Iowa Board of Behavioral Health Professionals 1/28/2025 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 1/28/2025 – Iowa Board Behavioral Health Professionals

Open Session

• I. Call Meeting to Order
  • A. Roll Call — To determine that a quorum is present

  • Member Name	City	County	Position	Term Begin	Member Begin	Term End	Gender	Party
    Open			Public Member	7/1/2024		4/30/2026
    Culley, Aaron	Cedar Falls	Black Hawk	Social Worker 1	7/1/2024	7/1/2024	4/30/2027	Male	Republican
    Fuller, Laura	Coralville	Johnson	Psychologist 2	7/1/2024	7/1/2024	4/30/2026	Female	Democrat
    Kaufman, Jillyn	Eldridge	Scott	Social Worker 2	7/1/2024	7/1/2024	4/30/2025	Female	Republican
    Kent, Echo	Coralville	Johnson	Marriage and Family Therapist	7/1/2024	7/1/2024	4/30/2027	Female	Independent/No Party
    Mooney, Amy	Ames	Story	Mental Health Counselor	7/1/2024	7/1/2024	4/30/2026	Female	Republican
    Valdovinos, Maria	Des Moines	Polk	Behavior Analyst	7/1/2024	7/1/2024	4/30/2027	Female	Democrat
    Wargo, Catherine	Waukee	Dallas	Psychologist 1	7/1/2024	10/14/2024	4/30/2025	Female	Republican

  • B. Introductions – Investigators present as well as the legal representation for the board.
• II. Opportunity for Public Comment
  • Dave Beeman, psychologist contributed to public comment. He asked about the complaint process. His major questions were: (1) Is 15 months typical for a complaint to be investigated? (2) Are all the professions aligned in this timeline? (3) Are other professions seeing simlar wait times? (4) Was this timeline impacted by the merger of boards? And (5) What are the due process or legal expecations of the board in the area of complaints?
  • These questions were not answered by the board at the advice of legal council.
• III. Discussion and Vote on Meeting Minutes — Dec. 12, 2024, regular meeting
• IV. Petition for Rule Waiver: Amy Cerra — IAC 481-895.6(3), Supervised clinical experience. The board will review and vote on the request for waiver of administrative rules.
  • The board noted previous decisions and precident was not to grant this waiver. They discussed the undue hardship and that this was not present for the waiver acording to rules. All were in favor to deny the waiver.
  • Additional cases were discused, but were not on the public agenda. Courtney Ackerson asked for an updated agenda and has not yet recieved the document.
• V. Other Business
  • A. Discussion — Overview of complaint case review process.
    • Board members noted that there has been good information supplied from investigators for complaint cases. They noted that the investigators are thorough. The board asked to be notified when cases are submitted to be reviewed. Tony will work on this process.
  • B. Discussion and Vote: Tami Trimble — Request for temporary license renewal
    • Waiver approved.
  • C. Discussion and Vote: Jeremy Bolles — Request for alternate supervision approval
    • Waiver approved.
  • The board discussed the need for a formal written process for the review of cases at the administrative level. There is currently a moratorium on rule making, so the board will have to wait to do this. Legal council noted that this would need to be a rule.

The next meeting for the board will take place on March 25, 2025.