What are viable careers for felons convicted of multimillion-dollar fraud schemes after prison is left behind? Moving to NH and establishing oneself as a therapist.
The news last week, unfortunately, bears this out. Daniel Thibeault was arrested by the Bow Police Department for the sexual assault of a client. He was a prelicensed therapist practicing under a supervision agreement issued by the NH Board of Mental Health. As shocking as this is, what is even more disturbing is the news that he was on federal probation after having served seven years for investment fraud.
Are there no more background checks required by the Board of Mental Health?
The NH Board of Mental Health (BOMH) is run through the Office of Professional Licensing and Certification (OPLC), a state agency. They are responsible for credentialing and overseeing all licensed and prelicensed mental health professionals, such as Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Mental Health Counselors, and Pastoral Counselors. In order to practice in any of these professions in NH, it is required to submit an application to the BOMH and be approved either as an independently licensed professional or as a prelicensed therapist working under the supervision of a selected licensed therapist.
The application process includes a questionnaire regarding previous disciplinary hearings in other jurisdictions, past employment history, and proof of completed required education and passing grades in national competency exams. The prelicensed therapist works under the appointed licensed supervisor for a set period of time, receiving weekly supervision and billing under their name as well until they have accumulated enough experience to apply for licensure directly. Therapy notes are also cosigned by the licensed supervisor. There is also a required background check that is submitted with the application to the BOMH for review and approval, as per NH RSA 330-A:15-a.
In theory, the BOMH serves as a gatekeeper to ensure the safety and protection of the citizens of NH from unscrupulous or unlicensed individuals. Inadequately trained individuals can do more harm than good if handling matters outside of their ability. People seek out therapists and mental health professionals because they feel they need help, and believe that the person they are seeking help from has their best interests at heart and is trained to address their problems. Therapists, much like doctors and other healthcare professionals, are expected to have been vetted for education and competence as well as safety. A mother looking to book a therapy session for her anxious high schooler is going to assume that if a therapist is practicing in NH that they have been vetted and are not a convicted sex offender or felon.
The NH BOMH has failed to adequately protect the people of NH on at least two documented occasions in recent years. The first being with the investigation and subsequent emergency suspension of Erik Alonso’s license, a gentleman domiciled in Florida who was authorized to practice therapy “remotely” in NH via telehealth, while under the direct supervision of the President of the BOMH, Mr. Samuel Rosario.
As reported by NHPR, this gentleman was investigated in 2024 by Adult Protective Services for concerns of crossing ethical boundaries with a vulnerable adult and illegally billing Medicare/Medicaid. Mr. Alonso is barred from billing Medicare/Medicaid as he has a previous conviction in Florida for defrauding the US government out of $60 million. That is not a typo. This gentleman submitted fraudulent bills to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), falsely stating that patients were receiving intensive outpatient services at clinics he operated. He was convicted and served 60 months for this fraud, and had his clinical social work license in Florida revoked in 2017.
Several years later, Mr. Alonso is practicing therapy in NH. How did this happen? A look at the records on OPLC’s website provides few satisfactory answers. In 2023, Mr. Alonso applied to the BOMH to practice as a prelicensed therapist under the supervision of his employer Mr. Samuel Rosario, the President of the BOMH. A meeting was held to determine whether Mr. Alonso should be allowed to practice in NH despite his criminal record, and the decision was reached to allow him to do so, seemingly based on his letter to the Board expressing remorse. Mr. Alonso went on to work for Mr. Rosario’s company, LifeWorks Counseling Associates, providing telehealth therapy services to clients. In 2024, the investigation was begun at OPLC into whether or not he should continue to practice based on his previous conviction and the report from Adult Protective Services. In July, Mr. Rosario, still the President of the BOMH, stated to the investigator for OPLC that he did not plan to terminate Mr. Alonso’s employment with him until December, as he had too many clients that would need to be reassigned to other therapists. Mr. Rosario subsequently changed his mind, and terminated Mr. Alonso following an emergency meeting by the BOMH at which Mr. Alonso’s ability to practice therapy in the State of NH was suspended.
Mr. Alonso is currently suing OPLC, the BOMH, his former patient and their family members, and the US Office of Inspector General.
Mr. Rosario stepped down as the BOMH President after a hearing was called by the OPLC investigator requesting his own license be suspended based on his actions in initially declining to terminate Mr. Alonso from his employ. There were also concerns that Mr. Rosario employed Mr. Alonso for several months without a supervision agreement on file. The request for his suspension was denied by the BOMH, all of whom had, until that time, worked under him in a professional capacity on the BOMH. Mr. Rosario supposedly has an upcoming disciplinary hearing, although no additional information is available from the OPLC website. It is noted that the presiding law officer who rules on disciplinary orders in the event that the members of the BOMH have to recuse themselves for conflicts of interest, is not required to be recused as well, although they function as part of the BOMH on a daily basis.
The most recent infraction by a supposedly vetted therapist in NH came in the form of Daniel Thibeault, who was arrested for a reported sexual assault of a patient in his office. Again, Mr. Thibeault was practicing as a prelicensed therapist under supervision, and supposedly had undergone a background check along with his application to practice, which was granted on May 17, 2024. The meeting minutes from the BOMH that day do not reflect any waiver request or investigation into Mr. Thibeault’s application request, despite the fact that in 2016, he pled guilty in a federal court in Massachusetts to fraudulently misappropriating more than $15 million from an investment fund he operated. This begs the question of whether or not a background check was conducted for Mr. Thibeault. It is also noted that this public information related to his conviction is easily accessed online with little effort.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) maintains a List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE), which by law all providers of Medicaid must run their employees through to ensure they are not employing anyone who is excluded from participating in all federal healthcare programs. Mr. Alonso is on this list. Having stolen $60 million from the US government via CMS, he is now banned from ever having anything to do with a federal healthcare program. The BOMH is well aware of this list. When they issue suspensions or remove licenses permanently for grievous infractions, the name of the licensee is sent to the OIG for placement on this list. Mr. Rosario, the former BOMH President, is contracted with Medicaid/Medicare through his business, and by law should not have been employing someone who was on the OIG LEIE, such as Mr. Alonso. Employers can be fined by the federal government for breaching this regulation.
Children, the elderly, mental illness, disenfranchised/marginalized populations, failing marriages, all those come to mind when professional mental health is mentioned. And yet all of these populations have been repeatedly put at risk by the BOMH’s decisions to allow therapists to practice who pose a danger to their patients. Yes, the BOMH emergently suspended both Mr. Alonso and Mr. Thibeault when accusations were made, and the Final Order for both states that the emergent suspension is justified as the licensee is an imminent danger to public health, safety or welfare. The question remains, did the BOMH not feel their previous felony convictions were sufficient warning of this danger they suddenly now pose?
The NH BOMH has failed the people it is supposed to protect. It is time for accountability to protect the people of NH.
Citations
- https://www.unionleader.com/news/crime/therapist-charged-with-bow-sex-assault-was-on-probation-for-15m-fraud/article_39d3b625-f4d2-4f2e-8522-b50de5e1af04.html
- https://www.nhpr.org/health/2024-08-15/chair-of-mental-health-board-resigns-after-regulators-question-oversight-at-his-own-practice
- https://www.oplc.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt441/files/inline-documents/mental-health-practice-emergency-minutes-20240717.pdf
- https://www.oplc.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt441/files/inline-documents/board-actions-mental-health-alonso-emergency-suspension-20240717.pdf
- https://www.oplc.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt441/files/inline-documents/20251222_mentalhealthpracticeemergencysuspensiondanielthibeault.pdf
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