Bill Text: NJ A3237 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: "Lactation Consultants Licensing Act."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-11-16 - Reported out of Assembly Comm. with Amendments, 2nd Reading [A3237 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A3237-Amended.html
ASSEMBLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 3237
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: NOVEMBER 16, 2015
The Assembly Women and Children Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments, Assembly Bill No. 3237.
This bill, which is designated the "Lactation Consultants Licensing Act," provides for the licensure of lactation consultants in this State.
The bill establishes a seven-member Lactation Consultant Advisory Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the committee"), in the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, under the State Board of Medical Examiners, to consult with the Board on the licensure of persons providing lactation care and services.
The committee would consist of five licensed lactation consultants who have been actively engaged in providing lactation care and services in the State as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) for at least five years immediately preceding their appointment to the committee, one public member, appointed by the Governor, and one licensed physician. The members of the committee are to serve without compensation but be reimbursed for expenses and provided with office and meeting facilities.
Under the provisions of the bill, "lactation care and services" means the clinical application of scientific principles and a multidisciplinary body of evidence to provide evaluation, problem identification, treatment, education and consultation regarding breastfeeding and breast milk feeding to client-defined families, and "breastfeeding education and support services means activities whose purpose is to educate and support mothers and children in meeting their breastfeeding goals including providing general breastfeeding education and encouragement, sharing personal experiences, and giving nonmedical advice.
The bill requires an applicant for licensure as a lactation consultant to be at least 21 years old, of good moral character, and to fulfill the following requirements: meet the international education and clinical standards established for IBCLCs by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) or other equivalent educational and clinical prerequisites as approved by the committee; and provide proof of successful completion of the IBLCE examination or other equivalent examination as approved by the committee.
The bill prohibits any person from providing lactation care and services in this State on either a compensated or uncompensated basis, holding themselves out to the public as being authorized to provide lactation care or services, or use any title or description stating or implying that the person is a lactation consultant licensed to provide lactation care and services unless that person holds a valid license. The provisions of the bill do not prohibit: persons licensed to practice under any law or who are accredited members or volunteers of another profession or occupation from providing breastfeeding education and support services for which the person is licensed, regulated, accredited, or certified; students enrolled in a school or post-graduate course of lactation care and services, recognized by the committee, or who are enrolled in a lactation consultant credentialing pathway, approved by the committee, from performing activities necessary to the student's course of study; a peer counselor within the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) from providing services that are within the counselor's scope of practice; and nonresident IBCLCs with a certificate from the IBLCE from providing lactation care and services in this State for up to five days per calendar year without licensure or up to 30 days per calendar year with licensure from another state if the requirements for licensure in that other state are substantially equal to the requirements contained in the bill, as determined by the committee.
The bill provides for the licensure, without examination, of lactation consultants who have been licensed or registered in another state with standards substantially equivalent to those of this State.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to remove language that created the State Board of Lactation Consultations and clarify that the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners instead of the State Board of Lactation Consultants, as originally provided in the bill, would be responsible for licensing persons providing lactation care and services.
The amendments also: replaced references to the State Board of Lactation Consultants and "board" with references to the Lactation Consultant Advisory Committee and "committee"; replaced references to the term "practice" with the term "provide"; and removed sections of law (P.L.197, c.60, P.L.1974, c.46, and P.L.1978, c.73) dealing with State licensing boards that were amended by the original provisions of the bill.
The bill was also amended by committee to remove the definitions of "director" and "practice" and to add the definition of "breastfeeding education and support services." "Breastfeeding education and support services" would mean activities whose purpose is to educate and support mothers and children in meeting their breastfeeding goals, including providing general breastfeeding education and encouragement, sharing personal experiences, and giving nonmedical advice. The amendments also made changes to the definition of "lactation care and services" to require the development of a lactation care plan instead of the implementation of a plan, as originally provided in the bill, and to remove language that would require the creation of a plan of care and an evaluation of outcomes.
The committee amended the bill to create a Lactation Consultant Advisory Committee within the Division of Consumer Affairs under the State Board of Medical Examiners. The committee would: replace the State Board of Lactation Consultants, as originally established in the bill; serve as a consultant to the State Board of Medical Examiners in the licensure of lactation consultants; and consist of seven members. The members would include one public member, appointed by the Governor, one licensed physician, and five lactation consultants who have been actively engaged in providing lactation care and services in the State, as an IBCLC, for at least five years immediately preceding their appointment to the committee. The amendments also removed the two public members, including the State executive department member appointed pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1971, c.60 (C.45:1-2.1 et seq.), that would have served on the State Board of Lactation Consultants
The committee amendments also: require the Lactation Consultant Advisory Committee to establish rules and regulations with respect to clinical training prerequisites required of applicants for licensure of lactation consultants; and mandate that a person would not provide lactation care and services on either a compensated or uncompensated basis, publically hold themselves out to the public as being authorized to provide lactation care and services, or use any title or description stating or implying that the person is a lactation consultant licensed to provide lactation care and services unless the person holds a valid license pursuant to the provisions of the bill.
The committee amended the bill to stipulate that the bill does not prohibit: persons who are licensed to practice under any law or who are accredited members or volunteers of another profession or occupation from providing breastfeeding education and support services for which that person is accredited; students who are enrolled in a lactation consultant credentialing pathway, approved by the committee; a peer counselor within the WIC program from providing services that are within the counselor's scope of practice; and nonresident IBCLCs with a certificate from the IBLCE from providing lactation care and services in this State for up to five days per calendar year without licensure or up to 30 days per calendar year with licensure from another state.
The committee amendments removed references in the bill to persons licensed to practice pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes who are engaged in the practice or teaching of lactation services and care within the scope of their license, any other persons licensed to practice or certified to teach in this State under any other law who are engaged in the practice or teaching for which they are licensed, regulated, or certified, federal government employees, persons serving in the Armed Forces, employees of any State institution or facility, who are practicing lactation care and services within the scope of their official duties, and certain persons who provide lactation care and services without compensation, relating to the exemption prohibiting such persons from providing lactation care and services in the State.
The committee amended the bill to require that in order to be eligible to be licensed as a lactation consultant, an applicant must be at least 21 years of age instead of 18 years of age, as originally required in the bill. The amendments also require that along with education and clinical standards established by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE), the applicant can meet other equivalent educational and clinical prerequisites, satisfy national testing prerequisites, and provide proof of the successful completion of an equivalent examination other than the IBLCE examination, as approved by the committee.
The committee also amended the bill to require that all licenses would be issued upon presentation of satisfactory evidence that the applicant has successfully completed an IBLCE examination or other equivalent examination approved by the committee or any continuing education requirements prescribed by the committee by regulation, except that the license would expire before the end of the licensing period mandated by the bill if the certification granted to the lactation consultant by the IBLCE or any other equivalent national testing service approved by the committee expires before the end of the licensing period.
The committee amendments also: removed language that prohibited a person, business entity or its employees, agents, or representatives from using any other title, designation, words, letters, abbreviations, or insignia indicating the practice of lactation care and services; and provides that the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners, in consultation with the committee, would promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.168, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).
