BILL NUMBER: AB 2435 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Sections 28, 4980.37, 4980.39, and 4980.43 of the
Business and Professions Code, relating to elder and dependent adult
abuse.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2435, as introduced, Bonnie Lowenthal. Elder and dependent
adult abuse.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of
psychologists, clinical social workers, and marriage and family
therapists. Existing law requires a person applying for licensure in
these professions to have completed specified coursework or training
in child abuse assessment and reporting from certain types of
institutions.
This bill, on and after January 1, 2012, would expand the required
coursework or training to additionally cover elder and dependent
adult abuse assessment and reporting.
(2) Existing law, with respect to marriage and family therapists,
requires an applicant for licensure or registration to possess a
doctor's or master's degree in various disciplines, including
marriage, family, and child counseling, relative to applicants who
begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and complete that study
on or before December 31, 2008.
This bill would instead refer to marriage, family, older adult,
and child counseling.
(3) Existing law requires an applicant for licensure as a marriage
and family therapist under (2) to complete a minimum of 10 contact
hours of coursework in aging and long-term care, which may include
the biological, social, and psychological aspects of aging.
This bill would require the coursework to include instruction on
the assessment and reporting of elder and dependent adult abuse and
neglect, and associated treatment.
(4) Existing law requires an applicant for licensure as a marriage
and family counselor, prior to applying for a licensure examination,
to complete certain experience, including, among other things, not
less than 500 total hours of experience in diagnosing and treating
couples, families, and children.
This bill would include diagnosing and treating older adults
within this experience requirement.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 28 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
28. The Legislature finds that there is a need to ensure that
professionals of the healing arts who have demonstrable contact with
child abuse victims, potential child abuse victims, and
child abusers and potential child abusers victims and
potential victims of child, elder, and dependent adult abuse, and
abusers and potential abusers of children, elders, and dependent
adults are provided with adequate and appropriate training
regarding the assessment and reporting of child , elder, and
dependent adult abuse which will ameliorate, reduce, and
eliminate the trauma of child abuse and neglect
and ensure the reporting of child abuse in a
timely manner to prevent additional occurrences.
The Board of Psychology and the Board of Behavioral Sciences shall
establish required training in the area of child abuse
above-referenced areas of assessment and
reporting for all persons applying for initial licensure and renewal
of a license as a psychologist, clinical social worker, or marriage
and family therapist on or after January 1, 1987 .
This training shall be required one time only for all persons
applying for initial licensure or for licensure renewal on
or after January 1, 1987 . With respect to elder and
dependent adult abuse, the requirement for training shall apply on
and after January 1, 2012.
All persons applying for initial licensure and renewal of a
license as a psychologist, clinical social worker, or marriage and
family therapist on or after January 1, 1987,
shall, in addition to all other requirements for licensure or
renewal, have completed coursework or training in child
abuse the above-referenced areas of assessment
and reporting which that meets the
requirements of this section, including detailed knowledge of
Section 11165 Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 11164) of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 4 of the Penal
Code. With respec t to elder and dependent adult
abuse, the requirement shall apply on and after January 1, 2012.
The training shall meet all of the following requirements:
(a) Be completed after January 1, 1983.
(b)
(a) Be obtained from one of the following sources:
(1) An accredited or approved educational institution, as defined
in Sections 2902, 4980.36, 4980.37, and 4996.18, including extension
courses offered by those institutions.
(2) A continuing education provider approved by the responsible
board.
(3) A course sponsored or offered by a professional association or
a local, county, or state department of health or mental health for
continuing education and approved by the responsible board.
(c)
(b) Have a minimum of seven contact hours.
(d)
(c) Include the study of the assessment and method of
reporting of sexual assault, neglect, severe neglect, general
neglect, willful cruelty or unjustifiable punishment, corporal
punishment or injury, and abuse in out-of-home care. The training
shall also include physical and behavioral indicators of abuse,
crisis counseling techniques, community resources, rights and
responsibilities of reporting, consequences of failure to report,
caring for a child's the needs of
a child, elder, or dependent adult after a report is made,
sensitivity to previously abused children and adults, and
implications and methods of treatment for children and adults.
(e)
(d) An applicant shall provide the appropriate board
with documentation of completion of the required child , elder,
and dependent adult abuse training.
The Board of Psychology and the Board of Behavioral Sciences shall
exempt an applicant who applies for an exemption from the
requirements of this section and who shows to the satisfaction of the
board that there would be no need for the training in his or her
practice because of the nature of that practice.
