Is evaluator a profession?

I listened to a debate about whether a particular line of work should be called a profession. Here were the arguments.

Do it pay lots of money? Can a college student major in the subject? Are there organizations that hold conferences on the subject? Is it licensed by the state?

None of these criteria were very convincing. The best one was: Can someone be found guilty of malpractice?

In fact, one of the best ways to decide whether a profession is really a profession is whether it can be accused of malpractice.

To determine malpractice, there has to be an established body of knowledge and practices. And there have to be some right ways of doing things and some wrong ways, and the distinctions have to be clear enough for some committee or jury to enforce the standards. In real professions, the competent ones are eager to throw the incompetents ones that degrade the reputation of the whole profession.

California and other states use child custody evaluators to advise the family court. Is that a profession?

By the above standards, I say no. Prominent local evaluators like Ken Perlmutter, Bret Johnson, and Farin Akins would have been found guilty of malpractice long ago, if that were even possible. They are sloppy, petty, malicious, dishonest, prejudiced, and corrupt. They have been exposed, and yet they continue in this so-called profession without harm to themselves.

No, it is not a profession.