Board pauses decision on out‑of‑state funeral director application; discusses inspector staffing and industry communications

At a recent meeting of the Connecticut Funeral Director Licensing Board, staff told members that an out‑of‑state applicant — identified in the record as Mrs. Perrin — does not meet the state’s education requirement and must first reinstate a New Jersey license and complete four years of licensed practice before qualifying for Connecticut licensure.

Department of Public Health licensing staff said, “This applicant doesn't meet the educational requirement for funeral director license in Connecticut,” and explained that state law allows an applicant with a current license in another state and at least four years of licensed work experience to qualify by endorsement. The staff member said Perrin must reinstate her New Jersey license and complete required continuing education before she can be issued a Connecticut license.

The clarification matters because board members said they had looked for the applicant at an earlier meeting and could not find her record in the system; staff said the application had been entered under a maiden name, which caused the earlier confusion.

Board members raised a procedural motion to table further action on the application. A board member moved to table the matter during the discussion, but no formal second or recorded vote on tabling appears in the meeting record; staff continued to advise that the applicant will need to complete New Jersey reinstatement and meet the four‑year requirement before Connecticut licensure can proceed.

The board also discussed inspections and investigations after members raised concerns that a Department of Public Health employee who is not a licensed funeral director had been conducting inspections. Department staff told the board that investigators with law‑enforcement backgrounds have been conducting both investigations and inspections during a staff absence, and that those investigators use a standardized inspection form and may consult outside expert consultants when technical guidance is needed. As staff put it, “we rely on an inspection form… and if we need to, we'll engage an expert consultant, get somebody in the field to help guide us.”

Board members asked whether there is a single subject‑matter expert the department consults; staff said the agency does not rely on a single outside expert to avoid conflicts of interest in a small professional community and that consultants are engaged on a case‑by‑case basis. The staff also described the vacancy process: if the current inspector (identified in the discussion as Mr. Vankowski) leaves the Department of Public Health, the vacancy must be justified and posted on the state Department of Administrative Services job site for public recruitment.

Several attendees from the funeral industry raised concerns about responsiveness from the department. A commenter, Tom Tierney of Manchester, said he had contacted department email addresses and left phone messages in recent months and received “0 response.” In response, staff provided contact names and an email address for investigation follow‑up: Laura Morris, who oversees investigations for the Department of Public Health, and an operational contact, Chris Andresen. Staff said they would circulate contact information to association members; industry representative Jesse Knowles asked whether the department’s contact emails could be broadcast to the association’s membership, and staff agreed to share them.

Members also briefly discussed regulatory timing for crematory relicensing: an attendee asked whether a crematory would be up for relicensing in June; staff said crematory inspections are scheduled in April and relicensing for such facilities typically occurs in June.

The meeting record shows no formal licensing decision on Mrs. Perrin’s application; the only recorded formal action in the transcript is a motion to close the meeting, which was moved, seconded and carried on a voice vote.