Don’t Let a Decades-Old Conviction Define a Lifetime

**To the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners, Texas lawmakers, behavioral health professionals, and all who believe in rehabilitation and second chances:**

I am asking for your support for fair, reasonable, and consistent consideration of rehabilitation when determining eligibility for professional licensure in Texas.

More than two decades ago, in 2002, I made poor decisions that resulted in a criminal conviction. I do not deny my past, minimize my actions, or attempt to avoid accountability for the choices I made. I accept responsibility for them, have served the time being incarcerated, and have volunteered thousands of hours with TDCJ and local underserved communities.

But I also believe that accountability and rehabilitation must coincide.

Nearly 25 years have passed. During those years, I have worked hard to build a different life and to establish myself as a responsible professional committed to helping others. My life today should be evaluated not only by what happened in 2002, but also by the person I have demonstrated myself to be in the decades since.

I am currently a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC) in Texas. I have also reached the professional level of providing clinical supervision to other chemical dependency counselors. I have dedicated my professional life to behavioral health, recovery, accountability, and helping people make meaningful changes in their lives.

I am now pursuing licensure as a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW).

My request is simple: A decades-old criminal conviction should not automatically outweigh decades of rehabilitation, education, professional achievement, service, and demonstrated good conduct.

Our behavioral health system teaches people that change is possible. We encourage clients to take responsibility for their actions, make different choices, pursue education, rebuild their lives, and become productive members of society. Our professional licensing system should recognize those same principles when evaluating people who have demonstrated genuine and sustained rehabilitation.

This petition is not asking licensing boards to ignore criminal histories or abandon their responsibility to protect the public. It is asking them to consider the whole person—including the age of an offense, the amount of time that has passed, evidence of rehabilitation, subsequent conduct, education, existing professional licensure, work history, community service, and the individual's present ability to practice safely and ethically.

I am asking those who believe in rehabilitation, redemption, fairness, and second chances to stand with me. I have taken this exam 4 times and was determined to not give up. Each time, I missed the passing score by less than 10 points. Each time I sat for the exam, I paid $250. Prior to sitting for the exam, the ASWB requested to see my criminal records, was provided those records, and approved me to test. However, the licensing board they rely on to provide licenses, has now delayed giving me the very license I have put in the work to earn. 

By signing this petition, you are supporting the principle that a person should not be permanently defined by the worst decision of their past when decades of their life demonstrate who they have become.

Please sign and share this petition to support fair consideration of rehabilitated professionals seeking licensure in Texas.

I am proof that people can change. Rehabilitation should matter. Twenty-plus years of demonstrated change should matter too.