Iowa Board Behavioral Health Professionals 7/30/24 Meeting Notes
The following are notes from Courtney Ackerson, IMHCA Executive Director. Notes are from attending the Iowa Board of Behavioral Health Professionals meeting. These notes are not official from the DIAL in any way. Any feedback regarding the accuracy of these notes can be submitted to [email protected] for adjustments. IMHCA feels that the IBBS meeting information is pertinent to our practice and to our members thought their purpose is the protection of the public. These notes contain helpful tips, rule clarification, and updates.
Minutes 7/30/2024 – Iowa Board Behavioral Health Professionals
Press release to announce the Governor’s appointments to this new board. Not all members of the previous three boards were able to move to the new board with limited positions.
Board of Behavioral Health Professionals
Aaron Culley, LISW, Black Hawk
Jillyn Kaufman, Psychologist, Scott
Echo Kent, LMFT, Johnson
Amy Mooney, LMHC, Story
Lora Keipper, PsyD, Licensed Psychologist, Dallas
Laura Fuller, Johnson
Maria Valdovinos, BCBA, Polk
Nolan Byrnes, Public Member, Polk
(First new board meeting following the implementation of the Boards and Commissions bill.)
Open Session
- I. Call Meeting to Order (9 a.m.) – Delayed due to technical issues and started around 9:20AM.
- A. Roll Call to Determine that a Quorum is Present.
- B. Introductions (for those who are not board members)
- C. Announcements – None
- II. Election of Officers
- A. Chair – Aaron Culley nominated himself.
- B. Vice-Chair – Amy Mooney was peer nominated.
- Voted on and approved.
- III. Opportunity for Public Comment
- Ashley Bantra (sp?) psychology student and IPA member – EPPP part 2 test for licensure discussed and she recommends that the board not adopt this testing. Ashley listed 4 reasons to oppose this and asked the board to consider this recommendation that is supported by the Iowa Psychological Association (IPA).
- Ashley also voiced concern to see if there was an open position on the Board for a psychologist. There may be an opening soon according to Tony. Encouraged applications.
- IV. Discussion & Vote on Meeting Minutes
- A. Feb. 12, 2024 — Regular Meeting, Social Work
- B. March 21, 2024 — Teleconference, Social Work
- C. May 13, 2024 — Regular Meeting, Social Work
- D. June 5, 2024 — Teleconference, Social Work
- E. June 6, 2024 — Regular Meeting, Behavioral Science
- F. June 13, 2024 — Teleconference, Behavioral Science
- G. June 14, 2024 — Regular Meeting, Psychology
- All minutes approved with one correction of a name on one. Unanimous approval.
- V. Petitions for Rule Waiver — The board will review and vote on requests for waiver of administrative rules
- G. Timothy Terranova — IAC 645 – 31.3(1), Examination requirements for mental health counselors and marital and family therapists. This was moved up the agenda because the petitioner was present for the meeting.
- Took the NCE in 2022. Took a while to get approved and wasn’t sure why he applied for just the NCE and not the NCMHC because he thought according to the application that they were equal. Got temp licensed and has completed supervision.
- Aaron asked if this exception has ever been granted. Board responded that no, they haven’t made exceptions for this. Cost of the test is not a hardship generally because it is expected of everyone. The cut off date was 2020.
- Board shares that NCE is more of the book knowledge and NCMHC is more clinical skill based before full licensure. State and the board has given notice to the public, there has been update in the IAC. Press releases, notices, public comment period, and all the steps allowed for time to accommodate this change in requirements.
- Timothy shared that he missed the rules. He noted that there was not a mention on the application for the exam what each test was for.
- Undue hardship – standard requirement. Posted in the IAC rules for everyone to follow. None found.
- Equal Protection of the public – NCE does not satisfy the protection of the public. The board in the past has determined that the NCMHC covers more specifically the clinical skills needed as a practitioner.
- Echo moved to deny the waiver. Mooney seconded. No further discussion. None opposed, unanimous denial.
- A. Jacob Jackson — IAC 645 – 31.7(2), Eligible supervisors
- This request is to waive the requirement of three years practicing before becoming an approved supervisor. 2023 got full license. Plains area mental health is in support of this (current employer). They need more supervisors – currently 9 to 1 supervisees to supervisor. He has a PhD which was a part of his argument that he has more experience than the average Master’s level graduate.
- Undue hardship – Not a hardship because he is still able to practice. May need to slow down the rate at which they expand if they can’t handle hiring supervisors. Discussion supported this past decision in similar cases. They do not feel the rural area is enough of a reason to not have the three years of experience when the board felt that this criteria was not a hardship to the general licensed population.
