Clinical social worker Jane Angell surrenders license over involvement in custody matter

January 2, 2013

On November 1, 2012, the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners accepted the surrender of clinical social worker Jane Angell’s license, considered a revocation.

According to the Board’s document, a mother brought her child to Angell for treatment to assist in reducing the child’s anxiety associated with visits from his father, who was not married to the mother and who was born while the father was deployed.

Angell’s consent for treatment forms contained an exclusion regarding not providing custody, disability, medical, legal, employment or other kinds of evaluations.

However, Angell wrote a letter for the mother to use in court that included the opinion that the child’s overnight visits with the father should not increase until communication between the mother and father improved.

Though Angell knew that the mother and father were engaged in a custody dispute, there was no evidence that she took any steps to minimize any potential conflicts of interest that might arise. Angell treated the father separately but did not obtain a consent for treatment from him.

Angell submitted signed forms and repeatedly stated that the father had signed them but later admitted that she falsified the father’s signature on the forms.