BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |Hearing Date:April 11, 2011 |Bill No:SB | | |146 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Chair Bill No: SB 146Author:Wyland As Amended:March 30, 2011 Fiscal:Yes SUBJECT: Professional clinical counselors. SUMMARY: Revises various provisions relating to the practice of mental health professionals to also include the practice of licensed professional clinical counselors, clinical counselor trainees, and clinical counselor interns; makes technical updating and conforming changes. Existing law: 1) Beginning January 1, 2012, licenses and regulates professional clinical counselors (LPCC) under the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act (Act), by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). The Act also regulates clinical counselor trainees and clinical counselor interns. 2) Requires certain health-related licensees to complete training in human sexuality and authorizes the boards regulating those licensees to adopt education and training requirements related to chemical dependency and the assessment and treatment of AIDS. (Business and Professions Code (BPC) §§ 25, 29, 32) 3) Requires boards to provide specified information on the Internet about the status of every license issued by the respective boards. (BPC § 27) 4) Requires liability insurers, and state or local government agencies that self insure specified licensees, to report settlement or arbitration awards above $10,000, or a claim or action for damages SB 146 Page 2 for death or personal injury by that licensee's negligence, error, or omission in practice, or by rendering unauthorized services. (BPC § 801) 5) Establishes peer review for certain healing arts licensees. (BPC § 805) 6) Provides a cause of action against a psychotherapist, as defined, for injury caused by sexual contact with the psychotherapist. (Civil Code § 43.93) 7) Requests public postsecondary colleges and universities in California to develop standards and guidelines for curriculum in gerontology, nursing, social work, psychology, marriage and family therapy, and rehabilitation therapies. (Education Code § 66085) 8) Permits testimony in a criminal proceeding of a witness who has previously undergone hypnosis, by specified licensees, for the purpose of recalling events. (Evidence Code § 795) 9) Provides that a patient has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication between the patient and a psychotherapist. (Evidence Code § 1010) 10)Authorizes the superior court family law division to contract with specified providers for supervised visitation and exchange services, education, and group counseling. (Family Code § 3202) 11)Establishes provisions regarding mental health treatment or counseling services and residential shelter services by specified professionals. (Family Code § 6924). 12)Prohibits the license requirements of healing arts professionals in state and other licensed governmental health facilities from being any less than those of professional personnel in privately-owned health facilities, as specified. (Health and Safety Code § 1277). 13)Requires health care service plans licensed by the Department of Managed Health Care that operates, or contracts for telephone medical advice services to ensure that those providing those services are licensed. (Health and Safety Code § 1348.8) 14)Requires health care service plans to provide, upon request, a list of contracting providers within a plan of enrollee's general geographic area. (Health and Safety Code § 1367.26) SB 146 Page 3 15)Prohibits a health care service plan, or insurance carrier from prohibiting an enrollee from selecting certain types of licensees for mental health services. (Health and Safety Code §1373, Insurance Code § 10176.7) 16)Establishes requirements governing patient records and the responsibilities of health care providers regarding those records when practicing at institutions for the developmentally disabled or mental hospitals. (Health and Safety Code § 123100) 17)Requires a person who provides mental health services in local mental health facilities to be licensed, but allows the licensure requirement to be waived in local facilities for psychologists, clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists who are gaining experience required for licensure. (Welfare and Institutions Code § 5751.2) 18)Makes certain persons mandated reporters under the Child Abuse Neglect and Reporting Act. (Penal Code §11165.7) 19)Establishes staffing requirements for mental health regional facilities, including requiring that the staff include a pediatrician, dentist, and marriage and family therapist, on an as-needed basis. (Welfare and Institutions Code §5696.5) This bill: 1) Revises various provisions relating to the practice of mental health professionals to also include the practice of professional clinical counselors, clinical counselor trainees, and clinical counselor interns. 2) Specifically, this bill does the following: a) Extends the requirements for training in human sexuality, chemical dependency and the assessment and treatment of AIDS to LPCCs. b) Requires BBS to disclose information on licensed professional clinical counselors on its Internet site. c) Applies the requirement to report to the BBS settlement or arbitration awards involving LPCCs. d) Includes LPCCs within the peer review requirements. SB 146 Page 4 e) Authorizes the formation of LPCC corporations for purposes of rendering professional services (BPC §§ 4990.20 and 4999.123), and makes conforming changes to the Moscone-Knox Professional Corporation Act, authorizing professional clinical counselors to be shareholders, officers, directors, or professional employees of other professional corporations, as specified. (Corporations Code § 13401.5) f) Includes LPCCs and LPCC interns and trainees within the definition of psychotherapist as it