STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

ALAN LEONARD GETREU, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 90-2043

) DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ) REGULATION, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, the Division of Administrative Hearings, by its duly designated Hearing Officer, K. N. Ayers, held a public hearing in the above- styled case on August 2, 1990, at Tampa, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Salvatore A. Carpino, Esquire

One Urban Center Suite 750

4830 West Kennedy Boulevard Tampa, Florida 33609

For Respondent: Charles Tunnicliff, Esquire

Department of Professional Regulation, Suite 60

1940 N. Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0752

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

Whether Petitioner's application for licensure by examination as a mental health counselor was wrongfully denied.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

By NOTICE OF INTENT TO DENY dated March 6, 1990, the Department of Professional Regulation, Respondent, notified Alan Leonard Getreu, Petitioner, of its intent to deny Getreu's application for licensure by examination as a mental health counselor. As grounds for denial, it is alleged Getreu failed to provide an official transcript of his college curriculum to evince earning a master's degree; and the degree from Heed University would not qualify for licensure because Heed University was not accredited by an accrediting agency approved by the United States Department of Education.

At the hearing, Petitioner testified in his own behalf, Respondent presented the testimony of one witness by deposition (Exhibit 1), and six exhibits were admitted into evidence. There is no real dispute regarding the

facts. Accordingly, proposed findings submitted by the parties are accepted. Those not included herein were deemed unnecessary to the conclusions reached.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Petitioner attended the University of Tampa and graduated with a degree in social work and psychology in 1978. He subsequently attended Heed University in Fort Lauderdale from 1979 through 1981, graduating in 1981 with a master's degree in counseling psychology.

   
   

2. Heed University is not accredited by an accrediting agency approved by the United States Department of Education and was not so accredited while Petitioner was there enrolled.

   
   

3. Respondent has worked as a mental health counselor at Tampa Heights Hospital (Exhibit 3), at the Hillsborough Regional Juvenile Detention Center, Charter Hospital, as well as at other facilities, and has served on panels and given lectures at mental health related programs not only in Florida but throughout the United States. Suffice it to say, he has considerable experience as a mental health counselor (Exhibits 4 and 6).

   
   

4. At the hearing, Petitioner submitted an original of his transcript at Heed University with impressed seal of the University. This satisfies the objection that Petitioner had not presented an original transcript of his grades at Heed University.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

5. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties to, and the subject matter of, these proceedings.

   
   

6. Section 491.005, Florida Statutes (1989), provides in pertinent part that:

   
   

   1. Upon verification of documentation and payment of a fee not to exceed $200, or set by board rule, ... the department shall issue a license as [a mental health counselor] who the board certifies inter alia:

      1. Has received a doctoral degree in social work from a graduate school

         of social work which at the time the applicant graduated was accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or has received a master's degree in social work from a graduate school of social work which at the time the applicant graduated:

         1. Was accredited by the Council on Social Work Education;

         2. Was accredited by the Canadian Association of Schools of

            Social Work; or

         3. [An equivalency program outside the U.S. or Canada.]

      
      

7. No evidence was submitted to show that Heed University was accredited by any acceptable accrediting body during the years Petitioner matriculated there. Accordingly, Petitioner has failed to show that he meets the education requirements to sit for the examination for licensure as a mental health counselor. Without a master's degree from an accredited graduate school, an applicant is not qualified to sit for this examination.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that Alan Leonard Getreu's application to sit for the mental health counselor licensing examination be denied and this appeal dismissed.

ENTERED this 27th day of August, 1990, in Tallahassee, Florida.

K. N. AYERS Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, FL 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 27th day of August, 1990.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Charles Tunnicliff, Esquire Department of Professional Regulation

Northwood Centre

1940 North Monroe Street Suite 60

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0792

Salvatore A. Carpino, Esquire One Urban Center

Suite 750

4830 West Kennedy Boulevard Tampa, FL 33609

Linda Biedermann Executive Director Clinical Social Work,

Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling Northwood Centre

1940 North Monroe Street Suite 60

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0792

Kenneth D. Easley General Counsel

Department of Professional Regulation

Northwood Centre

1940 North Monroe Street Suite 60

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0792

Docket for Case No: 90-002043

Orders for Case No: 90-002043