BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 363
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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 363 (Emmerson)
          As Amended  September 1, 2011
          Majority vote

           SENATE VOTE  :38-0  
           
           BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS        9-0                   
          APPROPRIATIONS      16-0        
           
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          |Ayes:|Hayashi, Bill Berryhill,  |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey,          |
          |     |Allen, Butler, Eng,       |     |Blumenfield, Bradford,    |
          |     |Hagman, Hill, Ma, Smyth   |     |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
          |     |                          |     |Davis, Donnelly,          |
          |     |                          |     |Dickinson, Hall, Hill,    |
          |     |                          |     |Lara, Nielsen, Norby,     |
          |     |                          |     |Solorio, Wagner           |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           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 








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            course.

          5)Provides that the hours of experience gained referenced in 3) 
            and 4) above 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 
            centered advocacy.

          7)Adds language to avoid chaptering out issues with SB 943 
            (Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee), as 
            specified.




           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 








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            specified number of hours of supervised experience by a person 
            who has been licensed for at least two 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 
                 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  :   According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee, negligible state fiscal effect.  

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "SB 363 will clarify and 
          amend supervision and experience requirements in the Business 
          and Professions code for Californians seeking licensure as a 
          MFT."

          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 








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          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 
          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.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916) 
          319-3301 


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