As a marriage and family therapist (MFT) or licensed professional counselor (LPC) in Idaho, chances are you've devoted your life and career to bettering your clients. You're likely dedicated to helping people optimize their lives, fix their marriages, and have better marital relationships. From overcoming trauma to eliminating mental, emotional, and physical roadblocks, you're like the “growth or healing Jedi,” transforming lives and improving your clients' situations.
Because of the noble nature of the profession and the fragility of the power balance, you're held to very high moral and ethical standards. This is why even the slightest errors or misunderstandings can result in misconduct allegations and complaints filed with the Idaho Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists. If you're facing disciplinary action regarding a misconduct complaint, you need help from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team.
With our experience, we can help licensed counselors and marital and family therapists in Boise, Idaho Falls, Nampa, Coeur d'Alene, Meridian, Caldwell, Twin Falls, and other cities in Idaho navigate the disciplinary process and avoid losing their licenses. So, if you've received a notice of a disciplinary hearing, feel free to contact us.
Call 888-535-3686 or fill out our online contact form to discuss your case.
Conduct Violations that Can Put Your Professional Therapist License at Risk
In Idaho, your license and reputation can be at risk if one or more of the following allegations have been leveled against you:
- Engaging in inappropriate sexual or romantic relations with a patient or their relatives
- Participating in non-professional relationships or interactions with clients or their relatives
- Imposition of personal standards and values on a patient
- Inflated insurance company or Medicare billing
- Malpractice complaints
- Failing to disclose past or present criminal convictions, cases, or other transgressions with the law
- Substance or alcohol abuse that impairs your ability to help your clients
- Not adequately recording interactions and details of each therapy session with clients
- Violating patient confidentiality agreement by revealing the content of therapy sessions
- Failing to meet continuing education requirements
- Exceeding practice scope or area of specialty
These complaints are usually filed with the Idaho State Licensing Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists under the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL). This Board is governed by Section 54 of the Idaho State Legislature. This allows it to regulate, oversee, provide licensing, and adopt new laws regarding professional counseling, clinical counseling, and marital therapy services. The good news is not all conflicts, perceived grievances, or complaints by patients or clients will warrant disciplinary actions.
The clear basis for a disciplinary hearing and subsequent sanction is the violation of established ethical codes of conduct. Complaints or allegations outside of this are not the basis for a hearing and are often thrown out or dismissed.
So, how can you tell if the complainant has a valid case or not? Apart from the Board's outright dismissal of the case, it's best to work with the experienced Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm. This is particularly important if you have received a hearing notice.
Counselor Misconduct Disciplinary Process in Idaho
Understanding the disciplinary process in Idaho is very crucial to your defense. This will help you prepare accordingly and ensure that you're able to go through it and emerge successfully at the end with your license still intact and the ability to keep doing what you love.
The process typically involves the following:
- Reports or complaints: Complainants merely need to file with the Idaho Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists through the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) website. Anyone who thinks that a therapist has acted in an unprofessional manner, acted irresponsibly, or participated in illegal or criminal activities can file a misconduct complaint or allegation against a professional counselor or married and family therapist in Idaho. The complainant can be the therapist's client, a member of the public, colleagues, or another government agency.
- Complaint screening: The Board will first screen the complaint to ensure it falls within their jurisdiction. If it does, they'll then check codes of conduct violations. If the Board establishes that there was no violation, it will notify the licensee and refuse to open a case against them. However, where it finds that there was a violation, the licensee will receive a notice of complaint from the assigned investigator handling the case.
- Investigation: Investigators are neither licensees nor non-members of the Board. They're usually neutral parties assigned to investigate complaints to the Board. They will look into the case and collect all forms of evidence, including pictures, videos, texts, and other relevant documents. They'll also interview all relevant parties (including you), prepare a report, and submit it to the Board. If the report shows there was no violation, the case will be closed. However, if there is a violation, the Board will file an Administrative Complaint, which will initiate the disciplinary process.
- Offering a Consent Order: The prosecutor who represents the complainant will likely contact you with an offer called a Consent Order. This contains disciplinary measures and other penalties that they think you deserve. While accepting this offer often means a possible fast resolution of the complaint without a hearing, it also means accepting whatever disciplinary sanctions they prefer and waiving your right to a fair hearing. Do NOT accept this offer without first consulting with your attorney. While it does seem like an easy option, the terms may often be stringent and unfavorable to you. Please note that this offer is usually available throughout the disciplinary process.
- Evidentiary hearing: If you reject the Consent Order, the prosecutor will file a formal Administrative Complaint with the Board. The Board will then appoint a Hearing Officer to oversee the case and conduct a hearing. Once the evidence and facts of the case are reviewed, the officer will provide the Board with a Recommended Order. This includes their conclusion about whether there was a violation of the law. You can always contest the Recommended Order or request a revision.
