‌
November 2019
This month:
District 7 By-election Voting Opens Soon! 
If you are an RP primarily practising in District 7 (Central, aka the Toronto region), you may be eligible to cast your vote in an upcoming by-election. Voting opens this Friday and closes December 16. Check out the candidate statements here. To vote, log in to your CRPO user account and click on the elections tab. Questions? Check out our website or email elections@crpo.ca
Deborah Adams, CRPO Registrar
Registrar's Message

Along with three CRPO colleagues, I was fortunate to be able to attend the annual education conference of the Canadian Network of Agencies for Regulation (CNAR) in Quebec City. This conference brought together almost 600 regulators from across the country to share ideas, discuss best practices and to learn from each other. Plenary sessions looked at workplace harassment, truth and reconciliation, hot trends in legal regulation and readying professional regulators for independent oversight bodies. Concurrent sessions presented by a variety of professions looked at dealing with mental health and addiction, preparing to regulate aging practitioners and coping with disruptive technologies. 

Having the opportunity to learn from other regulatory professionals, to think about the work I do at CRPO with the insights that I took away from the conference in mind and to share this experience with colleagues brought into sharp focus the importance of undertaking relevant ongoing professional development. I left the three days with useful ideas about how to apply what we learned to the work ahead and – perhaps just as importantly - a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm.

I encourage all registrants to take advantage of your professional development requirements to actively engage with your colleagues, to attend conferences and to look for ways to expand your exposure to ideas that will invigorate your practice. PD is not just a registration requirement; it can be an excellent way to keep yourself engaged and plugged in to the psychotherapy community.
RP (Qualifying) Registrants & the Controlled Act of Psychotherapy
The controlled act of psychotherapy is coming into full force on January 1, 2020. What does this mean for RP (Qualifying) members? If you are RP (Qualifying), you are authorized to perform the controlled act of psychotherapy; regardless of whether your work involves the controlled act, you must practise while under clinical supervision.

RP (Qualifying) registrants can receive supervision from anyone who is a member of a psychotherapy-practising profession who meets CRPO’s clinical supervisor  definition . This includes members of College of Psychologists of Ontario, Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, College of Nurses of Ontario, College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario, and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
 
Remember that your relationship with any clinical supervisor must not interfere with your ability to abide by the  Professional Practice Standards for RPs .
 
Learn about what the College of Psychologists of Ontario has to say about clinical supervision by reviewing their  Standards  and  updated FAQ   regarding the controlled act of psychotherapy .
 
Learn more on our Supervision FAQ page or refer to last month’s email blast about the controlled act.
2015 and 2017 Registrants – Your PD is Due November 30
If you registered with CRPO in 2015 or 2017, you are required to submit your professional development tools by November 30. This includes:

1. Self Assessment – A completed self-assessment.

2. Learning Plan -- A completed learning plan that includes one goal, a corresponding plan of action, and reflection.

3. Record (LR) – Your completed and submitted learning record must have at least one experiential and one didactic activity recorded. If you registered in 2015, you need at least 80 hours of learning activities; if you registered in 2017, you need at least 40 hours of learning activities.

If you missed the information sessions we offered, you can still listen to a recording .

Still need help?

1.     Check out our videos here.
2.     Review our new Frequently Asked Questions page here .
4.     Sign up for a 20 minute live telephone support session here .
5.     Email your question to QA@crpo.ca

And don’t forget, your QA tools are available in the QA Portal, which you can access by clicking on the “QA” tab in your CRPO account . You can learn more about these QA requirements, including the 40-hour learning activity requirement, by reading the PD Guide . French version now available !
Transferring to the Inactive Category
If you are facing an illness, taking a lengthy sabbatical or stepping away from practice due to burn out, you may consider transferring your CRPO registration to the Inactive category. Going inactive is not intended for leaves less than 12 months .

Frequently asked questions about the Inactive category can be found here .

If you will be transferring to the Inactive category for the 2020 – 2021 registration year, you must upload   this completed form   to your CRPO account and notify College staff by  January 19, 2020 . Registrants who submit forms after this date will be invoiced for the full RP annual fee at renewal.

