Home How to be a QMHP in Texas

How to be a QMHP in Texas

There is not a lot of information online about how to become a Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP) in Texas. A part of this is because this isn’t a license, so while the state has guidelines, they do not certify QMHPs. Certifying QMHPs are left up to Local Mental Health Authorities or private providers. Basically, a master-degree or higher level licensed individual can delegate some skills training, screening, or case management tasks to a qualified but unlicensed individual. (Note, I use QMHP on this page as shorthand for QMHP-CS. They are essentially the same in Texas.)

What is outlined by the state about what qualifies an individual is very short, and does not help individuals to determine what qualifies them:

“(a) Qualified Mental Health Professional-Community Services (QMHP-CS). A staff member must meet at least one of three minimum requirements to be credentialed as a QMHP-CS:

(1) The staff member has at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and a minimum number of hours that is equivalent to a major in psychology, social work, medicine, nursing, rehabilitation, counseling, sociology, human growth and development, physician assistant, gerontology, special education, educational psychology, early childhood education, or early childhood intervention.
(2) The staff member is a registered nurse.
(3) The staff member is a Licensed Practitioner of the Healing Arts (LPHA).”

Different employers can have different expectations, but if you’re looking for a QMHP (or QMHP-CS) job, the items that will help you stand above other candidates is to have your CPR/First Aid certification and the ANSA/CANS certifications.

CPR/First Aid is pretty self-explanatory – it’s training to help you possibly save a life, or to at least keep someone breathing until emergency services arrive. There are several different vendors for this, but the American Red Cross is probably the most known.

ANSA / CANS: These are the Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment and Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths respectively. These are systems of evaluating an individual’s strengths and needs. As far as I know, these are only offered by the Praed Foundation. (If anyone knows of another vendor, please feel free to reach out!)

Even if you get all of these certifications, you are not a QMHP until a licensed provider of mental health services has named you as one. So, you cannot be considered a QMHP unless you are hired to be one. Even if you do get a QMHP, you cannot be a “sole practitioner”. QMHPs must report to a licensed mental health provider.

Many providers will pay for ANSA / CANS training upon hire, but this is not 100%. You may have to pay out of pocket to get the training. So, it’s up to you as to whether you want to do the training to increase your chance of being hired, or if you want to take the chance that someone will pay for your training.

I know this qualification is not especially clear, so I hope this information helps!

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