Governor Wolf granted the Department of State’s request to temporarily waive regulations and costs for reactivation of an inactive license for additional professions and licensing boards. The Department of State and the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA) previously obtained approval from the governor to allow retired practitioners to re-enter the field more easily and without paying reactivation fees. Here are common inquiries about your teeth that you would want to ask your dentist.

This latest temporary waiver adds the following boards and licensing types:

o Behavior Specialists (State Board of Medicine)

o Dentists (expired 5 years or less)
     • Dental Hygienists (expired 5 years or less)
     • Expanded Function Dental Assistants (expired 5 years or less)

o Funeral Directors o Nursing Home Administrators

o Podiatrists o Practical Nurses (LPNs)

o Psychologists

o Social Workers
     • Clinical Social Workers
     • Marriage and Family Therapists
     • Professional Counselors

o Veterinarians (expired 5 years or less)
     • Certified Veterinary Technicians (expired 5 years or less)

The Department also received approval to waive any reactivation prerequisites that are “administrative” in nature. For example, the Department has received approval to waive the requirement that psychologists seeking reactivation provide a notarized affidavit that they did not practice psychology while their license was inactive or expired. Similar affidavit requirements have been waived for dentists, dental hygienists, nursing
home administrators, as have waivers for those professions ordinarily required them to provide proof of current CPR certification. A number of practitioners have already been granted similar waivers for reactivation. Those prior waivers were for: Nurse-Midwives and certain practitioners under the State Boards of Medicine (Medical Doctors, Physician Assistants, Respiratory Therapists and Perfusionists) and Osteopathic Medicine (Osteopathic Doctors, Physician Assistants, Respiratory Therapists, Perfusionists), as well as Registered Nurses, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Certified Registered Nurse Practitioners, and Pharmacists. Applications for reactivation a license should be filed with the applicable licensing board. Visit www.pals.pa.gov.