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Present:
Judith Coleman, Mary Ellen Nicholls, Ron Dieter, Paul Finn and Mike Mortimer
Not Present:--
Ron Dieter called the meeting to order at 9:05 AM
Minutes of the January 17, 2003 meeting were read Motion was made by Paul Finn and seconded by Judith Coleman to approve the minutes as read.
Motion passed.
For: 0
Opposed: 0
I. Correspondence
A. Andrew Prokopis, Ph.D. - Declaratory Ruling request
1. Letter discussed
2. Motion was made by Paul Finn and seconded by Judith Coleman to have Ms. Lynch send a letter to Dr. Prokopis asking for additional information regarding his supervisory situation so they can make a declaratory ruling on all of his requests.
B. Udo Rauter - Letter of 1/14/03
1. Letter discussed
Motion made by Mary Ellen Nicholls and seconded by Judith Coleman to inform Dr. Rauter that the Board is pursuing the matter of reviewing RSA 330-A:34 which discusses exemptions for state employees and consultants at agencies.
C. Steve Vogl, JD - Letter of 2/4/03
1. Letter discussed
Motion made by Mary Ellen Nicholls and seconded by Judith Coleman to write to Mr. Vogl and inform him the matter of mediation might be better addressed by the professional associations.
D. Governor Craig Benson
Motion was made by Judith Coleman and seconded by Mary Ellen Nicholls to confirm phone vote taken on 2/7/03 to send a letter to Governor Benson explaining the Board's need for a marriage and family therapist member and a public member and asking him if he could make these appointments at the next Governor and Council meeting.
All motions passed unanimously
II. Rulemaking
A. Motion was made by Judith Coleman and seconded by Mary Ellen Nicholls to approve draft of Mhp 302.18 and Mhp 302.19 for rulemaking.
Motion passed unanimously.
B. Motion was made by Paul Finn and seconded by Judith Coleman to approve draft of Mhp 502.02 for rulemaking.
Motion passed unanimously.
C. Motion was made by Paul Finn and seconded by Mary Ellen Nicholls to approve May 9, 2003 as the public hearing date the Board will put on the Rulemaking Notice.
Motion passed unanimously.
III. Renewal Process
Motion was made by Mary Ellen Nicholls and seconded by Paul Finn to approved renewal packet to be sent April 15, 2003.
Motion passed unanimously.
IV. Advisory Committees
Motion was made by Paul Finn and seconded by Mary Ellen Nicholls to establish advisory committees as allowed by RSA 330-A:4.
Motion passed unanimously.
V. Investigations
Given there appears a public confusion regarding the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) there is a need to clarify any possible confusion. This Board assigns a Board member to investigate cases. The Board reviews all complaints and then sends them to the Board member assigned to investigate cases (Board Investigator or BI). The BI has access to legal counsel from the Attorney General Office's Administrative Prosecutions Unit and who is different from Board counsel, Board appointed licensed mental health investigators (Professional Conduct Investigators or PCI), and other agents that the Board assigns from time to time to assist the BI in investigating ongoing complaints. Once assigned to the case, the BI is recused from Board decision-making regarding that case.
The BI may have a number of ongoing investigations at any time and this may necessitate joint meetings of investigators for both appropriate uses of time and to assist the BI by having more than one source of input in completing the charge placed before the BI. Historically, these meetings have been called Professional Conduct Committee Meetings. As this term may be seen as confusing to the public, Paul Finn moves that, in the future, such gatherings be termed information sessions of the Professional Conduct Investigators (PCI) with the Board investigator. These information sessions are for providing input as deemed necessary to the BI and do not have decision making authority. It is the BI who is charged by the Board to investigate complaints, carries forward reports of PCI's, and is the responsible Board agent for the investigations. The Board then reviews the report and determines the disposition of the complaint, including, but not limited to no further action, letters of concern, reprimands, hearings regarding violations and /or settlement agreements and assessing fines.
Motion was seconded by Judith Coleman.
Motion passed unanimously.
VI. Board Meeting Date Change
A. Motion was made by Mary Ellen Nicholls and seconded by Paul Finn to have the April Board meeting on April 9 instead of April 16.
Motion passed unanimously.
Upon the motion of Paul Finn and the second of Judith Coleman, the Board, by roll call vote, resolved to conduct a non-public session for the purpose of discussing applications, investigations of alleged misconduct of licensees, in accordance with RSA 91-A: 3, II(c), RSA 91-A: 3, II (e), RSA 91-A: 5, IV, Lodge v. Knowlton, 118 N.H. 574 (1978), and the Board's executive and deliberative privileges. Each member recorded his or her vote on the motion, which passed by the unanimous vote of all members present.
Upon the motion of Paul Finn and the second of Judith Coleman, the Board by roll call vote, resolved to withhold the minutes of the preceding non-public session, with the exception of approved applications, responses to motions and disciplinary actions until they are served, from public disclosure pursuant t RSA 91-A: 3, III on the grounds that public disclosure would be likely to affect adversely the reputation of a person other than a board member and to render the proposed action ineffective. Each member recorded his or her vote on the motion, which passed by the unanimous vote of all members present.
I. Applications Approved for Licensure
1. Approved social workers: Tracy Brubaker, Barbara Buckman, Katharine Lofgren, Jennifer Neilson, Thomas Swaitek, Ann Romein, John Longo, Matthew MacDonald, Linda Cone, Thom Baker, Kristen Smith-Grew
2. Approved mental health counselors: William Fisher, Karen Josephson, Jennifer Heath, Kristie Roleau, Nancy Strapko
3. Approved psychologists: none
4. Approved marriage & family therapists - no applicants for licensure
5. Approved pastoral psychotherapists - no applicants for licensure
II. Candidate for Licensure: Supervisory Agreements Approved
1. Mental Health Counselors: Donna Abell, Sabrina Carswell
2. Social Workers: Danielle Longo, Betsy Fowler, Dyan Patton, Heather Croteau, Christopher Healy.
3. Marriage and Family Therapists: no agreements this month
4. Psychologists: Franklin C. Brown
5. Pastoral Psychotherpists: William Bardslee
III. Disciplinary Matters
1. The Board approved a Settlement Agreement reprimanding Ralph Twombly, LCMHC.
IV. Application Hearings
1. Hearings on two marriage and family therapist applicants are scheduled for April 18, 2003 at 49 Donovan Street, Concord, NH.
2:00 PM - Timothy Sergi
3:00 PM - Kimberly Briggs
Meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM
Next meeting scheduled for March 21, 2003 |
