Association Charter

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1． Vision and Scope of Work

The Hong Kong Academy of Play Therapy Limited [Association] was established in 2015. It is a non-profit professional organization that aims to promote play therapy and the value of play and to recognize and accredit the professional qualifications of play therapists. As a professional and representative organization, the Association is committed to promoting the mental health development of the public through the concepts of play and play therapy.

• Let the public understand and value play and play therapy 

• Promote more practice of play therapy through training, support and supervision.

• Establish and promote the effectiveness of play therapy based on academic research and practical results.

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2． Membership Type

• Associate member

• Professional membership

• Full membership

• Affiliate/Student Membership

 

3． Application and Election Mode

• Full members can be recommended to become directors at the board of directors meeting, and the board of directors reserves the right to make all final decisions.

• Professional members may submit a director application form to the Board of Directors for consideration and approval.

• Full members and affiliated/student members may submit a director application form to the Board of Directors for consideration and approval.

• The board of directors must handle the application form and director election matters at the meeting, and the decision made by the board of directors meeting is final.

 

4. Terminate Membership

• Any member may terminate his or her membership by submitting written notice to the Secretary of the Board of Directors

• If a member fails to abide by the association's rules and terms, or the member's behavior is inconsistent with the association's professional code, the board of directors has the right to terminate his or her membership.

 

5. Pay Membership Fee

• All members must pay annual membership fees to the association.

• If there is any membership change, the new membership will not take effect until the new membership fee is fully paid. If the fee cannot be paid within three months after application, the application for new membership will be cancelled.

• Membership upgrade dues payment:

• If the membership is upgraded in the first quarter of the financial year: the member needs to pay the average of the total annual fees of the two memberships.

• If the membership is upgraded in the second or third quarter of the financial year: the member needs to pay an additional 50% of the average of the total annual fees of the two memberships.

• If you upgrade your membership in the last quarter of the financial year: No additional membership dues for that year are required.

 

6. Council

• The Board of Directors is responsible for management and due diligence to ensure the healthy and effective development of the association. The Board of Directors has the authority over the affairs and property of the Association to adhere to the policies established by the Association that define its duties and powers

• The board of directors consists of at leasr six members, including the chairman, secretary, treasurer and three board directors. The position and qualifications of each director are determined by the board of directors.

• Each director must abide by the policies and working procedures of the board of directors.

• The Board of Directors needs to seek advice from directors whose qualifications and diversity have been recognized by the Board of Directors

• When a vacancy occurs on the board of directors or the number of directors is increased due to need, the board of directors shall recommend qualified persons and obtain the consent of a majority of the board of directors to fill the vacancy or join. The term of office of the director elected to fill a vacancy shall be the remaining term of the previous director in his/her position.

• A director may resign at any time by giving written notice to the chairman.

• The Board of Directors may remove any director from office at a regular or special meeting with the support of two-thirds of the votes of the directors present. Before dismissing a director, the board of directors must state in writing the reasons for dismissing the director, the date and place of the meeting thirty days before the meeting, and send it by registered mail to the registered address of the director. Directors who are proposed to be dismissed from their posts may attend the resolution meeting and submit opinions to the board of directors

 

7. Professional Standards Committee

• The Professional Standards Committee is responsible for enforcing the Association’s Code of Professional Conduct

• The Professional Standards Committee will assist the association in investigating complaint cases and promote the Professional Code of Play Therapy for the association

• When necessary, the Professional Standards Committee will make recommendations to the Association on the professional code.

• The Professional Level Committee is composed of the association chairman, secretary and three preparatory team members.

