The Importance of Attending 491 Board Meetings

Professional Experience Article

I obtained my license in 2001 and somehow managed to avoid attending a 491 Board Meeting until 2022 I always intended to attend. I often put the meetings on my calendar when they were meeting near where I live (Orlando) but, something always came up, i.e., clients’ needs, or simply the large financial impact of losing a day of work.

I can honestly tell you after attending my first 491 Board meeting in 2021, I’m hooked I’m the kind of person who loves learning, and there is a lot to learn during these meetings such as how the board deals with applicants who have prior criminal or mental health histories.

How was the 491 Board Created and what does the 491 Board do?

Taken straight from the 491 Board home page of the website: The Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling was legislatively established to ensure that every clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, and mental health counselor practicing in this state meet minimum requirements for safe practice. The Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling is responsible for licensing, monitoring, disciplining, and educating clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, and mental health counselors to assure competency and safety to practice in Florida.

In a nutshell, the 491 Board’s job is to protect the citizens of Florida from us, ensuring that each of us licensed under the 491 Statute comply with the requirements of our licenses

When and where do the 491 Board meet?

The 491 Board meets at least four times per year The board rotates the meeting locations all over the State of Florida Funded by the state, the board typically seeks affordable sites in which to meet. Popular meeting locations seem to be Tallahassee, Tampa, Orlando, St. Augustine, Ft. Lauderdale, and Miami.

Prior to 2023, the board met on one day, usually starting at 8:00 am and continuing until their agenda was finished. At the first 491 Board meeting I attended, they didn’t stop for a lunch break and finished their business by 2:30 pm At the August 2022 meeting, the board decided beginning in 2023, board meetings will take two consecutive business days to accomplish their tasks instead of one jam-packed day-long marathon meeting This will have multiple benefits, i.e., it may make it a little easier for those who need to travel to appear at the meeting by not having to spend money on a hotel room. Additionally, those of us who’d like to attend for educational purposes may be able to more easily choose which part or parts of the meeting we’d like to attend Hopefully the change to a two-day format will make the meetings easier on the board members too

How Does One Serve on the 491 Board?

The 491 Board consists of nine board members who are appointed by the Governor of Florida and approved by the Florida Senate There are two members from each discipline: Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work, and Mental Health Counseling There are also three Consumer members whose professions cannot have anything to do with Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work or Mental Health Counseling. If one is interested in serving on the board, an application can be found here.

What happens during a 491 Board Meeting?

According to the 491 Board website, “The Board meetings include disciplinary cases, petitions, application reviews, correspondence items, rule discussion, and other necessary Board action.”

The agendas for each meeting are published well in advance of each meeting In general, I have observed they begin with disciplinary actions The disciplinary actions are divided up into Marriage and Family Therapy Interns, Social Work Interns, Mental Health Counselor Interns, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Licensed Mental Health Counselors. Next, I have observed they move on to applicants for either Intern or a full license who have endorsed past criminal history or a medical issue that could interfere with their practice as a professional. After all the licensees are taken care of, they then move into issues with Rules or Public Comment.

It is impossible to determine how long each of the cases will take Some may be quite complex and may take more time to deal with than other cases If one is ever summoned before the board, I highly recommend one arrives early and doesn’t leave because one could miss one’s spot on the agenda. Not showing up before the 491 Board when one has been summoned is not a good idea.

What Kinds of Rules Does the Board Make or Change?

While the 491 Board cannot make any changes to laws the Florida Legislature has passed, they can make changes to the Florida Administrative Code, F.A.C, better known perhaps as 65B4, (https://www.flrules.org/gateway/Division.asp? DivID=327). For example, in the meeting held on 11/30/22, the board made changes to Rules 64B4 3.0015, Verification of Supervised Experience for Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling Applicants, (https://www flrules org/gateway/ruleno asp?id=64B43 0015), 64B4 2 0025, Qualified Supervisor Definitions and Duties, (https://www flrules org/gateway/ruleno asp?id=64B42 0025), and 64B4 3 0085, Intern Registration (https://www flrules org/gateway/ruleNo asp?id=64B43.0085). If you’d like to listen to the portion of the most recent meeting where these rule changes were discussed, and more, just click on this link. To find past meetings’ recordings, just go to the “meetings” tab on the 491 Board’s home page, and then scroll down to “past meetings,” and then you will be able to click on past meeting agendas and past meeting audios.

Benefits of keeping up with important changes

Since it is every 491 licensee’s responsibility to know and to keep up with Florida’s Laws and Rules surrounding our professions, either attending live or listening to recordings of these meetings can be very helpful for each of us. For example, as a Qualified Supervisor of Registered Mental Health Counselor Interns, while attending a 491 Board meeting for the first time, I learned going forward, if a Registered Intern is called before the 491 Board, their supervisor is also required to appear alongside of the Intern For another example, in my previous paragraph, changes were made to multiple sections of 64B4, and those changes impact Qualified Supervisors and Registered Interns By keeping up with the latest changes, it means I am doing my best as a Qualified Supervisor by informing Interns I may be working with of any changes to what is required of them, and of changes to what is required of myself. I can also educate my colleagues who may not have time to listen or attend 491 Board meetings themselves. While I realize none of us are perfect and will never be perfect, I do strive to practice in accordance with all of Florida’s Laws and Rules and attending (or listening) to 491 Board meetings helps me achieve that. Additionally, at the August 2022 491 Board meeting, I met multiple Qualified Supervisors who attended that meeting and shared with me that they required the Interns they supervise to listen to the recordings of these meetings regularly By hearing where others fall into trouble it can help the rest of us avoid those same pitfalls

I look forward to seeing you at a 491 Board meeting!

Laura Peddie- Bravo FMHCA President