It is the intent of the Legislature that a person licensed as a
psychologist, clinical social worker, or marriage and family
therapist have minimal but appropriate training in the areas of child
, elder, and dependent adult abuse assessment and
reporting. It is not intended that by solely complying with the
requirements of this section, a practitioner is fully trained in the
subject of treatment of child , elder, and dependent adult
abuse victims and abusers.
(f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1997.
SEC. 2. Section 4980.37 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4980.37. (a) This section shall apply to applicants for licensure
or registration who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and
complete that study on or before December 31, 2018. Those applicants
may alternatively qualify under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of
Section 4980.36.
(b) To qualify for a license or registration, applicants shall
possess a doctor's or master's degree in marriage, family, older
adult, and child counseling, marriage and family therapy,
psychology, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, or counseling
with an emphasis in either marriage, family, and child counseling or
marriage and family therapy, obtained from a school, college, or
university accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by
the United States Department of Education or approved by the Bureau
for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. The board has the
authority to make the final determination as to whether a degree
meets all requirements, including, but not limited to, course
requirements, regardless of accreditation or approval. In order to
qualify for licensure pursuant to this section, a doctor's or master'
s degree program shall be a single, integrated program primarily
designed to train marriage and family therapists and shall contain no
less than 48 semester or 72 quarter units of instruction. This
instruction shall include no less than 12 semester units or 18
quarter units of coursework in the areas of marriage, family, and
child counseling, and marital and family systems approaches to
treatment. The coursework shall include all of the following areas:
(1) The salient theories of a variety of psychotherapeutic
orientations directly related to marriage and family therapy, and
marital and family systems approaches to treatment.
(2) Theories of marriage and family therapy and how they can be
utilized in order to intervene therapeutically with couples,
families, adults, children, and groups.
(3) Developmental issues and life events from infancy to old age
and their effect on individuals, couples, and family relationships.
This may include coursework that focuses on specific family life
events and the psychological, psychotherapeutic, and health
implications that arise within couples and families, including, but
not limited to, childbirth, child rearing, childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, marriage, divorce, blended families, stepparenting,
abuse and neglect of older and dependent adults, and
geropsychology.
(4) A variety of approaches to the treatment of children.
The board shall, by regulation, set forth the subjects of
instruction required in this subdivision.
(c) (1) In addition to the 12 semester or 18 quarter units of
coursework specified in subdivision (b), the doctor's or master's
degree program shall contain not less than six semester or nine
quarter units of supervised practicum in applied psychotherapeutic
technique, assessments, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of
premarital, couple, family, and child relationships, including
dysfunctions, healthy functioning, health promotion, and illness
prevention, in a supervised clinical placement that provides
supervised fieldwork experience within the scope of practice of a
marriage and family therapist.
(2) For applicants who enrolled in a degree program on or after
January 1, 1995, the practicum shall include a minimum of 150 hours
of face-to-face experience counseling individuals, couples, families,
or groups.
(3) The practicum hours shall be considered as part of the 48
semester or 72 quarter unit requirement.
(d) As an alternative to meeting the qualifications specified in
subdivision (b), the board shall accept as equivalent degrees those
master's or doctor's degrees granted by educational institutions
whose degree program is approved by the Commission on Accreditation
for Marriage and Family Therapy Education.
(e) In order to provide an integrated course of study and
appropriate professional training, while allowing for innovation and
individuality in the education of marriage and family therapists, a
degree program that meets the educational qualifications for
licensure or registration under this section shall do all of the
following:
(1) Provide an integrated course of study that trains students
generally in the diagnosis, assessment, prognosis, and treatment of
mental disorders.
(2) Prepare students to be familiar with the broad range of
matters that may arise within marriage and family relationships.
(3) Train students specifically in the application of marriage and
family relationship counseling principles and methods.
(4) Encourage students to develop those personal qualities that
are intimately related to the counseling situation such as integrity,
sensitivity, flexibility, insight, compassion, and personal
presence.
(5) Teach students a variety of effective psychotherapeutic
techniques and modalities that may be utilized to improve, restore,
or maintain healthy individual, couple, and family relationships.
(6) Permit an emphasis or specialization that may address any one
or more of the unique and complex array of human problems, symptoms,
and needs of Californians served by marriage and family therapists.
(7) Prepare students to be familiar with cross-cultural mores and
values, including a familiarity with the wide range of racial and
ethnic backgrounds common among California's population, including,
but not limited to, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans.
(f) Educational institutions are encouraged to design the
practicum required by this section to include marriage and family
therapy experience in low-income and multicultural mental health
settings.
