BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 363
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 14, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
SB 363 (Emmerson) - As Amended: April 25, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 38-0
SUBJECT : Marriage and family therapists.
SUMMARY : Authorizes licensed professional clinical counselors
(LPCC) to supervise marriage and family therapist (MFT) interns,
provided certain additional training and education requirements
are met, and authorizes MFT trainees to counsel clients while
not enrolled in a practicum if the period of lapsed enrollment
is less than 90 calendar days, as specified. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Provides that this bill does not constrict, limit, or withdraw
the LPCC Act.
2)Authorizes LPCCs meeting additional training and education
requirements, as specified, to serve as a supervisor to MFT
interns.
3)Provides that MFT trainees may gain hours of experience
outside the required practice while enrolled in a practicum
course to counsel clients, as specified.
4)Authorizes MFT trainees to counsel clients while not enrolled
in a practicum course if the period of lapsed enrollment is
less than 90 calendar days, and if the period is immediately
preceded and immediately followed by enrollment in a practicum
course.
5)Provides that the hours of experience gained referenced in 3)
and 4) are subject to the requirements under current law.
6)Recasts experience requirements for MFT licensure by requiring
no more than 1000 hours of experience in direct supervisor
contact and professional enrichment activities as specified,
and no more than 500 hours of experience administering and
evaluating psychological tests, writing clinical reports,
writing progress notes, or writing process notes; or client
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centered advocacy.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Licenses and regulates the practice of MFTs, licensed
educational psychologists (LEPs), and licensed clinical social
workers (LCSWs) by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS)
within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Beginning January
1, 2012, the BBS will additionally license LPCCs.
2)Specifies the education required for MFT licensure, which
includes a requirement for a practicum that involves direct
client contact and hours of experience relating to client
centered advocacy, as defined.
3)Authorizes MFT trainees to perform activities and services in
certain work settings provided that these constitute part of
the trainee's supervised course of study and the person is
designated as a trainee.
4)Authorizes MFT trainees to gain hours of experience outside
the required practicum under certain conditions, but requires
trainees who gain experience outside the required practicum to
be enrolled in a practicum in order to counsel clients.
5)Requires an applicant for licensure as a MFT to complete a
specified number of hours of supervised experience by a person
who has been licensed for at least 2 years as a MFT, LCSW,
licensed psychologist, or licensed physician certified in
psychiatry.
6)Provides that professional clinical counseling does not
include the assessment or treatment of couples or families
unless the LPCC has completed all of the following additional
training and education, beyond the minimum training and
education required for licensure:
a) One of the following:
i) Six semester units or nine quarter units
specifically focused on the theory and application of
marriage and family therapy; and,
ii) A named specialization or emphasis area on the
qualifying degree in marriage and family therapy; marital
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and family therapy; marriage, family, and child
counseling; or couple and family therapy.
b) No less than 500 hours of documented supervised
experience working directly with couples, families, or
children; and,
c) A minimum of six hours of continuing education specific
to marriage and family therapy, completed in each license
renewal cycle.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office, "SB 363
will clarify and amend supervision and experience requirements
in the Business and Professions code for Californians seeking
licensure as a MFT."
Background . Revisions made in the MFT law by SB 33 (Correa),
Chapter 26, Statutes of 2009, require MFT trainees to be
enrolled in a practicum course while counseling clients.
According to BBS, a number of schools have voiced concern on how
the practicum course requirement would operate during
intersession and summer break when students may not be able to
enroll in a practicum course. This could create continuity of
care issues when the trainee goes on summer break leaving the
client with another practitioner or without care. Additionally,
there are barriers to licensure if the trainee is not able to
gain direct client hours due to not being enrolled in practicum.
Therefore, allowing a trainee to continue counseling clients
while not enrolled in a practicum if that lapse in enrollment is
less than 90 days will help address these concerns, according to
the BBS.
