State prohibits clinical social worker Dawn Malone from providing services; engaged in inappropriate insurance billing, recordkeeping failures

June 5, 2009

Licensed clinical social worker DAWN MALONE, whose license expired on May 31, 2009 is prohibited from providing any type of psychotherapy in Arizona and may not reapply for Arizona licensure for a minimum of five years.  According to the Board’s online disciplinary report, Malone treated a husband and wife from 7/06 to 2/08 and during one treatment session, Malone and the husband discussed the husband opening a counseling practice (“treatment center”) and hiring Malone as clinical director.  After the husband opened the center and hired Malone, she requested that he pay her bills and taxes.  She received $85,000 from him in 2008 for part-time work.  In 2007, Malone provided treatment to a client and referred the client to the husband and wife for house cleaning services.  When Malone concluded treatment with the client, she then hired the client to work at the treatment center, where Malone asked her to alter the service date on a billing record to one year after the service was actually provided.  Malone billed the former client’s insurance company for five sessions that were never provided.  As Clinical Director of the treatment center, Malone approved inappropriate billing practices and did not keep clinical records for the client or the husband and wife.

(Entry on Dawn Malone, license no. LCSW-11767, as found in Arizona Board of Behavioral Health’s Adverse Action Tracking Form, page 16, dated June 26, 2009.)