Action | Requirement for CACREP accreditation for educational programs |
Stage | NOIRA |
Comment Period | Ended on 7/1/2015 |
As the Associate Director of the Executive Program in School and Mental Health Program at the Univeristy of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I strongly oppose this action that would limit licensure to only graduates from CACREP accredited training programs in Virginia. The impact of this action would limit the ability of mental health professionals from a variety of excellent university training programs to realize their goals for licensure. It would also end the ability of such training programs to continue their work preparing the high quality of mental health professionals they have been doing for many years. The licensing of professional mental health counselors should not be determined in such a limiting and restrictive manner, just as the licensing of other professionals is not legislated by such specific programmatic rules. The ability of an individual to pass a MH licensing exam should allow that professional to stand on their own merit and that of the Univeristy program where they were trained. I strongly oppose the proposed action by Virginia and hope you will voted against the implementation of this restrictive action.