BBS further indicates that under current law, the number of
client-centered advocacy hours that a MFT intern can obtain is
only limited by the amount of direct supervisor contact hours
acquired by the intern. For example, if an intern received the
minimum number of direct supervisor contact hours for 104 weeks,
that individual could potentially receive credit for 1,146 hours
for client-centered advocacy. BBS believes that the majority of
the MFT intern's experience hours should be gained through a
variety of training activities other than client-centered
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advocacy, therefore, the bill proposes to limit the client
centered advocacy allowed for an MFT intern to 500 hours.
Currently, BBS states, LPCCs are not allowed to supervise MFT
interns. However, the law authorizes all other licensees of the
BBS to supervise these interns. This bill authorizes LPCCs to
supervise MFT interns if they meet additional training and
education requirements to treat couples and families.
Support . The American Association for Marriage and Family
Therapy California Division (AAMFT-CA) writes in support,
"AAMFT-CA is pleased to offer its support for your bill, SB 363,
which (1) ensures proper university supervision for graduate
students in marriage and family therapy who are seeing clients,
and (2) expands the pool of eligible supervisors for MFT interns
and trainees to include those LPCCs who meet state requirements
to assess and treat couples and families.
"Under 2009's SB 788, LPCCs may not assess or treat couples or
families unless they have completed specific coursework and
supervised experience in couple and family work. SB 363 would
allow LPCCs to supervise MFT interns and trainees provided the
LPCC has completed specific coursework and supervised experience
in couple and family work. This is fully appropriate, given
that MFT interns and trainees under supervision are likely to
themselves be working with couples and families. To remove this
requirement would allow LPCCs to supervise an activity
(assessing or treating couples or families) that the supervisor
him or herself is legally prohibited from conducting, which
makes no sense. The bill's opponents claim this restriction
will limit the supervision available to MFT interns and
trainees; it will not. Because this bill adds a previously
unrecognized category of supervisors, this bill expands the
opportunities for prelicensed MFTs to receive supervision, while
ensuring that those newly-recognized supervisors are
appropriately qualified. Opponents of this provision also claim
that the bill discriminates against LPCCs; in fact, it is merely
consistent with existing law. Psychologists, LCSWs and
psychiatrists all may practice marriage and family therapy
within their existing licensure. This is different from LPCCs,
who may not assess or treat couples or families without
appropriate additional training."
Opposition . The California Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists writes in opposition, "This bill restricts the
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supervision of MFT interns and trainees by LPCCs. This bill
mandates that a LPCC would have to have had six semester units
or nine quarter units specifically focused on the theory and
application of marriage and family therapy or a named
specialization or emphasis in marriage and family therapy in
their qualifying degree; no less than 500 hours of documented
supervised experience working directly with couples, families,
or children; and a minimum of six hours of continuing education
specific to marriage and family therapy completed in each
license renewal cycle. We agree that to protect the consumer,
any supervisor of an MFT intern or trainee must be suitably
educated and experienced. However, to demand that an LPCC
supervisor have additional educational requirements not mandated
for LCSWs, psychologists or psychiatrists, simply causes a
hardship for MFT interns and trainees in finding a qualified
supervisor (especially in rural areas) with no additional
consumer protection resulting.
"We oppose these anticipated limitations, especially for persons
who will be "grand-parented" into the Licensed Professional
Clinical Counselor profession. We would be willing to accept
these anticipated limitations if they are applicable to those
persons who begin graduate study on or after January 1, 2012.
We are willing to work with BBS to come to an acceptable
compromise on this provision at such time it is amended into the
bill.
Previous legislation . SB 33 (Correa), Chapter 26, Statutes of
2009, updates and recasts 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, repeals
current MFT educational requirements on January 1, 2019, revises
requirements for applicants licensed or educated outside of
California, and makes technical and conforming changes.
SB 788 (Wyland), Chapter 619, Statutes of 2009, establishes the
LPCC Act which provides for the licensing and regulation of
LPCCs by BBS.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
SB 363
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Board of Behavioral Sciences (sponsor)
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy California
Division
Opposition
California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical
Counselors
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301