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. Section 4980.39 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4980.39. (a) An applicant for licensure whose education qualifies
him or her under Section 4980.37 shall complete, as a condition of
licensure, a minimum of 10 contact hours of coursework in aging and
long-term care, which may include, but is not limited to, the
biological, social, and psychological aspects of aging. This
coursework shall include instruction on the assessment and reporting
of, as well as treatment related to, elder and dependent adult abuse
and neglect.
(b) Coursework taken in fulfillment of other educational
requirements for licensure pursuant to this chapter, or in a separate
course of study, may, at the discretion of the board, fulfill the
requirements of this section.
(c) In order to satisfy the coursework requirement of this
section, the applicant shall submit to the board a certification from
the chief academic officer of the educational institution from which
the applicant graduated stating that the coursework required by this
section is included within the institution's required curriculum for
graduation, or within the coursework, that was completed by the
applicant.
(d) The board shall not issue a license to the applicant until the
applicant has met the requirements of this section.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 4. Section 4980.43 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4980.43. (a) Prior to applying for licensure examinations, each
applicant shall complete experience that shall comply with the
following:
(1) A minimum of 3,000 hours completed during a period of at least
104 weeks.
(2) Not more than 40 hours in any seven consecutive days.
(3) Not less than 1,700 hours of supervised experience completed
subsequent to the granting of the qualifying master's or doctor's
degree.
(4) Not more than 1,300 hours of supervised experience obtained
prior to completing a master's or doctor's degree.
The applicant shall not be credited with more than 750 hours of
counseling and direct supervisor contact prior to completing the
master's or doctor's degree.
(5) No hours of experience may be gained prior to completing
either 12 semester units or 18 quarter units of graduate instruction
and becoming a trainee except for personal psychotherapy.
(6) No hours of experience gained more than six years prior to the
date the application for examination eligibility was filed, except
that up to 500 hours of clinical experience gained in the supervised
practicum required by subdivision (c) of Section 4980.37 and
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section
4980.36 shall be exempt from this six-year requirement.
(7) Not more than a combined total of 1,250 hours of experience in
the following:
(A) Direct supervisor contact.
(B) Professional enrichment activities. For purposes of this
chapter, "professional enrichment activities" include the following:
(i) Workshops, seminars, training sessions, or conferences
directly related to marriage and family therapy attended by the
applicant that are approved by the applicant's supervisor. An
applicant shall have no more than 250 hours of verified attendance at
these workshops, seminars, training sessions, or conferences.
(ii) Participation by the applicant in personal psychotherapy,
which includes group, marital or conjoint, family, or individual
psychotherapy by an appropriately licensed professional. An applicant
shall have no more than 100 hours of participation in personal
psychotherapy. The applicant shall be credited with three hours of
experience for each hour of personal psychotherapy.
(C) Client centered advocacy.
(8) Not more than 500 hours of experience providing group therapy
or group counseling.
(9) Not more than 250 hours of experience administering and
evaluating psychological tests, writing clinical reports, writing
progress notes, or writing process notes.
(10) Not less than 500 total hours of experience in diagnosing and
treating couples, families, older adults, and children.
For the first 150 hours of treating couples and families in conjoint
therapy, the applicant shall be credited with two hours of experience
for each hour of therapy provided.
(11) Not more than 375 hours of experience providing personal
psychotherapy, crisis counseling, or other counseling services via
telemedicine in accordance with Section 2290.5.
(b) All applicants, trainees, and registrants shall be at all
times under the supervision of a supervisor who shall be responsible
for ensuring that the extent, kind, and quality of counseling
performed is consistent with the training and experience of the
person being supervised, and who shall be responsible to the board
for compliance with all laws, rules, and regulations governing the
practice of marriage and family therapy. Supervised experience shall
be gained by interns and trainees either as an employee or as a
volunteer. The requirements of this chapter regarding gaining hours
of experience and supervision are applicable equally to employees and
volunteers. Experience shall not be gained by interns or trainees as
an independent contractor.
(1) If employed, an intern shall provide the board with copies of
the corresponding W-2 tax forms for each year of experience claimed
upon application for licensure.
(2) If volunteering, an intern shall provide the board with a
letter from his or her employer verifying the intern's employment as
a volunteer upon application for licensure.
(c) Supervision shall include at least one hour of direct
supervisor contact in each week for which experience is credited in
each work setting, as specified:
(1) A trainee shall receive an average of at least one hour of
direct supervisor contact for every five hours of client contact in
each setting.
(2) An individual supervised after being granted a qualifying
degree shall receive at least one additional hour of direct
supervisor contact for every week in which more than 10 hours of
client contact is gained in each setting. No more than five hours of
supervision, whether individual or group, shall be credited during
any single week.