- Equal protection of the public – no evidence of this criteria met.
- Motion to deny by Echo and seconded by Aaron. Unanimous denial.
- B. Megan Blaine — IAC 645 – 31.3(1), Examination requirements for mental health counselors and marital and family therapists
- Waiver for NCMHC for full licensure. Took the NCE and wants that to be accepted as the test for full licensure.
- Amy noted that there was no hardship. Did not discuss why.
- Equal protection of the public – no evidence of this criteria met. – no discussion of case details.
- Amy moved to deny and Echo seconded. Unanimous denial.
- Aaron asked if we could review all similar requests together and make a motion for all of the same waiver request. No – not allowed per the AG representative because there needs to be a history of individual decisions and the details of the cases.
- C. Sophie Rossman — 645 – 31.6(2), Content-equivalent program.
- Not a CACREP accreditation school program. Her eval came back that she was missing some components for CCE approval. She wants some of her courses to count that CCE wasn’t considering as meeting the criteria for professional orientation and human growth and development.
- Board has lost the connection to counselor educators to review the courses that they had in the past. Amy commented that she has a PhD in counseling psychology and that she has been core faculty for 14 years and was a program director for 1.5 years for an Iowa College masters program. She looked at the CCE review documents. She noted that there was a letter from the program director and addressed the ACA ethics as a component of the Professional Orientation (undergraduate course and graduate level course to meet this requirement).
- Human growth and development covered the life span, and the board does not find that this course content was met. Use CCE to review this, but the program director addressed both issues and Amy feels they are both satisfied.
- Echo does not feel that she met the requirements for human growth and development. Echo noted that she feels a professor would lie and say that their program meets these requirements when they may be stretching the content of a course.
- Aaron asked if there was a chance that this petitioner would have to take a course to satisfy the requirements. The board confirmed that she would.
- Echo moving to accept the Ethics and not accept the human growth and development.
- More discussion needed. AG asked if there needed to be clarification on the course work. The AG representative asked if she would be able to find this course and find one that would meet the criteria or if the petitioner would need some assistance in understanding the course content criteria.
- Motion: Professional Orientation accepted, but human growth and development still needed. Moved and seconded. Unanimously voted to approve the Professional Orientation and deny the human growth and development.
- D. Sherry Post — IAC 645 – 31.3(1), Examination requirements for mental health counselors and marital and family therapists
- Passed the exam July 2023 NCE only. Started the whole process in 2020 prior to the rule change but took three years to pass the exam. Needed special accommodation for the test. Petitioner has had a temp license since 2014 – very part time intermittent work. If this was less than three years to pass the exam, Tony noted that he would have administratively approved of this waiver because she would be grandfathered in. The board confirmed that she had authorization to take the NCE in December 2019 (before the law changed).
- Hardship – NCMHC is another step that is needed for all licensed individuals past a certain date. She has passed this date.
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- Equal protection – The rules were published in the time it took her to take the test and she should be held accountable. No evidence of this criteria met.
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- Amy motioned to deny. Aaron Seconded. No further discussion. None opposed, all in favor.
- E. Emily Dicks — IAC 645 – 31.3(1), Examination requirements for mental health counselors and marital and family therapists
- No discussion of details of the case.
- Hardship and no equal protection criteria not met.
- Unanimously denied this waiver.
- F. Amy Davis — IAC 645 – 31.3(1), Examination requirements for mental health counselors and marital and family therapists
- Petitioner passed the NCE on October 16th of 2020. This was not within the window of acceptable time for the administrative grant.
- No discussion of case details.
- Motion to deny by Amy. Seconded by Aaron. Unanimously voted to deny.
- VI. Other Business
- A. Discussion & Vote — Elisa Lyons, Request to Modify Continuing Education Rules to Allow Hours for Supervision of Practicum/Internship Students
- Social work board has this in their rules and is asking for this to be true for LMHCs and LMFTs. Does the board want to open the rulemaking process to make that amendment to the continuing education rules? Psychologists do not have this. Social work added this after a presentation to the board. Up to 6 are allowed for CEs. For every 100 hours of supervision, they get 1 hour of CEs.
- Echo does not feel that this is automatically CEs. They should be getting continuing education in that role and this would get them more CEs.
- Aaron supports Echo’s reasoning.
- Amy is asking clarifying questions. Tony hasn’t had anyone submitting documentation for the exceptions that social work has
- Echo – we already have allowances for CEs
- AG asks if this would incentivize supervisors. Are you struggling to find internship opportunities?
- Amy asked to table the issue.
- Pre notice would go out if rules wanted to be amended in either direction. Take the public input to the governor to change the rules. Regulatory analysis.
