Phillip’s BHEC Townhall Comments
"My name is Phillip Crum and I am here in my dual capacities as Joe Citizen and co-founder of the Association for Mental Health Professionals.
At one of the recent townhalls a legitimate request was made to examine one of the licensing fees as being potentially exorbitant. That's fair enough, and just to make sure there are no misunderstandings about my upcoming thoughts here is the exact text that was submitted:
"African Americans are disproportionately over-represented in the criminal justice system, as a result of institutional racism. Because of this disproportionality, the $150 cost disproportionately burdens African Americans, particularly students graduating from Social Work programs at HBCUs."
What I object to is the unsubstantiated and socially driven reasons that were given for wanting the fee reduced:
- That black people spend more time incarcerated than any other group.
- That systemic racism is apparently entirely to blame for that.
- And therefore, people attending Historically Black Colleges couldn't afford the $150."
Our Critical Thinking Skills-Where Have They Gone?
Aside from my main point which I will make momentarily, the juxtaposition of the first two thoughts to arrive at the third is highly confusing to me. She seems to be saying that because black people spend more time in prison, but are somehow still able to attend and pay for college upon their release, that they therefore cannot afford a $150 licensing fee after graduation.
If she's not linking the two groups in a causal relationship then how does one man's incarceration affect an HBCU graduate's ability to pay the fee? Even if I accepted the major premise of her argument, which I do not, the development of her logic is terminally flawed.
Also, and this interests me even more, no thought was expressed or question asked as to how much actual cost might be behind the $150 fee; that BHEC might be incurring expenses for that fee that must be passed along to the applicant or that they have people who expect to get paid every week for their efforts and BHEC incurs some expense there. The lack of input on this point makes me think that the requestor believes these fees are just made up out of thin air. Fees are business expenses and business expenses do not care about your criminal record or any other aspect of your life.
My Main Point
My main point here today is that identity politics has no place in the BHEC Rulebooks and should not be used in any form or fashion to substantiate a new rule, or to edit or repeal existing rules. I hope the boards and council keep that in mind.
If the fee is too high for legal or business related reasons and the Board & Council see fit to lower it for everyone then lower it for everyone! But not because a social justice adherent is mad at some other identity group and wants to play the victim.
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About the Author
Phillip's background has blessed him with a variety of interests, skills, and tools to get things done. He spent 25 years in the printing and marketing industry before meeting Kathleen Mills in 2015. They quickly figured out that they made a pretty good business team and, owing to Kathleen's story, embarked upon a mission that would see the creation of PracticeMentors.us and eventually the Association for Mental Health Professionals.
