STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

RACHEL H. WOOTEN, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 82-3304

)

DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL )

REGULATION, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held in this case before Arnold H. Pollock, a Hearing Officer with the Division of Administrative Hearings, on January 18, 1984, in Orlando, Florida. The issue for consideration was whether Petitioner possessed the required educational qualifications for licensure by exception as a Marriage and Family Therapist in Florida

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Douglas Whitney, Esquire

400 West Robinson Street Orlando, Florida 32801

For Respondent: Drucilla E. Bell, Esquire

Department of Professional Regulation

130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On September 3, 1982, Petitioner submitted her application to Respondent for licensure by exception as a Marriage and Family Therapist in Florida. After review of Petitioner's application and its supporting documents, Respondent, by letter dated October 15, 1982, denied Petitioner's application on the basis that she did not possess the educational background or the supervised practicum required for licensure by exception as required by Florida Statutes, as amended, and the Rules of the Department of Professional Regulation. Subsequent to the date and prior to the hearing, Respondent agreed that Petitioner did have the appropriate supervised practicum; therefore, the sole issue for hearing related to the Petitioner's educational background.

At the hearing, the parties introduced Joint Composite Exhibit 1, Petitioner's application file maintained by Respondent. Petitioner submitted her Exhibit 1, and testified in her own behalf. Respondent introduced the testimony of Linda Biedermann, Executive Director of Respondent's Psychological Services Office.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Petitioner, Rachel H. Wooten, a long-standing legal resident of Florida, submitted an application for licensure by exception as a Marriage and Family Therapist, along with the required fee, to Respondent on September 3, 1982. The form and fee were received by Respondent on September 10, 1982. Attached to the application was supporting documentation to establish that Petitioner received her master's degree in teaching from Rollins College in 1966. Subsequent to the award of her master's degree, as stated, she also earned additional graduate level courses in subjects related to marriage and family counseling. Including both the graduate course work leading up to and subsequent to the award of her master's degree, she had a total of 60 credit hours, of which 43 credit hours were all in specialized courses directed to marriage and family counseling. These courses were taken at accredited educational institutions which are accepted by Respondent. They include Rollins College, University of Central Florida, Florida State University, and the University of North Carolina.

   
   

2. Petitioner is currently employed by the State of Florida, Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, in its Orlando Vocational Rehabilitation Program as a program analyst. As such, she directs and consults with 39 counselors who possess at least a master's degree. Prior to assuming this position in 1970, she was a counselor and supervisor for Vocational Rehabilitation in a position with a counselor case load of 170-175 cases, and a supervisor case load of between 600 and 700 cases. She held that position from 1966 to 1970.

   
   

3. She also maintains an active marriage and family counseling private practice which she carries in this area in the evenings. Her patients are primarily professional people. She sees only individuals who are referred to her by other practitioners in one of the professional disciplines such as medicine psychology, the law, or the like. In addition, up through 1980, she was also engaged in a group counseling practice under the supervision of and in conjunction with other counselors and has been engaged in co-practice with another counselor as a part of her continuing practicum.

   
   

4. Petitioner is a clinical member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT). A clinical membership is the highest and most professional category of membership is the highest and most professional category of membership available. She has possessed this qualification since June, 1981. In order to be eligible for this type of membership, a candidate must meet the association's academic requirements and undergo 200 hours of supervision by an AAMFT-approved therapist. This supervision is rigid and demanding and includes such elements as continuing education, taped sessions, clinical work, and the like. Respondent does not consider AAMFT's educational requirements as stringent as its own, nor are they comparable.

   
   

5. After evaluation by representatives of Respondent, Petitioner's educational background was found not to meet the requirements of the law in effect at the time of Petitioner's application. Respondent's rationale for denying Petitioner's licensure by exception 1/ is based on its contention that pertinent educational requirements include, as an indispensable element, the award of a master's degree in Marriage and Family Counseling or a clearly comparable field of study, and since Petitioner's degree was in teaching, it does not qualify. 2/ Respondent further concludes that since it was not shown Petitioner's relevant undergraduate courses were considered by Rollins College as a part of the course work for the master's degree, these cannot be considered

   as counting toward the required credits. It was also held by Respondent that since Petitioner's master's degree was not in a specialty recognized by Respondent for licensure by exception, the relevant course work subsequent to the award of the master's degree cannot be counted either.

