BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó







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        |Hearing Date:April 11, 2011        |Bill No:SB                         |
        |                                   |146                                |
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                      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 





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           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)






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        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.






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           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 





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             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.  





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           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.
        






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        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