At the Aug. 22 meeting the board’s executive officer, Steve Sodergren, reported the board’s fiscal, staffing and operational status and fielded questions from board members and stakeholders.

Key fiscal and staffing points
Sodergren said the board began fiscal year 2024–25 with an authorized budget of $14,061,000 and a reserve balance of $16,240,000. The board projects ending reserves of about $25,100,000 — roughly a 19.1‑month reserve — based on projected year‑end revenues of $23.6 million and estimated expenditures of $13.9 million.

He noted staff is preparing to begin the statutory and administrative process for a fee‑reduction review but had no fee action on the agenda.

On personnel, Sodergren listed recent hires and promotional moves across licensing, enforcement and administrative units and said the board currently has three vacancies. He also said staff requested one reclassification to standardize license evaluator classifications.

Licensing and exam processing
The board reported issuing 3,995 registrations and licenses in the quarter and a total registrant population of roughly 151,854 — a 2% increase over the prior quarter. Applications rose about 35% due to graduation season; total yearly application volume increased roughly 31% over four years (from 16,000 to 21,000).

Processing times varied by credential: AMFT-related registrations averaged about 15 business days, LMFT applications averaged 69 days, LCSW 58 days and LPCC 7 days. The board also administered 6,367 exams in the quarter (a 6.6% increase over the prior quarter). Sodergren said the board is changing how it publishes exam statistics (moving to calendar‑year increments) and is working with DCA’s Office of Information Services and the Office of Professional Examination Services (OPES) on reporting improvements.

Enforcement and other operations
The board received 686 consumer complaints and 257 criminal conviction reports in the quarter; staff closed 680 cases and referred 37 matters to the Attorney General’s office. Average time to complete formal discipline was reported at 464 days; average time cases are at the Attorney General’s office is 342 days; average in‑house investigation time is 55 days.

Breeze implementation and outreach
Sodergren said the board is still validating data before switching to the new Breeze registration system — the system is in place but staff must ensure accurate migration of historical records and validation processing prior to going live. He said once validation is complete, ASW and APCC registration types will follow and staff expects a quicker rollout thereafter.

The consumer information center handled 3,378 calls and staff received about 30,000 emails in the last quarter. The board reported 52 outreach events this year and continuing social media growth.

Quotes
“We are still working on putting the registration applications online,” Sodergren said. “The system is there and ready, but we need to make sure data will transfer appropriately because we don’t want to lose that.”

Ending
Board members pressed staff about outreach to registrants, supervisor certifications and audit rates. Staff said an FAQ and continued committee work on outreach and education will be part of their response. The board will continue to track Breeze readiness and proposed fee changes at future meetings.