• When necessary, the Professional Level Committee can invite relevant professionals who are not members of the association to participate in meetings as consultants

 

8． Complaints Handling Procedure

1. General provisions

a. The Professional Code of Hong Kong Academy of Play Therapy is compiled according to the American Play Therapy Association

b. (American Play Therapy Association Code of Professional Practice:Play_Therapy_Best_Practices)

c. The professional code established by this association aims to protect the public interest and maintain the professional ethics of therapists. Our primary concern is to protect the public from the behavior of non-professional play therapists

d. During the investigation of the complaint, the Association will not accept counter-complaints from the respondent to the complainant. Unless consent is obtained from the Association, the Association will only start processing counter-complaint applications after the investigation of the complaint case is completed.

e. All information related to the complaint will be kept confidential and will be restricted to the personnel of the Board of Directors who handle the complaint. All relevant information will be kept by the Association for seven years and will be destroyed after the retention period.

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2. Procedure

a. All complaints must be submitted in writing and all relevant arguments must be listed. If the complaint document does not contain the name, address and contact information of the complainant, the Association will not accept it. All complaint information will be kept confidential

b. If a member of the Association violates the Association’s professional code or has any behavior that has a negative impact on the public, the Association has the right to lodge a complaint with the member.

c. After the Association formally accepts the complaint, the Association’s secretary or the person appointed to handle the complaint case will inform the respondent of the nature of the complaint and invite the respondent to provide a preliminary response within 28 days. The case will then be transferred to a professional Judgment committee. Our secretary, or the person appointed to handle the case, may ask the complainant for more relevant information.

d. After considering the information submitted by both parties to the complaint, the Professional Standards Committee may issue the following instructions to the Association:

i.   Initially determine whether the member being complained against violated the Association’s professional code

ii.  Clearly identify which of the professional codes of conduct the member complained against violated

iii. Indicate whether the complaint requires further investigation

iv. If the committee determines that the complaint does not require further action, the complaint will be closed

e. If the Board of Directors determines that the complaint requires further investigation, a dedicated disciplinary hearing committee will be established and take over the complaint.

f. All recommendations of the board of directors will be notified to the complainant and the respondent

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3. Dedicated Disciplinary Hearing Committee (Disciplinary Committee)

a. The Disciplinary Committee shall consist of three members and one secretary:

i.   Chairman of the Association

ii.  A senior member or professional member of the Association

iii. One other professional or member of a professional association; and

iv. A secretary appointed by the Board of Directors to handle record-keeping matters

v.  All the above members of the Disciplinary Committee are required to declare conflicts of interest

b. When necessary, the Discipline Inspection Commission should consult legal counsel and invite relevant professionals to attend the meeting.

c. When the Disciplinary Committee is established, the secretary of the Discipline Committee or the person appointed to handle it will notify the complainant and the person complained of:

i.   Complaints received by the Disciplinary Hearing Committee;

ii.  The professional code of conduct that is the subject of the complaint

iii. A brief statement of the complaint

iv. Members of the Disciplinary Hearing Committee and

v.  Procedure for disciplinary hearings

d. After the Disciplinary Committee sets a date for the disciplinary hearing, the Disciplinary Committee will notify the complainant and the person complained against to submit supplementary information if necessary. If the complainant and the respondent wish to summon witnesses, the relevant witness information and contact information must be submitted to the Disciplinary Committee seven working days before the hearing date.

e. Before the hearing, the Disciplinary Committee will provide the complainant and the respondent with the opportunity to make fair statements, call witnesses, and verify the statements of the other party's witnesses. The complainant and the respondent have the right to request their legal representatives or other persons to accompany them to the hearing. All written information or relevant professional opinions submitted by the complainant and the respondent will be considered by the Disciplinary Committee in the hearing based on the principle of fairness.

