Do Arizona public school counselors and school social workers need a Board of Behavioral Health Examiners license to do their jobs?

Plain-English summary

The Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners regulates counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and substance abuse counselors. In 2003, the Board issued a substantive policy statement that exempted school counselors who were certified or endorsed by the Arizona Department of Education and acting within their job description: they would be "deemed not to be practicing psychotherapy."

In 2024, the Board rescinded that policy statement. The rescission generated uncertainty, particularly in school districts: do their counselors and social workers now need Board licensure?

Scottsdale Unified School District's outside counsel prepared an opinion concluding that school counselors and social workers, when acting within the scope of their educational job duties, were not "engaging in the practice of behavioral health" under § 32-3286(A) and didn't need to be licensed. The AG concurred in full. The Board's 2003 policy statement didn't make the law; it merely interpreted the law. Rescinding the policy statement doesn't change what the underlying statute means.

The opinion preserves a careful line: school counselors and social workers acting within their job descriptions don't need licensure, but the Board still has authority under § 32-3284(A) to investigate and order cease-and-desist if a particular counselor or social worker is in fact providing clinical behavioral health services like psychotherapy. The line between guidance counseling and clinical psychotherapy is fact-specific.

What this means for you

For school district HR and superintendents

Your school counselors and social workers can continue doing their jobs without Board of Behavioral Health Examiners licensure, as long as their actual work matches their formal job descriptions. Two operational implications: keep job descriptions current and accurate, and train staff on where the line sits between counseling-as-educational-support and clinical psychotherapy. Counseling that addresses school adjustment, peer relationships, academic stress, family dynamics affecting school performance, behavioral incidents, or career planning is on the educational-support side. Treating diagnosed mental health conditions, conducting therapy sessions tied to a treatment plan, billing insurance for mental health services, or providing crisis stabilization beyond a referral could pull a staffer toward clinical practice that the Board can reach.

For school counselors and school social workers

If you're certified or endorsed by ADE and you stay within the job description your district gave you, this opinion confirms you don't need a Board license. The opinion is concrete that "[c]ounselors and social workers acting within the scope of their job duties are not performing behavioral health services such as psychotherapy in the support of students' educational endeavors." If your district expects you to do something that looks more clinical (running therapy groups against a treatment plan, providing diagnoses), raise the question with administration or counsel: the AG opinion suggests you could be moving into Board jurisdiction.

For school district attorneys

The opinion gives you a defensible posture: rely on § 32-3286(A)'s "practice of behavioral health" definition, the underlying definitions in § 32-3251(8)-(12), and the AG's concurrence with district counsel. The Board's 2003 policy rescission is a non-event for legal compliance; the law didn't change with it. If the Board investigates a particular counselor, the inquiry becomes fact-specific under § 32-3284(A): does the conduct match the definitions of marriage and family therapy, professional counseling, social work, or substance abuse counseling? Job-description-bound educational support work is unlikely to. Off-script clinical work could.

For parents and students

Your child's school counselor or social worker is not required to hold a Board of Behavioral Health Examiners license to provide guidance counseling, social-work case management, or referral support. If your child needs clinical psychotherapy, the school counselor's role is typically to refer to an outside licensed provider, not to provide therapy in-house. If you have a concern that a school employee is operating outside their lane, you can raise it with the district or with the Board.

For Board of Behavioral Health Examiners staff

The opinion confirms your authority to investigate individual cases under § 32-3284(A), but rejects any reading that the rescission of the 2003 policy statement made all unlicensed school counselors into automatic violators. A facial application of licensure requirements to school staff would be unsupported. Your best path is fact-specific cease-and-desist where the conduct shows actual unlicensed clinical practice.

Common questions

What did the Board's 2003 policy statement say?

It said: "A school counselor who is certified or endorsed by the Arizona Department of Education and employed by a traditional public school or a charter school in Arizona who is providing services within the job description of a school counselor will be deemed not to be practicing psychotherapy." It was rescinded in 2024.

Does the rescission mean school counselors are now violating the law?

No. The Board's policy statement was an interpretation of the law, not the law itself. The underlying statute (A.R.S. § 32-3286(A) read with § 32-3251) didn't change. School counselors acting within their job description aren't practicing behavioral health; the rescission of the policy statement doesn't change the underlying answer.

What's the "practice of behavioral health"?

A.R.S. § 32-3251(8) defines it as the practice of marriage and family therapy, professional counseling, social work, or substance abuse counseling, as those subterms are defined in § 32-3251(9)-(12). Each subterm has its own definition keyed to clinical activity (assessment, treatment, diagnosis, therapeutic relationship). General academic guidance and student support don't fit those definitions.

What if a school counselor does in fact provide clinical psychotherapy?