- Consensus to table the issue.
- B. Discussion — Tina Marsicano, Request for Board to Provide Guidance and/or Rules Regarding Complementary and Alternative Interventions (CAI) in Clinical Mental Health Practice.
- She is a social worker. Wants to add this to the practice chapter. No definition was shared with the board.
- Courtney Found the following: Introducing Complementary and Alternative Therapies – PMC (nih.gov) which may better explain the modality, but the board was not able to consider this information in their decision.
- Tony noted that he moves away from practice modalities in law/rule. Use general wordings rather than specific instruction. Discussion was around not being prescriptive.
- Discussion cannot be memorialized and used later, so there is no reason to continue this. The petitioner can bring this up another time to be addressed and the board is tabling this.
- C. Discussion — Association of State and Provinical Psychology Boards – National Exam Implementation of Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) part 2 – If this goes into effect, we wouldn’t have to change anything. The rules state that they have to pass the exam approved and administered by EPPP. If the board does not want to have the part 2 exam is required, they would have to start rule making. There may be more worked out in the next 6 months to a year while they figure out the details of establishing a part 2 requirement. Other entities questioning if there is a monopoly on the testing and there is a possibility that professionally they move away from them.
- Amy did some research on why they brough on the Part 2. There were many practitioners that were not well supervised or trained on telehealth and other issues.
- Maybe it is a possibility of a sub-committee to evaluate this and create a balanced committee to get good feedback to the board.
- No decision made on this today.
- D. Discussion & Vote — Board Delegations & Committee Assignments
- Discussion of what office staff handle administratively.
- Applicants with criminal history – the staff has the authority to administratively approve. Create a policy and tracks the criminal charges on a spreadsheet. They will bring additional concerns to the board if there is a new issue or they need additional input. Sets the threshold as to what comes to the board.
- Medical issues are reviewed and staff approved for at least one biennium. If there is longer grant, they may bring it to the board.
- If there is something in the news and there may be a criminal case, the administrative staff can start an investigation on this.
- The staff has the authority to administratively approve of someone who choses to suspend their license while they wait for criminal case to be determined.
- Committee appointments:
- Tony noted that he felt the new board needed at least two committees.
- Administration committee to review and make documentation/forms etc. Need to update the branding and review the content. They need assistance with looking at the website and what needs changing. Make sure that the merging of the boards goes smoothly.
- Discipline committee as a second line of review where the staff has reviewed the items and the information needs to move to the board. This committee would review and determine what they can decide and what needs to go to the whole board. This would also ensure that people are not waiting an excessive time between board meetings.
- Needs motion to approve of these subcommittees – Echo moved and Aaron seconded. No discussion. All in favor.
- Amy Mooney will continue as the counseling compact delegate. As a commissioner, she has to serve on at least one committee. She is on the compliance committee.
- Admin Committee: Jillan, and will reach out to the other psychology representative.
- Discipline committee: Aaron and Echo
- Nolan – public member is no longer able to make the time commitment. May be another opening on the board.
- Maria noted that she does not have the bandwidth to assist in a committee right now and was not assigned a committee.
Closed Session
- VII. Items for Review and Discussion — Pursuant to Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(a) to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential; Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(d) to discuss whether to initiate licensee disciplinary investigations or proceedings; Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(f) to discuss the decision to be rendered in a contested case conducted according to the provisions of chapter 17A; and Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(h) to avoid disclosure of specific law enforcment matters, such as allowable tolerances or criteria for the selection, prosecution, or settlement of cases, which if disclosed would facilitate disregard or requirements imposed by law.
- A. Closed Session Minutes (21.5(1)(a))
- B. Complaints & Investigative Reports (21.5(1)(d))
- C. Compliance with Board Orders (21.5(1)(d))
- D. Notice of Hearing, Statement of Charges (21.5(1)(d))
- E. Combined Statement of Charges, Settlement Agreement & Final Order/ Settlement Agreements & Final Orders/ Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Final Order (21.5(1)(f))
- F. Criminal History Review (21.5(1)(h))
Open Session
- VIII. Action, if any, on Closed Session Agenda — The board will vote in open session about decisions made during closed session.
- A. Closed Session Minutes (21.5(1)(a))
- B. Complaints & Investigative Reports (21.5(1)(d))
- C. Compliance with Board Orders (21.5(1)(d))
- D. Notice of Hearing, Statem(21.5(1)(d))ent of Charges
- E. Combined Statement of Charges, Settlement Agreement & Final Order/ Settlement Agreements & Final Orders/ Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Final Order (21.5(1)(f))
- F. Criminal History Review (21.5(1)(h))
IX. Adjournment