relates to injury caused by sexual contact with a psychotherapist. g) Requires colleges and universities to develop standards and guidelines for LPCC curriculum. h) Includes LPCCs with those licensees that may perform hypnosis upon a witness who testifies in a criminal proceeding. i) Extends the patient-psychotherapist confidentiality relationship to LPCCs, LPCC interns and trainees. j) Authorizes the superior court family law division to contract with LPCCs. aa) Authorizes mental health treatment or counseling services at residential shelters to be provided by LPCCs or LPCC interns. bb) Prohibits the LPCC license requirements in state or other governmental health facilities from being any less than for those in privately-owned health facilities. cc) Requires health care service plans providing telephone medical advice services to ensure any LPCCs providing those services are licensed. dd) Requires health care service plans to provide a list of LPCCs within a plan enrollee's geographic area. ee) Adds LPCCs to those mental health professionals that a health care service plan or insurance carrier may not prohibit an enrollee from selecting for mental health services. ff) Applies the provisions regarding patient records to LPCCs and LPCC interns. gg) Waives the license requirement for providing mental SB 146 Page 5 health services in local mental health facilities professional clinical counselors who are gaining experience required for licensure. hh) Requires LPCCs, LPCC interns and trainees to be mandated reporters. ii) Revises the staffing requirements for a regional facility to include a LPCC on an as-needed basis, and authorizes the director of local mental health services to be a LPCC. 3) Makes other technical updating and conforming changes. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS: 1. Purpose. This bill is sponsored by California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (Sponsor). The Sponsor states that the sole purpose of the bill is to add LPCCs to the State Codes where marriage and family therapists are already included. The Sponsor states that marriage and family therapists are "a long-standing comparable profession" and that the bill is not intended to affect any existing professions included in the ÝBPC] Code. According to the Sponsor, a number of existing State Codes need to be updated to bring them in line with the new law authorizing licenses for qualified LPCCs, including: Business and Professions Code, Civil Code, Corporations Code, Education Code, Evidence Code, Family Code, Health and Safety Code, Insurance Code, Penal Code and Welfare and Institutions Code, thereby allowing the LPCCs to be effectively utilized in California. 2. Background. This bill makes conforming and clean up changes relating to the provisions to SB 788 (Wyland, Chapter 619, Statutes of 2009) which enacted the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act, providing for the licensing and regulation of professional clinical counselors (LPCCs) in California. That bill was the final step in a multi-year effort to establish professional counselor licensure in California. Prior licensing efforts include AB 1486 (Calderon) in 2008, and AB 894 (La Suer) in 2005. 3. Related Legislation. SB 788 established the licensing and regulation of professional clinical counselors in California. SB 146 Page 6 Stated that LPCCs practice is a separate and distinct profession from licensed marriage and family therapy (MFT) and licensed clinical social workers (LCSW). Authorized BBS to begin accepting applications for examination eligibility on January 1, 2012, and issue LPCC licenses to applicants who meet certain education, experience and examination requirements. SB 33 (Correa, Chapter 26, Statutes of 2009) updated and recast the educational curriculum requirements for MFTs to require persons who begin graduate study after August 1, 2012, to meet increased total unit requirements, increased practicum hours for face-to-face counseling, integrates specified elements, including public mental health practices, throughout the curriculum, revised MFT educational requirements and revised requirements for applicants licensed or educated outside of California. SB 363 (Emmerson), allows MFT trainees to continue counseling clients while not enrolled in a practicum if the lapse in enrollment is less than 45 days; limits the number of client-centered advocacy hours for a marriage and family therapist intern to 500 hours; and allows LPCCs to supervise MFT interns if they meet additional training and education requirements to treat couples and families. This measure is set for hearing in this Committee on April 11, 2011. SB 704 (Negrete McLeod) revises and recasts examination requirements for marriage and family therapists and interns and for licensed clinical social workers and associate social workers; makes technical cleanup and conforming changes. This measure was approved on Consent by this Committee on April 4, 2011. 4. Arguments in Support. In sponsoring the bill, California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (CALPCC) states that professional counselors are masters and doctoral-level mental health service providers who practice psychotherapy, and has sponsored this bill to update various Codes in line with the new LPCC law. CALPCC states that there are no fiscal implications to this clean-up bill. The California Alliance of Child and Family Services believes that the bill would help to improve the ability for children and families to access mental health services that they may need. NOTE : Double-referral to Judiciary Committee. SB 146 Page 7 SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION: Support: California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (Sponsor) California Alliance of Child and Family Services Opposition: None received as of April 4, 2011. Consultant:G. V. Ayers