In Florida, faith-based counseling programs are exempt from state licensure under F.S. 491.014(3), "...when the activities are within the scope of the performance of his or her regular or specialized ministerial duties and no compensation is received by him or her, or when such activities are performed, with or without compensation, by a person for or under the auspices or sponsorship, individually or in conjunction with others, of an established and legally cognizable church, denomination, or sect, and when the person rendering service remains accountable to the established authority thereof." In order to be a certified Batterers Intervention Program provider by the Florida Department of Children & Families, the following criteria must be met according to the Florida Administrative Code 65H-2.017(2)(e): "(2) The program curriculum shall not include the following elements: (e) Faith-based ideology associated with a particular religion or denomination.” This in turn creates a problem for faith-based Batterers Intervention Program providers in which they must decide if they break the law and offer a secular service or follow the law and stand for their right to offer a faith-based BIP.
Many may have not heard of a September 2014 case in which a pastoral counselor was accused of offering secular counseling services. Mr. Richard Ruperto of Martin County was investigated, arrested, incarcerated for eight days, and faced years of litigation after he was charged with Unlicensed Practice of Health Care Professional, Unlawful Description of Clinical Counseling or Psychotherapy Services, Practicing Psychology without a License, Unlawful Use of the Word Psychotherapy, Unlawful Use of the Words Psychological or Psychodiagnostic and Scheme to Defraud. It took until September 3, 2015 for all charges to be Nolle Prossed or no-filed by the State Attorney’s Office. This case serves as a warning bell to all faith-based service providers of the lengths that the state of Florida will go to in order to scrutinize and stop faith-based counseling services.
Keeping this case in mind, we look at the standing of the faith-based Batterers Intervention Program providers in Florida. If a provider followed the suggestion of a Florida DCF BIP Certification Specialist and removed all faith references from their curriculum, a faith-based BIP provider would then be offering a secular psychoeducational program or secular cognitive behavioral therapy intervention model to the public, not a faith-based one. In turn, this would be a violation of the law as it is beyond the scope of work for a licensure exempt faith-based provider. In 2022, when our faith-based counseling office realized that we were being asked to break the law, we refused. A lawsuit was filed to restore the client option of faith-based BIP in Florida. The Governor’s Office, Florida State Attorney General’s Office, and Florida legislators were all notified of this law and the implications for the faith-based BIP. To this day the lawsuit is on appeal and Florida Administrative Code 65H-2.017(2)(e) still stands. The solution is simple: remove 65H-2.017(2)(e) to allow faith-based BIP providers to operate within their licensure exemption under F.S. 491.014(3), as demanded by providers and clients since the 2023 legislative session. With over 80 state-approved secular BIP providers ensuring client choice, the Duluth Model’s faith-based curriculum along with other faith-based curriculum choices already in high demand, faith-based providers can deliver reputable, client-preferred interventions without legal conflict once this administrative code is removed.
It gives pause to stop and think about how many faith-based providers may have given into the power of the Florida DCF and began offering a secular BIP, despite client demand for faith-based options since 2023, as evidenced by the Duluth Model’s Christian curriculum. Could these providers face the same scrutiny and targeting that Mr. Ruperto faced? The solution—removing Florida Administrative Code 65H-2.017(2)(e), with certification specialists treating faith components as neutral providing they do not instruct clients to violate Florida’s laws, to ensure compliance without compelling providers to violate state law—would restore access to programs like the Duluth Model’s Christian Power and Control or other faith-based BIP curriculum. Remember, your tax dollars do not fund the Florida Batterers Intervention Programs, they are financed 100% by clients, but your tax dollars are being used by the State Attorney General’s office to fight to keep faith-based BIP providers from offering their services. How “free” is the “Free State of Florida?”
