Action | Initial regulations for registration of Qualified Mental Health Professionals |
Stage | Emergency/NOIRA |
Comment Period | Ended on 2/7/2018 |
As a current QMHP-C and QMHP-A with a sociology degree, these changes in regulations and degree criteria are especially concerning. While I may be an exception moving forward via grandfathering-in, my fellow sociology majors may lose their opportunity to proceed with further career growth or movement. Sociology is a degree based on humans and our society. This means that college graduates coming out of school with this degree have spent the last 2-8 years studying humans, their behaviors, and how they engage with one another, which is a mental health professional at its best. Limiting criteria for QMHPs will not only have a negative impact on mental health agencies and their ability to hire very competent and prepared candidates, but it will also expand its impact to college and university program progression nationwide. Minimizing educational program growth and stability will lead to federal funding issues in the future and could lead to a major setback to the decades of progress that the sociology community has worked towards throughout its lifetime.