CRPO’s annual registration fees for each category can be found   here . 
silver-keyboard2.jpg
Missing Persons & Your Obligations
 Ordinarily, an RP is required to maintain confidentiality, and refrain from sharing their clients’ personal health information. But there are circumstances where an RP is   required to share information , or may   share information at their discretion . The laws and requirements that govern confidentiality of client health information are mainly set out in the  Personal Health Information Protection Act   and the Professional Practice Standards , in particular 3.1: Confidentiality .
Regulatory Best Practice Insight: Competency Frameworks
As the body charged with ensuring that Registered Psychotherapists provide safe, ethical and competent care to Ontarians, individuals serving on Council and committees must possess the knowledge, skills and experience to discharge their duties effectively. Emerging best practices in regulation suggest that developing and adopting a competency framework, which sets out the required individual and board level competencies, allows Colleges to be most effective and efficient by directing that qualified individuals are elected, appointed and recruited and that appropriate training and professional development is provided to ensure continued competence across all regulatory and governance functions.

In addition to ensuring the right mix of skills, knowledge and experience to fulfill the regulatory mandate, the adoption of a competency framework could have the following applications for Councils:

  • informing how they carry out a skills audit
  • in individual performance review discussions, identifying training needs and/or developing a training and development programme
  • putting together a role specification and determining interview questions for recruiting to the board and/or in selecting or recruiting a chair
  • planning induction for people new to the board
  • supporting a review of the board’s effectiveness and identifying strengths and areas for development
  • demonstrating the key characteristics and expectations of their role to others
  • ensuring the expected behaviours are included in the board’s code of conduct.
Q & A with public Council member Gary Cockman
What do you enjoy most about your role as a Council member?
What I enjoy most on Council is knowing that I am making a difference collectively with other Council members on issues related to public protection. I also enjoy sitting on the Registration Committee.

What led you to get involved with CRPO Council?
Nearly 20 years ago, I was a professional member on Council and Committees at the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW), back when it was newly proclaimed. With the OCSWSSW up and running smoothly, I was looking for new challenges. Joining CRPO in the third year of its inception was a logical step to take as a public appointee.

How much time do you spend per month on CRPO Council duties?
It varies. As Chair of the Discipline Committee, this is sometimes quite extensive. Sitting on the Registration Committee, responsible for the grandparenting of eligible applicants, was also very time consuming, but enjoyable.

What do you feel you are able to contribute to regulating psychotherapy?
With my 20 years of regulatory experience sitting on and chairing up to 15 different committees over the course of my years as a council member with OCSWSSW, I bring a lot of experience. I possess the knowledge and skills and to fulfill my duties as a publicly appointed member effectively, using best practice in the regulatory field.

What challenges have you faced in your role as a CRPO Council member?
Most, if not all, have been positive challenges ensuring again that our mandate of public protection is met. This will have a positive effect on the College and our stakeholders. As a member of the OCSWSSW and a certified Brain Injury Specialist, I know the importance of regulation and facing all challenges head on. A competent Registrar and skilled staff at CRPO make challenges easier to deal with and overcome.
Public Consultation Now Open
A public consultation is now open regarding measures to enhance transparency regarding member registration history on the public register. This is a modified version of the previously proposed by-law change; Council determined that changes were needed, in part, based on the feedback received through the initial consultation.

Instead of posting a registrant’s past administrative suspensions on the public register indefinitely, it is now proposed that a registrant’s past administrative suspensions would be posted on the public register for a minimum of one year. In this scenario, a registrant who has been in good standing for one year would be able to request the notation of past administrative suspension be removed from the public register.
The proposed changes require a by-law amendment. For more information, visit the   Public Consultations    page of the CRPO website. Feedback is invited until  December 9, 2019 .
The next meeting of CRPO Council will take place on November 21, 9:30 - 3:30 at the CRPO office. Want to attend? Register ahead of time and review the guidelines on attendance. 
Seating is limited and so you are asked to ensure you have a confirmation before attending!
CRPO is now on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Follow our feed for the latest on new resources, Council election updates, governance decisions and more!
Please do not unsubscribe. CRPO uses email to communicate with registrants about important College updates. If you choose to unsubscribe, it is then your responsibility to regularly check our website to keep yourself informed about your College obligations. It is the responsibility of each registrant to make sure CRPO has your current contact information, updated within 30 days of a change, and ensure that the organization you work for does not block CRPO emails.