March 2010- Oregon
Taking License | by Kraig Bohot
Years in the making, Oregon’s foray into the world of advanced esthetics begins to take center stage this month.
The stage is actually the Rhoades Conference Room at the Oregon Health Licensing Agency (OHLA), where the Board of Cosmetology’s Legislative/Rules Committee met on March 11 to review and discuss the following:
• Curriculum for post-graduate education
• Application/examination requirements
• Establish fees for certification
• Continuing education requirements
The March 11 meeting was held after my deadline for this column, so I can’t report on what transpired. But I can provide you with some crystal ball gazing based on having written about advanced esthetics on numerous occasions over the past six-plus years.
To get the official report, check back here next month or visit www.oregon.gov/OHLA/COS for updates.
OHLA and the Board of Cosmetology will be developing and overseeing the advanced esthetics curriculum.
We are looking forward to working with school owners and other stakeholders to develop a curriculum that draws on the best advanced esthetics programs nationwide while addressing any specific concerns of school owners and stakeholders in Oregon.
Currently, the national benchmark for advanced esthetics education is 1200 hours, an amount not set in stone but that is about double the hours as most basic esthetics programs. Oregon currently requires 500 hours, 250 of which are specific to esthetics.
Will everyone who wants to be certified in advanced esthetics be required to take the newly developed curriculum?
That’s the type of question members of the Legislative/Rules Committee will be addressing as the process moves forward.
The goal is to ensure all applicants who become certified obtain the education and experience to perform advanced esthetic services effectively and safely on the public.
Will there be more than one route to obtain advanced certification, perhaps through a combination of experience, education and training?
There are already national examinations for advanced esthetics that can serve as a guide to OHLA and the Board of Cosmetology in developing our own examination.
OHLA will continue to use its cost-allocation methodology to establish fees for advanced esthetics certification.
In collaboration with the Board of Cosmetology and stakeholders, OHLA will review several factors in establishing fees, including the number of practitioners who will become certified and the complexity and time involved in overseeing the application and examination process. Ongoing regulatory oversight will also be a factor.
Currently, Oregon does not require continuing education for practitioners in the four fields of cosmetology practice, including esthetics.
But due to the higher level of services provided in advanced esthetics and the continuing rapid development of technology in the field, continuing education will no doubt be a key aspect of the advanced esthetics program.
Join OHLA and the Board of Cosmetology in developing an advanced esthetics program that will build on the existing programs in other states.
We invite anyone with interest and expertise in the field to participate in the process. The next Legislative/Rules Committee meeting on advanced esthetics is Monday, April 12, at 9 am.
You can also comment on proposed Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) for advanced esthetics until July 30. Send your comments to OHLA Policy Analyst Samie Patnode at samie.patnode@state.or.us.
Fee changes originally scheduled for December 15, 2009, but delayed for further review by the Oregon Legislature, will be postponed for additional review by the Oregon Health Licensing Agency (OHLA), Board of Cosmetology (COS) and the Department of Administrative Services (DAS).
The fee changes would have reduced new license and renewal fees and at the same time raise fees for independent contractors and facilities. The fee changes were intended to stabilize Board of Cosmetology revenues in the short term with the understanding that additional fee changes would have to take place in the fall of 2010 and again in the 2011-13 biennium.
“DAS has requested that the agency meet with COS again to review its fee structure, looking further down the road so that there would be minimal fee changes for all licensees in the future,” says OHLA Director Randy Everitt.
OHLA and COS are planning a series of committee meetings to review new budget scenarios, make recommendations, solicit public comment, review and adjust and resubmit to DAS by August 2010.
“Currently, COS is experiencing revenue peaks and valleys, which are a cause for concern,” says Everitt. “The budget will never be fully manageable until those peaks and valleys are leveled out. The process of leveling out the COS budget is really the task before us.”
One fee change that is expected to be approved and implemented by April 1 is the delinquency, or late fee, which is currently $25 for the first month in expired status and $10 for each month thereafter in expired status.
The new late fee proposed is $50 for the first year in expired status and $50 for the second year in expired status. After two years of expired status, practitioners must reapply for certification.
For more information and updates on fees, OHLA and the Board of Cosmetology, visit www.oregon.gov/OHLA/COS.
If you’re interested in the development of an advanced esthetics specialty field of practice, you’re invited to participate in the process starting March 9.
The Oregon Health Licensing Agency (OHLA) and Board of Cosmetology will be reviewing how best to establish advanced practice requirements and encourage participation from practitioners, school representatives and other interested parties.
OHLA and the Board of Cosmetology are creating an advanced esthetics field of practice to ensure practitioners providing advanced procedures have appropriate training and education to perform these services safely and effectively on the public.
For more information, please contact OHLA Policy Analyst Samie Patnode at 503-373-1917 or samie.patnode@state.or.us.
Administrative Rulemaking Schedule
Specialty Fields of Practice - Esthetics
April 12, 2010 Rules Advisory Committee – 9 am
May 10, 2010 Board Meeting – 9 am, to approve proposed administrative rules
June 7, 2010 Rules Advisory Committee – 9 am
July 1, 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in Oregon Bulletin
July 30, 2010 Last Day for Public Comment
July 30, 2010 Tentative Public Rule Hearing
November 8, 2010 Board Meeting – 9 am, to adopt permanent administrative rules
January 1, 2011 Permanent Administrative Rules effective
The cosmetology examination – both written and practical – is on the agenda for the Monday, March 29, Board of Cosmetology meeting scheduled for 9 am at the Oregon Health Licensing Agency (OHLA) in Salem.
The board will hear an update on remote testing options for the written examination and consider approval of an April 19 meeting date for the Item Writing & Examination Committee to review and discuss the practical examination and practical examination evaluations. Also on the agenda: a board action item to move forward with a legislative proposal to establish a general cosmetology certification category that would be a hybrid of the existing four fields of practice.
How many practitioners and facilities are active in Oregon? (Numbers in parentheses +/- change from previous month.) According to Oregon Health Licensing Agency (OHLA) records as of February 25, 2009:
Practitioners...31,062 (+74)
Facilities...4,655 (+45)
Independent contractors...7,401 (+103)
Certificate of ID...291 (+19)
Barbering...5,098 (-28)
Esthetics...13,297 (+28)
Hair Design...21,175 (+46)
Nail Technology...14,254 (-75)
Looking for past Board News? Visit the archives page.
Oregon Health Licensing Agency
700 Summer Street NE, Suite 320 • Salem, OR 97301-1287
Licensing Office (503) 378-8667 • Enforcement Unit (503) 378-4294
www.oregon.gov/OHLA
OHLA Agency Staff:
Randy Everitt, Director
Tim Molloy, Regulatory Operations
Board of Cosmetology:
Debora Masten, Salem - Chair
Sharon Wiser, Lake Oswego - Vice Chair
Michael D. Snook, Salem
Linda Bergmann, Florence
Patricia A. Hall, Pendleton
Herb Hirst, North Plains
Shelly Couch, Gladstone
