excluded. She shares how the boards can choose to use the worksheets and points...

Caroline Miller with Tyler Technology and James Collins with Microsoft talk about regulatory modernization, highlighting the difference between a refresh or update and a transformation. They advise to avoid recreating the old system in the new system but instead adopt the new system from the consumer/public's perspective. They talk about the need for government to move to delivery of services as an enterprise rather than individual agencies. Challenges and tips they offer include setting a...

Chris McIntyre, keynote speaker for CLEAR's 2021 Winter Symposium, talks about what we really mean when we say "unconscious bias," different areas we need to consider related to diversity, ways that unconscious bias can influence our decision-making on a personal and professional level, and what we can do to minimize the impact of unconscious bias.  He also shares some questions organizations can ask themselves to determine if their efforts at addressing unconscious bias are...

CLEAR Board members Marc Spector and Staci Mason discuss how the Board is beginning to address the topic of unconscious bias. They share why the Board decided to take this important step of learning and listening to better understand unconscious bias, prejudices and discrimination, beginning with some training sessions and self-reflection. They share CLEAR's goals of exploring diversity and inclusion strategies, encouraging meaningful discussions about bias in professional licensing, and...

Graeme Keirstead and Barbara Holtry discuss the unique role that public members serve on regulatory boards and councils.  They talk about why it's important to include public members and how their role differs from professional members. They offer ideas for ensuring diversity on boards and recruiting qualified members. They also discuss ways in which regulatory staff can assist public members in feeling prepared for their role and able to make an effective and needed contribution. Transcript:...

Peter Mackey with Peterbridge Communications LLC discusses conflicts of interest that subject matter experts might encounter when serving in exam-related roles for credentialing organizations. He talks about the risks to integrity of the exam and the reputation of the program if bias or conflicts of interest are allowed to affect exam-related activities. His recommendations for conflict management include promoting awareness about conflicts; clearly and frequently communicating expected...

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the Council for State Governments (CSG), and the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) partnered with CLEAR on a comprehensive resource covering regulatory structures in use in the United States. The State Regulatory Structures report is informed by a survey conducted by CLEAR asking respondents to indicate which of five regulatory model(s) best represented their current regulatory organization. Results...

Micah Matthews and Helene Goldberg, chair and vice-chair of CLEAR's Conference Program planning committee, share news about the shift to the 2020 Annual Conference Virtual Experience. Listen in to hear about the pre-recorded and live content being offered, with relevant and informative sessions as attendees have come to expect from CLEAR's Annual Educational Conference. Hear how you can use the virtual platform to build your own session schedule, interact with presenters, and network with...

Marschall Smith, executive director of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission, discusses how the idea for creating a physician compact came about, what the compact does, and how it works. He shares some ways the compact has had a beneficial impact on improving access to care in rural and underserved areas and via telemedicine, especially as we deal with the coronavirus pandemic. He also mentions the IMLCC's mechanism to allow for joint investigations of physicians across states...