Then the Board may have jurisdiction under § 32-3284(A) to issue a cease-and-desist order or seek injunctive relief. The opinion expressly preserves that authority. The line is fact-specific, the AG says.

Does this affect non-traditional school settings, like charter schools or homeschool groups?

The opinion was prepared in the context of Scottsdale Unified, a traditional public school district. The 2003 policy statement covered "traditional public school or a charter school" employees. The AG's reasoning rests on the statutory definitions, which don't turn on school type, so the conclusion likely extends to charter schools. Other settings (private schools, homeschool networks) involve different facts and might warrant separate analysis.

Is school staff covered by AG-opinion-style protection from suit?

AG opinions provide good-faith reliance value, not absolute immunity. A school counselor sued individually for unlicensed practice would have to defend on the merits. The AG's reasoning is helpful argumentative material, not a procedural shield.

Background and statutory framework

A.R.S. § 15-253(B) is the AG's authority to review and revise opinions prepared by school district counsel. The procedural posture: SUSD's outside counsel reached a conclusion, and the AG concurred in full.

Substantively, A.R.S. § 32-3286(A) bars unlicensed practice of behavioral health. § 32-3251(8) defines "practice of behavioral health" as the practice of four specific clinical disciplines defined in § 32-3251(9)-(12). The Board's enforcement authority is at § 32-3284(A), which authorizes cease-and-desist orders and injunctive relief.

The opinion accepts the underlying counsel opinion's analysis without restating it in detail. The AG's concurrence is conditional in two ways: school counselors and social workers must be "acting within the scope of their job duties," and the determination is fact-specific where actual clinical services may be provided. The opinion is also pointedly limited: it does not opine on whether any particular conduct crosses the line, only on the framework.

The 2003 substantive policy statement is no longer the basis for compliance. The framework is now the underlying statutes themselves, read in light of school district job descriptions.

Citations

• A.R.S. § 15-253(B) (AG review of school district counsel opinions)
• A.R.S. § 32-3251(8) (definition of "practice of behavioral health")
• A.R.S. § 32-3251(9)-(12) (definitions of marriage and family therapy, professional counseling, social work, substance abuse counseling)
• A.R.S. § 32-3284(A) (Board's cease-and-desist authority)
• A.R.S. § 32-3286(A) (unlicensed practice prohibition)
• Board of Behavioral Health Examiners 2003 substantive policy statement (rescinded 2024)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.azag.gov/opinions/i24-013-r24-012
• Original PDF: https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/I24-013.pdf

Original opinion text

To:

Jennifer MacLennan, Gust Rosenfeld PLC, on behalf of Scottsdale Unified School District No. 48

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 15-253(B), this Office concurs in full with the June 27, 2024 opinion letter that you prepared for the Scottsdale Unified School District No. 48 and its Governing Board (collectively the "District"), attached hereto as Appendix A.[1] Your letter addresses the question of whether the District's school counselors and social workers "engage in the practice of behavioral health" under A.R.S. § 32-3286(A) and therefore must be licensed by the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners (the "Board"). The District has raised this question in light of the Board's recent rescission of a substantive policy statement which stated:

A school counselor who is certified or endorsed by the Arizona Department of Education and employed by a traditional public school or a charter school in Arizona who is providing services within the job description of a school counselor will be deemed not to be practicing psychotherapy.

Appx. A at 2.

The "[p]ractice of behavioral health" means "the practice of marriage and family therapy, professional counseling, social work and substance abuse counseling," as those terms are defined by statute. A.R.S. § 32-3251(8); see id. § 32-3251(9)-(12) (defining terms). This Office agrees with your analysis and conclusion that, based on the job descriptions and other information detailed in your opinion, the District's "[c]ounselors and social workers acting within the scope of their job duties are not performing behavioral health services such as psychotherapy in the support of students' educational endeavors." Appx. A at 7.

Of course, as your letter acknowledges, there are "lines between providing clinical behavioral health services and providing counseling or social services in the school setting," and whether those lines have been crossed may often be a fact-specific inquiry. Appx. A at 7. The Board retains the authority to make such inquiries and take appropriate action under the particular circumstances. See A.R.S. § 32-3284(A) ("The board may issue a cease and desist order or request that an injunction be issued by the superior court to stop a person from engaging in the unauthorized practice of behavioral health[.]"). Based on the information provided in your opinion letter, however, so long as the District's school counselors and social workers act only within the scope of their duties and the District's identified parameters for that work, these professionals are not required to obtain a license from the Board. The Board's rescission of the 2003 substantive policy statement does not affect the application of the law, as you have correctly described in your opinion letter.

Kris Mayes

Attorney General

[1] Exhibits 2 and 3 to the opinion letter provided to the District (the petition for policy change submitted to the Board) have been omitted from Appendix A and are not incorporated into this Opinion.