Diane Stafford: How do some hair braiders break the law?

There's a long list of occupations where you should make absolutely sure that a worker is trained, up to date and competent to do the job.

Count all kinds of health care work, physical and mental, and positions that deal with the finer points of money and finance. The government, the professions and all of us need quality assured, if only by a framed certificate on the wall. Look for them!

So it may seem strange to suggest that some licensing or certifications should be dumped. But that's one conclusion from a study sponsored by the Women's Foundation of Greater Kansas City. The study said that, even weighing paramount public safety concerns, some legal requirements are unnecessary overregulation and create barriers to entry into jobs.

Wendy Doyle, CEO of the foundation, said the organization started a few years ago to promote women's advancement by nominating qualified women for corporate, foundation and professional board vacancies. That push for upward mobility among professional women soon expanded to entry-level work.

"In our research focus groups we heard again and again that women saw entrepreneurship as a solution to their child care needs and re-entry to the workplace," Doyle said. But some were stymied from turning their skills or interests into profitable businesses.

In-depth research by the University of Missouri Truman School Institute of Public Policy found that some professions have "outdated, excessive or overly bureaucratic requirements for licensure." A case in point was regulation of people who provide hair braiding.

The state Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, as in many states, disciplines people or salons who practice hair braiding, largely for the African-American community, without cosmetology licenses. Nationally, lawsuits are being filed to try to exempt hair braiders from the training and fees required of cosmetologists, who need chemical training and other hair-cutting, dying, curling and straightening skills.

As it is, many hair braiders are operating in an underground economy rather than take thousands of hours of training they don't need or pay licensing fees. Their income-earning potential may not be realized underground, the report said.

To state it carefully again: Professional licensing is vital for most jobs. But the report concluded that sunset laws _ or even sunrise laws to review whether a licensing body or regulation is needed and cost effective _ should be considered.

That includes examining reciprocity agreements that allow licensees to work across state lines, and making sure that licensing boards have consumer representatives.

Periodic reviews, from inside occupations and externally, should be undertaken in every state to decide what, if any, regulation makes sense.