CRPO Communiqué
December 2016
December 12, 2016

Dear CRPO Member or Stakeholder;

This month's Communiqué includes important reminders about membership renewal and the Quality Assurance program. It also provides news from CRPO about the appointment of our new Registrar, an update on the controlled act of psychotherapy and our office's holiday closure. We hope this month's Communiqué is helpful and informative.
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Important Reminders
    1. Renewal Information
    2. Quality Assurance Program Update
1.  Key Information about Renewal of Membership for 2017-18
C RPO Members are required to renew their registration on an annual basis, by March 31st of each year. Members are required to demonstrate ongoing currency in the practice of the profession (i.e. show they have completed 750 hours of broadly defined activities related to psychotherapy in a rolling three-year period), update CRPO with any changes to personal information and/or practice sites, report any conduct-related concerns and pay the associated fee. The Registration Renewal Form for the 2017-18 year will be available beginning in January 2017, under the "Renewal" tab found in Members' user accounts; Members will also find their registration fee invoice for the next registration year (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018) under the "Invoices" tab.
 
The Renewal Form must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on March 31, 2017, preceded by full payment of the annual registration fee, including HST. Please allow three business days for the payment to clear the banking system. Once the payment has cleared, you must remember to return to the online Renewal Form and click "Submit" to send it to us before the deadline, or risk incurring a late fee of $78 +HST. 
 
Members might find it helpful to maintain a portfolio of evidence to facilitate completion of the Renewal Form and have this on hand for quick and easy reference. This portfolio might include an ongoing tally of client and clinical supervision hours, Quality Assurance and Continuing Professional Development obligations, any current, pending or concluded misconduct findings, actions or criminal convictions that occurred in the 2016-17 registration year, professional liability insurance, etc.
 
To accurately report currency, Members should total hours for the various permissible activities they've completed in the last three years (i.e. between Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2016). A minimum of 750 hours of currency activities are required. If a Member does not meet the currency requirement, they'll have the opportunity to explain their circumstances. In some cases, a Member lacking currency may be required to complete upgrading activities, or undergo a peer and practice assessment. 
 
Detailed instructions will follow early in the New Year. If you have general questions about the renewal process, please contact info@crpo.ca.

2.  Quality Assurance Program - Your 2017 Participation Requirements
All CRPO Members are required to participate in the Quality Assurance (QA) Program. CRPO launched the QA Program in 2016 with a pilot of the Professional Development (PD) component. Approximately half of CRPO's Members participated in the pilot. Thank you to all who took part and provided feedback.
 
Based on the results of the pilot and the feedback received, participation requirements were changed, the PD tools were revised and a web-based platform called the QA Portal was developed where Members can access all of their QA information.
 
Your PD tools will be available on the QA Portal by early January. You can access the QA Portal, and other resources that will help you meet your QA obligations, by logging into your CRPO account and clicking on the "QA" tab.
 
For more information about the QA program and links to helpful guides, please visit the Quality Assurance Program section of our website. If you have questions about participation in the QA Program, please contact qa@crpo.ca
 
Want to learn more about Professional Development, including the tools and changes to the participation requirements, and ask your questions? Join staff in February for an online info session. Session dates will be announced in the January issue of the Communiqué.
CRPO News
    1. New Registrar
    2. Controlled Act Update
    3. Holiday Office Closure
1.  New Registrar Appointment
CRPO is pleased to announce the appointment of Deborah Adams to the position of Registrar, effective Jan. 9, 2017.
 
Deborah comes with a wealth of experience in both the regulatory and administrative health care fields and we feel fortunate to have her eager to lead the team at CRPO. Deborah's knowledge, skills and leadership will be instrumental as CRPO enters its next strategic phase.
 
Pease join us in welcoming Deborah to CRPO.
 
2.  Controlled Act of Psychotherapy - An Update
Controlled act of psychotherapy:
 
Treating, by means of psychotherapy technique, delivered through a therapeutic relationship, an individual's serious disorder of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory that may seriously impair the individual's judgement, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning.

The controlled act of psychotherapy  is a law that is not currently in force. When it is proclaimed into force by the Ontario government, only members of six regulated professions will be allowed to perform the controlled act of psychotherapy. The six professions are Registered Psychotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists, nurses and physicians.
 
A working group of regulatory colleges has developed a document clarifying the meaning of the controlled act of psychotherapy. The purpose is to ensure that the controlled act is transparent to members of the six regulated professions, potential applicants and the public. Early in the New Year, the working group will share this clarification document publically and stakeholders will have an opportunity to provide comment. CRPO will report further updates in our monthly Communiqué as they become available.
 
If you are thinking about applying to CRPO but are hesitant because of the uncertainty as to when the controlled act of psychotherapy will come into force, we urge you to decide soon as CRPO's grandparenting registration route closes on March 31, 2017, with no extensions possible.
 
For further information about CRPO's grandparenting registration route, please visit the Grandparenting Application Information section of our website.
 
3.  Holiday Office Closure
Please note that CRPO's office will be closed for the holidays from 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 23, 2016 until Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. We will re-open at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017.
Season's Greetings

From all of us at CRPO, we wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season and best wishes for the New Year!

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