- Issuance of a Final Order: Upon reviewing the Recommended Order, the Board will issue a Final Order. This may include disciplinary sanctions or a case dismissal. If there are sanctions, the Final Order will provide relevant details regarding the appeal process, per the Idaho Administrative Procedures Act.
Please note that per the Idaho Public Records Act, the Board will also not share the complainant's details. Neither will it disclose the nature of the complaint until a formal Administrative Complaint is issued. The inability to face your complainant or know the misconduct allegations can be frustrating and can make the entire process seem one-sided.
Remember that you have a right to adequate and competent legal representation. Don't assume that you can face the disciplinary process alone or explain your story without legal representation. The Board discourages this and encourages the retaining of legal counsel. Plus, the technicalities involved in these types of cases are such that only an experienced professional license defense attorney in Idaho can spot them.
Consequences of a Violation
Professional counselors and marriage and family therapists can face various sanctions. These include:
- Practice supervision
- Recertification or re-education
- Monetary fines
- Restitution
- Probation
- Censure
- Reprimands
- Exclusion from federal healthcare programs
- Restrictions on practice
- Voluntary license surrender
- License suspension
- License revocation
The Board may also require reimbursement of all incurred costs from the respondent if there's proof of misconduct. This usually covers attorney and investigative fees, and other associated charges.
Steps to Take if You've Received a Disciplinary Hearing Notice
Depending on the professional counselor or marital and family therapist in Idaho, a disciplinary hearing notice can either be alarming or brushed off. In both instances, it is important to take the notice very seriously, even if you think there's nothing to it. Here's what to do:
- Read the notice: Carefully review the document and pay attention to everything, particularly the allegations that you've been accused of. Also, pay attention to and note the hearing's time and date so you don't miss it.
- Collect evidence: If you have proof or evidence regarding the accusation, now is the time to start gathering them. You may need to tender affidavits if necessary.
- Talk to an attorney: The Idaho Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists allows and even recommends that you seek legal assistance in a disciplinary hearing. So, talk to the Lento Law Firm's Idaho Professional License Defense Team about the disciplinary hearing.
- Follow legal counsel: Whatever your attorney recommends, do it. This includes properly addressing each accusation in response, gathering relevant documentation, and having legal representation during the hearing.
This is usually all you need to do before the hearing. Although it may be difficult, remember to remain calm during the hearing. Your composure and articulation can influence the outcome of the hearing in the sense that they will allow you to make your case and defend yourself effectively. Also, listen to your lawyer's advice during the hearing.
Can You Appeal the Board's Decision?
When the Board gives its decision in the form of a Final Order, you can start an appeal process if you feel that you have a chance or have evidence that they made mistakes in the disciplinary process. The grounds for an appeal are usually:
- Board errors: You can demonstrate that the Board's sanction was excessive or did not correlate with the evidence of violations.
- Failure to follow procedure: The Board did not follow the established procedures or made mistakes during the disciplinary process.
- Lacking or inadequate evidence: The Board did not have sufficient evidence or reasons to sanction you.
- Arbitrary sanction: You can demonstrate that the basis of the Board's ruling was something other than the evidence or proof before it. This means there was no fair hearing, and they allowed external factors outside of the facts of the case to influence their decision, amounting to a capricious ruling against you.
An appeals process is usually aimed at identifying flaws in the process and often has nothing to do with your guilt or the lack of it. Even if you have said proof, the best way to file an appeal successfully is by having your lawyer handle the entire process.
Your attorney will be able to build the case and argue that the Board's decision should be overturned or that you will receive a less punitive sanction because of the identified error, which likely skewed the Board's decision.
What if You Lose the Appeals Process?
In many instances, licensees typically start an appeal if there's solid proof that there were errors in the due process. This means that a better outcome is all but assured. However, in the rare event that you do lose the appeal, you may be able to apply for a reinstatement –particularly if you voluntarily surrendered your license as part of a Consent Order agreement– within an agreed timeframe proposed by the Board.
How Our Idaho Professional License Defense Attorneys Can Help
Professional counselors and marital and family therapists in Idaho deserve adequate legal representation if they make mistakes. No one should have their very existence threatened just because of a few mishaps. No one is above errors --after all, a wise person once said, “To err is human.”
The important thing is how to recover from those mistakes and still continue to do what you love. The Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm is committed to helping you get a fair hearing during the disciplinary process. We'll work with you to build your case and defend yourself in front of the Board or the Hearing Officer.
We have helped professional counselors and marriage and family therapists like you during this difficult period. We will examine every element of the disciplinary case and explore the best options that will allow you to emerge with a fair and satisfactory outcome.
Call 888-535-3686 or fill out our online contact form to speak to an attorney.
