A state senator has taken up the cause of a North Carolina woman who left the state to earn a master’s degree in counseling at a Seattle college, then returned only to be told by the state licensing board that she couldn’t practice her profession because the school she attended didn’t have the proper accreditation.
Sue Richards approached Lt. Gov. Dan Forest’s office with her story. The Board of Licensed Professional Counselors had told her that she couldn’t be licensed in the state because the college she attended — which is nationally accredited — lacks regional accreditation as required in state law.
Sen. Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, filed a bill to require licensing of counseling programs from graduates of schools with either regional or national accreditation.
The board is fighting the bill and has hired a lobbyist to help fight the change, a move Barefoot doesn’t like.
Richards and her husband moved to North Carolina about nine years ago. Several years later, at age 59, she decided to change careers.
“I followed a lifelong dream of going to school to be a counselor,” Richards said. “It was a big step at this point in life to do something like that.”
She and her husband attended the former Mars Hill Graduate School, now called the Seattle School of Theology & Psychology.
“It was an expensive thing to pick up and go across country like that,” Richards said.
She and her husband returned to North Carolina in 2012. She did a yearlong internship at the Salvation Army Homeless Shelter for Women and Children, and in June 2013 graduated from the Seattle school.
Richards then began the long process of applying for her counseling license. She sat for the national counseling exam, which she said she “passed with flying colors.”
Richards subsequently received a letter from the board saying she could not get a North Carolina professional counselors license because her master’s degree did not come from a regionally accredited institution.
The Seattle school has received accreditation from several national organizations, including the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools and the Association of Theological Schools. But it does not have a regional accreditation.
Katherine Glenn, who chairs the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, said national accreditation groups certify colleges but not particular programs.
“When you have regional accreditation, it is a little more stringent,” Glenn said. “Regional accreditation is a more careful accreditation that the school must go through. They’re not apples to apples.”
Glenn said the board opposes the legislation. If the General Assembly insists on changing the law, the board would prefer expanding the rules to allow degrees from programs accredited by industry-specific organizations such as the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs. CACREP looks at specific counselor education programs to ensure graduates are trained and prepared properly.
Barefoot suggested that opponents of the change want to limit competition. “I would assume that they don’t want the competition of having more professional counselors in the state,” Barefoot said.
Barefoot said where counselors receive their degrees is just one part of the licensing process.
“Their claims of consistency are a sham,” Barefoot said. “All we’re talking about is where they get their master’s degree from.” People seeking a license have to do a lot more than that, including showing experience and passing a national board exam, he said.
“You could have the best counseling program in the nation, and if [your school is] not regionally accredited, you could not practice in North Carolina,” Barefoot said.
Barefoot also questioned the decision by the board to hire a lobbyist to fight against the legislation.
“I was not aware that a board that is created to carry out the will of the General Assembly should be hiring lobbyists to fight the General Assembly,” Barefoot said.
Glenn said that the board contracted with Fred Bone for advice. She said it is common practice for legislators to notify state agencies or boards if they plan to introduce a bill changing the rules they enforce, and Barefoot had not done that.
“Sen. Barefoot did not call us and say that he was introducing a bill,” Glenn said. “We have hired a legislative liaison to educate us.”
The bill passed the Senate in April. It now sits in the House Rules Committee.
Barry Smith (@Barry_Smith) is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.