 

4. Guidelines for Disciplinary Hearing Procedures

a. Disciplinary hearings will be held behind closed doors

b. The chairman introduces the members of the Discipline Inspection Commission, the legal representatives of the Discipline Inspection Commission and the legal adviser of the Association

c. If the person complained against does not attend the hearing in person and the Disciplinary Committee determines that the person complained against has been notified and does not provide a reasonable reason for his absence, the hearing will continue in his absence without further notice.

d. If the person complained against attends the hearing in person, the chairman will ask the person complained against whether he admits the allegation, and the person complained against must respond clearly and clearly.

e. If the respondent admits the allegation, the chairman will listen to the respondent or his legal representative to present mitigating arguments.

f.  If the respondent does not admit the allegation, the chairman will remind the respondent of his or her right to present the case in subsequent proceedings.

g. The chairman invites the legal representative of the Discipline Inspection Commission to state the complaint and relevant evidence.

h. The chairman invites the respondent or his legal representative to present the case

i.  During the disciplinary hearing, after receiving questions from one party, the witnesses on both sides need to accept questions from the other party, as well as follow-up questions from the summoning party.

j.  During the disciplinary hearing, the chairman and each disciplinary committee member may ask questions to both parties to the complaint and their witnesses

k. Both the complainant and the person complained against can make final speeches, and the person complained against has the right to make the final statement. After the Disciplinary Committee considers the information and evidence submitted by all parties, the chairman will make a closing statement

l.   The Discipline Inspection Commission will make the final decision based on a simple majority system to decide whether the respondent violated the professional code of the association.

m. The chairman is required to submit a disciplinary hearing report within 28 days after the hearing. The report should list all discussions during the hearing, final decision, reasons for judgment and punishment recommendations, and should be signed by all members of the Disciplinary Committee

n.  If the respondent is found to have violated the professional code of the Association, he may be subject to the following penalties depending on the degree of violation: warning, reprimand, requirement to complete professional continuing training courses, suspension of his membership and accreditation qualifications in the Association for a period of time, Cancel his or her membership and accreditation status in the Association

o.  Once the Disciplinary Committee receives the report of the Disciplinary Hearing Committee, the Disciplinary Committee will be dissolved immediately

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5. Follow up

a. If the Association learns that the respondent has violated the Association’s professional code, the person appointed by the Association to handle the case will send a written notice of the decision and related actions to both parties by registered mail.

b. If the Association learns that the person complained against has not violated any of the Association’s professional codes, the person appointed by the Association to handle the case will issue the relevant ruling results to both parties and formally complete the complaint.

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6. Appeal mechanism

a. If the respondent wants to appeal against the Discipline Inspection Commission’s ruling and/or punishment that he or she violated the professional code, he or she must submit a written application and state the reasons to the Discipline Inspection Commission within 28 days of receiving the letter in 8.5.1 above.

b. Within 60 days after the Association receives the appeal application, an appeals committee (upper committee) will be established to review whether the disciplinary committee’s decision has been rejected in a non-hearing manner.

c. Members of the upper committee include:

i. Chairman of the Association

ii. Two senior members or professional members of the Association

iii. Two other members of the professional sector or professional institutes and

iv. A secretary appointed by the Association to handle record-keeping matters

v. All appeals committee members above are required to declare conflicts of interest

d. No member of the Discipline Inspection Committee can serve on the upper committee

e. The upper committee shall make a resolution by a simple majority

f. After the investigation report is submitted to the association, the upper committee will be dissolved immediately.

g. After the Association receives the report submitted by the Upper Committee, the person appointed by the Association will notify the respondent of the outcome of the appeal by registered mail.

 

1. Final Result

   1. When the complaint is concluded, the association will take follow-up actions based on the ruling and update the member list when necessary.

   2. The public can obtain relevant information from our website:

      1. The name of the member related to the complaint

      2. The conduct complained of and the relevant date

      3. Involves breach of professional codes of conduct and

      4. Punishment determined by the Disciplinary Committee

 

1. Rights and responsibilities

   1. All members of the Disciplinary Committee and the Upper Committee are not required to bear any responsibility and expenses incurred in handling complaints, including but not limited to legal proceedings or consultation fees incurred in handling complaints.

 

9. other

• The board of directors has the final right to amend this constitution

• If any dispute arises regarding this constitution, the final decision of the Board of Directors shall prevail.