   
   

6. Respondent states as its reason for not considering the course work outside the Master's Degree is that these courses were chosen solely by Petitioner at her discretion and were not required as a part of a formally designed course of study by an educational institution, leading toward a degree in this area of expertise. In that regard, Rule 21U-500.17(1)(c), Florida Administrative Code, requires that the course work leading up to the master's degree in Marriage and Family Counseling or a clearly comparable field of study include 18 semester hours in the specialty area. Here, Respondent gave Petitioner credit only for three courses, totaling nine semester hours, which were ED 544 (Tests and Measurements: Group Testing I), ED 600 (Readings: Adolescent Development), and PSY 549 (Counseling Procedures I). The courses Petitioner took subsequent to the award of her master's degree would meet the requirement for licensure by exception if it has been included in the work leading up to the master's degree.

   
   

7. The Respondent concedes that Petitioner is, by training and experience, qualified to be a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and, were it not for the technical requirements stated above, which Petitioner does not meet, would license her as such.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

8. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter of this proceeding.

   
   

9. Section 490.013, Florida Statutes, was amended by the Florida Legislature in Chapter 82-179, Laws of Florida, to alter the grandfathering of marriage and family therapists. This section now reads:

   
   

   1. EXCEPTIONS.--

      
      

      1. The department shall license a person in marriage and family therapy who by September 30, 1982, has made application for licensure and paid the appropriate fee and who, on the effective date of this act:

         1. Is a legal resident in this state;

         2. Has a master's degree with a specialty in marriage and family therapy, or a doctor or a master's degree with major emphasis in marriage and family therapy, psychology, clinical social work, sociology in the family, family life education, mental

            health counseling or a closely comparable field of study emphasizing marriage and family therapy, from a college or university accredited by an accrediting agency approved by the United States Department of Education;

         3. Has 3 years' experience in the practice of marriage and family therapy.

10. Respondent admits that Petitioner is a legal resident of Florida and meets the experience criteria set out in Subsection (2)(c) above. All that is in issue is the question of her educational qualifications. Petitioner submitted her application well in advance of the September 30, 1982, deadline. Her master's degree, awarded by Rollins College in 1966, is in "Teaching" which cannot reasonably be stretched, upon review of the courses taken leading up to it, to encompass any of the stipulated fields or a closely comparable field of study. A review of the course work taken in satisfaction of the degree requirements reflects that of the 36 semester hours taken, only nine were related to or comparable with marriage and family therapy. The extensive course work taken subsequent to the award of its degree does not, under the terms and conditions of the application, alter the nature of the indispensable degree field criterion, so as to bring her within the requirements for licensure by exception.

    
    

11. The Respondent has submitted a Memorandum of Law which includes proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. The proposed findings and conclusions have been adopted only to the extent that they are expressly set out in the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law above. They have been otherwise rejected as contrary to the better weight of the evidence, not supported by the evidence, irrelevant to the issues, or legally erroneous.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the above, it is RECOMMENDED:

That Petitioner's application for licensure by exception as a Marriage and Family Therapist be denied.

RECOMMENDED in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, this 1st day of February, 1984.

ARNOLD H. POLLOCK

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 1st day of February.

ENDNOTES

1/ It is fully recognized and admitted by Respondent that Petitioner meets all requirements for licensure by examination.

2/ A clearly comparable field of study is determined by Respondent. Their definition was developed by a panel of licensed family therapists who worked for Respondent in the development of the legislation governing standards for licensing.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Douglas Whitney, Esq.

400 West Robinson Street Orlando, FL 32801

Drucilla E. Bell, Esq. Department of Professional

Regulation

130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32301

Mr. Fred Roche Secretary

Department of Professional Regulation

130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32301

Ms. Jane H. Raker Executive Director Board of Psychology

Department of Professional Regulation

130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32301

Docket for Case No: 82-003304

Orders for Case No: 82-003304