Given that only approximately 50% of those suffering from mental illness receive treatment, limiting licensure to only graduates of CACREP programs represents a harm and disservice to Virginia and Virginians suffering from mental illness. This harm would be most acute in rural areas where services are limited and travel distance for treament are long and time consuming. In addition, the Commonwealth would lose the services of competent professionals, many of whom were trained at the State's expense through their universities and colleges. Finally, there has never been documentation provided that graduates from CACREP approved programs are more effective, have fewer complaints lodged against them with the Board of Counseling, or are superior to those from other programs, such as Psychology, on any metric of performance. Passage of this regulation will only benefit the guild of counselor education and will harm those in need of services.