Angela Hovey

The College alleged that the Registrant, a registered social worker, engaged in professional misconduct by making an unsolicited phone call to the estranged spouse of a potential client during a high-conflict separation involving intimate partner violence (IPV) allegations.

The Discipline Committee found that the Registrant failed to conduct appropriate risk screening, initiated contact without consent, and made inappropriate comments minimizing the IPV allegations while urging reconciliation.

The Panel accepted expert evidence that the Registrant's conduct fell below the standards of a reasonably prudent social worker.

The Registrant was found to have engaged in professional misconduct on all four allegations, with his conduct deemed dishonourable and unprofessional.

In a professional discipline hearing, the panel found that the member committed repeated boundary violations and sexual misconduct against three vulnerable clients, including prolonged unwanted touching, sexualized comments, coercive conduct, and in one instance forced sexual contact.

The panel also found that the member failed to maintain proper clinical and financial records and issued false invoices in a child’s name to obtain insurance reimbursement for services actually provided to adult clients.

Relying in part on expert evidence on social work ethics, boundaries, documentation, and trauma-informed practice, the panel held that the conduct breached multiple provisions of the governing statute, the Professional Misconduct Regulation, and the Standards of Practice Handbook.

All allegations in both Notices of Hearing were proven on a balance of probabilities.