(3) For purposes of this section, "one hour of direct supervisor
contact" means one hour per week of face-to-face contact on an
individual basis or two hours per week of face-to-face contact in a
group.
(4) Direct supervisor contact shall occur within the same week as
the hours claimed.
(5) Direct supervisor contact provided in a group shall be
provided in a group of not more than eight supervisees and in
segments lasting no less than one continuous hour.
(6) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), an intern working in a
governmental entity, a school, a college, or a university, or an
institution that is both nonprofit and charitable may obtain the
required weekly direct supervisor contact via two-way, real-time
videoconferencing. The supervisor shall be responsible for ensuring
that client confidentiality is upheld.
(7) All experience gained by a trainee shall be monitored by the
supervisor as specified by regulation.
(d) (1) A trainee may be credited with supervised experience
completed in any setting that meets all of the following:
(A) Lawfully and regularly provides mental health counseling or
psychotherapy.
(B) Provides oversight to ensure that the trainee's work at the
setting meets the experience and supervision requirements set forth
in this chapter and is within the scope of practice for the
profession as defined in Section 4980.02.
(C) Is not a private practice owned by a licensed marriage and
family therapist, a licensed psychologist, a licensed clinical social
worker, a licensed physician and surgeon, or a professional
corporation of any of those licensed professions.
(2) Experience may be gained by the trainee solely as part of the
position for which the trainee volunteers or is employed.
(e) (1) An intern may be credited with supervised experience
completed in any setting that meets both of the following:
(A) Lawfully and regularly provides mental health counseling or
psychotherapy.
(B) Provides oversight to ensure that the intern's work at the
setting meets the experience and supervision requirements set forth
in this chapter and is within the scope of practice for the
profession as defined in Section 4980.02.
(2) An applicant shall not be employed or volunteer in a private
practice, as defined in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d), until registered as an intern.
(3) While an intern may be either a paid employee or a volunteer,
employers are encouraged to provide fair remuneration to interns.
(4) Except for periods of time during a supervisor's vacation or
sick leave, an intern who is employed or volunteering in private
practice shall be under the direct supervision of a licensee that has
satisfied the requirements of subdivision (g) of Section 4980.03.
The supervising licensee shall either be employed by and practice at
the same site as the intern's employer, or shall be an owner or
shareholder of the private practice. Alternative supervision may be
arranged during a supervisor's vacation or sick leave if the
supervision meets the requirements of this section.
(5) Experience may be gained by the intern solely as part of the
position for which the intern volunteers or is employed.
(f) Except as provided in subdivision (g), all persons shall
register with the board as an intern in order to be credited for
postdegree hours of supervised experience gained toward licensure.
(g) Except when employed in a private practice setting, all
postdegree hours of experience shall be credited toward licensure so
long as the applicant applies for the intern registration within 90
days of the granting of the qualifying master's or doctor's degree
and is thereafter granted the intern registration by the board.
(h) Trainees, interns, and applicants shall not receive any
remuneration from patients or clients, and shall only be paid by
their employers.
(i) Trainees, interns, and applicants shall only perform services
at the place where their employers regularly conduct business, which
may include performing services at other locations, so long as the
services are performed under the direction and control of their
employer and supervisor, and in compliance with the laws and
regulations pertaining to supervision. Trainees and interns shall
have no proprietary interest in their employers' businesses and shall
not lease or rent space, pay for furnishings, equipment or supplies,
or in any other way pay for the obligations of their employers.
(j) Trainees, interns, or applicants who provide volunteered
services or other services, and who receive no more than a total,
from all work settings, of five hundred dollars ($500) per month as
reimbursement for expenses actually incurred by those trainees,
interns, or applicants for services rendered in any lawful work
setting other than a private practice shall be considered an employee
and not an independent contractor. The board may audit applicants
who receive reimbursement for expenses, and the applicants shall have
the burden of demonstrating that the payments received were for
reimbursement of expenses actually incurred.
(k) Each educational institution preparing applicants for
licensure pursuant to this chapter shall consider requiring, and
shall encourage, its students to undergo individual, marital or
conjoint, family, or group counseling or psychotherapy, as
appropriate. Each supervisor shall consider, advise, and encourage
his or her interns and trainees regarding the advisability of
undertaking individual, marital or conjoint, family, or group
counseling or psychotherapy, as appropriate. Insofar as it is deemed
appropriate and is desired by the applicant, the educational
institution and supervisors are encouraged to assist the applicant in
locating that counseling or psychotherapy at a reasonable cost.