The College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy is a theologically based covenant community, dedicated to "recovery of the soul" and promoting competency in the clinical pastoral field.
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Theology is quite accustomed to the process of demythologizing: re-examining matters once held to be literally true and re-interpreting them in the light of accuracy and their historical function. Thus we can appreciate, for example, why the early Christian community proclaimed as fact that which was actually a crucial symbol.
It is necessary, then, to demythologize two issues within our federal government as they relate to CPSP and the pastoral care and counseling movement. In the anxiety of the leaders of pastoral care and counseling to establish professional legitimacy, these two matters were inaccurately stated. And the matter is more than a technicality. Certain pastoral care, judicatory and seminary leaders were saying that because only ACPE was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) it followed that only ACPE was the bona-fide, truly legitimate organization to offer training in pastoral care and whose students were solely prepared for employment as chaplains, pastoral counselors and supervisors.
This is an absolute myth, a complete misreading of fact. In reality many honorable pastoral care organizations have not sought nor desired federal recognition. These include AAPC (The American Association of Pastoral Counselors), NACC (The National Association of Catholic Chaplains), CAPE, and many others. The first myth, then, is to make clear the purpose of DOE recognition.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF DOE RECOGNITION?
The DOE does not present itself in any way as informing the public as to which educational institution is legitimate or credible and which is not. It exists only to assure the public that when federal funds are provided to any educational institution, then certain standards must be upheld and a linkage to the federal government must be established and maintained.
Examples of such federal funding are for grants-in-aid (e.g. Pell and Stafford grants), veterans benefits and research.
ACPE is the only pastoral care organization to claim DOE recognition. It originally applied for this status so as to accommodate any veterans who wished to enroll in CPE. ACPE has continued to invest its time and energy to sustain this recognition although it is not known if any federal funding is provided to ACPE.
A second major myth of the past two years is that Medicare pass-through funding, so vital to so many health care chaplaincy programs, is contingent upon DOE accreditation. It is difficult to determine when or where this myth began but it is time to dispel it. The facts:
THE DOE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ELIGIBILITY FOR MEDICARE PASS-THROUGH FUNDING.
The reality is that a totally separate and unrelated agency, CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), has the responsibility has the responsibility to assess which service units qualify for federal reimbursement for services to patients. The criteria for reimbursement are defined in detail by the CMS having to do with comprehensive and interdisciplinary assessment, care and coordination of patient services as well as supporting the training of pastoral persons who seek to increase in their specialty skills as pastoral providers. In no way does CMS single out any particular pastoral care organization for unique eligibility.
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The Rev. Dr. Gebhart is a Practicing Clinical Psychologist, CPE Supervisor and President-Elect of CPSP. He has served as President of the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education and serves on the Executive Committee of the College of Pastoral Supervision.
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at January 19, 2006 10:09 PM
