As a beginning Resident, I write in support of the petition to backdate application approval for Residency supervisors.  I am a recent graduate of a high caliber Virginia Marriage and Family Therapy program, and I feel well prepared by the program and my previous professional experience to continue the learning process by serving as a Resident in MFT.  Wanting to ensure the quality of my work and that of my peers, I have a great deal of respect for the high expectations the Board of Counseling lays out for the licensure process.

However, I currently carry student loans from my education and I've got a young family that I am trying to juggle in the midst of changing careers.  It is so disheartening to learn that it may take 6 months to a year before any of my Residency hours will apply.  Not only that, it is a cause of a great deal of anxiety.  Due to the structure of the Residency program I an entering this fall, I am not even able to send my application to register my supervisor until sometime in the next month.  This puts me in the position of starting my Residency -- and paying for supervision -- knowing that it may well be next summer before ANY of my hours of supervision, client contact, or related administrative work will apply.  Thus, I have had to make the decision to work two part-time jobs in order for my dual-career family to get by: one in my previous field, and the other, my Residency.

I'm sure the staff at the Board of Counseling is working very hard to do their best for their applicants.  If the State of Virginia is unable to supply them with the support they need to do their work in a timely fashion, it is only just to change the regulations so that the Board approval is back-dated to within 30 days or less of the original application.  Residents should not have to pay the high price of these delays.

Thank you for considering this petition.