Posted on the CAPT website
www.psych-health.com
March 19, 2005
Updated June 2, 2010

Once again, folks... Renew your license/certificate early

Editor's note: Don't forget to check out the BVNPT's new fingerprinting requirements for those renewing their Psych Tech license. And PTAs: Renew your certificates in a timely manner, too!

As we've done time and again, CAPT strongly urges Psych Techs to renew their licenses early.

We're repeating this admonition because we keep getting frantic calls from a few Psych Techs who mail in their renewals shortly before the expiration date. Sometimes two weeks, sometimes one, sometimes only a few days.

Then when expiration day arrives and the renewal hasn't been processed, they can't work as licensed Psych Techs until the renewal goes through. Sometimes they are temporarily assigned to unlicensed duties, but sometimes they're sent home. And sometimes, they are nonpunatively dismissed from the job. You are not guaranteed your job back in state service if you get your license back: It is a condition of employment, and your employer is not required to bring you back on board if your license expires and you then renew it.

So we recommend that you mail your filled-out renewal form and payment back as soon as possible after you get it. Don't even wait until the month your license expires.

The Psych Tech renewal notices are sent out two months before the license expires, sometimes even earlier. So you have plenty of time to get it back long before the expiration.

Also, be sure to fill out the renewal form completely. If you don't, it will be sent back to you. And that means another long delay.

Be sure to fill out the part about whether or not you have been convicted of a crime since your last renewal. And also the section where you describe the continuing education you completed.

One reason the renewal processing takes a while is it's usually not done by the licensing board itself.

If you mail the renewal to the post office box listed on the mailed renewal form, it goes to the Department of Consumer Affairs central cashiering unit where it's processed -- in order of receipt -- along with dozens of other types of licenses, from dentists to pest control inspectors.

Due to the huge volume of renewals, the processing is often delayed. This means a renewal can sit at Consumer Affairs for a long time before it's processed.

To check the status of your license -- or any Psych Tech license -- go to the licensing board's Online License Verification page.

If you don't get a renewal notice by the start of the month it expires, you can download a duplicate form at the licensing board's website.

Panic time

What should you do if you mailed your renewal form to the post office box, your expiration is coming up and your renewal still hasn't showed up online?

CAPT can sometimes help, depending on the reason for the problem. But no guarantees. In these cases, contact your local CAPT chapter office.

What we will most likely suggest is that you send another filled-out renewal form and renewal fee by overnight, certified (green signature card) mail directly to the licensing board. The certified-mail process requires the board to act on the renewal application immediately and your renewed status should show up online a day or two after they receive the renewal.

Then when your original renewal is processsed by Consumer Affairs, they will see that you have already renewed and will refund your original renewal fee.

Mail this duplicate renewal -- or hand-deliver it -- to the BVNPT office at the following address:

BVNPT Psych Tech Renewal
2535 Capitol Oaks Drive, Ste. 205
Sacramento CA 95833-2945

The phone number of the BVNPT's Psych Tech section is (916) 263-7830. Their e-mail address is bvnpt@dca.ca.gov .