The secretary shall establish standards and procedures for approval of the following:

(1) Educational programs and alternate training, which must consider credit for experience obtained through work in a state-run facility or state-run treatment program in Washington or in another state or territory of the United States where the applicant demonstrates having provided at least two thousand hours of direct sex offender specific treatment and assessment services, or two years full-time experience working in a state-run facility or state-run treatment program providing direct sex offender specific treatment and assessment services, and continue to maintain professional involvement in the field;

(2) Examination procedures;

(3)(a) Certifying applicants who have a comparable certification in another jurisdiction, who must be allowed to receive consideration of certification if:

(i) They hold or have held within the past thirty-six months a credential in good standing from another state or territory of the United States that the secretary, with advice from the advisory committee, deems to be substantially equivalent to sex offender treatment provider certification in Washington; or

(ii) They meet a lifetime experience threshold of having provided at least two thousand hours of direct sex offender specific treatment and assessment services, or two years full-time experience working in a state-run facility or state-run treatment program providing direct sex offender specific treatment and assessment services, and continue to maintain professional involvement in the field;

(b) Nothing in (a) of this subsection prohibits the secretary from requiring background checks as a condition of receiving a credential;

(4) Application method and forms;

(5) Requirements for renewals of certificates;

(6) Requirements of certified sex offender treatment providers and certified affiliate sex offender treatment providers who seek inactive status;

(7) Other rules, policies, administrative procedures, and administrative requirements as appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

(8) In construing the requirements of this section, the applicant may sign attestation forms under penalty of perjury indicating that the applicant has participated in the required training and that the applicant is able to substantiate the applicant's claim to have met the requirements for hours of training if such substantiation is requested. Substantiation may include letters of recommendation from experts in the field with personal knowledge of the applicant's qualifications and experience to treat sex offenders in the community.

(9) Employees of a state-run facility or state-run treatment program may obtain the necessary experience to qualify for this certification through their work and do not need to be certified as an affiliate sex offender treatment provider to obtain the necessary experience requirements upon demonstrating proof of supervision by a qualified supervisor.

Effective date—2004 c 38: See note following RCW 18.155.075.