BILL NUMBER: SB 632 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 6, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 23, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Emmerson
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 4980.42 of the Business and Professions
Code, relating to marriage and family therapists, and declaring the
urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 632, as amended, Emmerson. Marriage and family therapists.
Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of marriage
and family therapists by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Existing
law specifies the education required for licensure, which includes,
for specified applicants, a requirement for a practicum that involves
direct client contact and hours of experience relating to
client-centered advocacy, as defined. Existing law authorizes
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. Existing
law also authorizes 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, except that trainees may
counsel clients while not enrolled in a practicum if the period of
lapsed enrollment is less than 90 calendar days, and if that period
is immediately preceded and immediately followed by enrollment in a
practicum course. Existing law specifies requirements of the
degree program that an applicant must complete to be eligible for
licensure.
This bill would revise these provisions to allow trainees who
begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and complete that study
on or before December 31, 2018, to gain experience and counsel
clients outside of a practicum , provided that the period of
lapse is immediately preceded by enrollment in a practicum course and
immediately followed by enrollment in a practicum course or
completion of the degree program . These provisions would
operate retroactively from January 1, 2012, and the bill would state
the intent of the Legislature in that regard.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4980.42 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4980.42. (a) Trainees performing services in any work setting
specified in subdivision (e) (d) of
Section 4980.43 may perform those activities and services as a
trainee, provided that the activities and services constitute part of
the trainee's supervised course of study and that the person is
designated by the title "trainee."
(b) Trainees subject to Section 4980.37 may gain hours of
experience and counsel clients outside of the required practicum.
This subdivision shall apply to hours of experience gained and client
counseling provided on and after January 1, 2012.
(c) Trainees subject to Section 4980.36 may gain hours of
experience outside of the required practicum but must be enrolled in
a practicum course to counsel clients. Trainees subject to Section
4980.36 may counsel clients while not enrolled in a practicum course
if the period of lapsed enrollment is less than 90 calendar days, and
if that period is immediately preceded by enrollment in a
practicum course and immediately followed by enrollment in a
practicum course or completion of the degree program .
(d) All hours of experience gained pursuant to subdivisions (b)
and (c) shall be subject to the other requirements of this chapter.
(e) All hours of experience gained as a trainee shall be
coordinated between the school and the site where the hours are being
accrued. The school shall approve each site and shall have a written
agreement with each site that details each party's responsibilities,
including the methods by which supervision shall be provided. The
agreement shall provide for regular progress reports and evaluations
of the student's performance at the site. If an applicant has gained
hours of experience while enrolled in an institution other than the
one that confers the qualifying degree, it shall be the applicant's
responsibility to provide to the board satisfactory evidence that
those hours of trainee experience were gained in compliance with this
section.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature, with respect to the
amendments to subdivision (b) of Section 4980.42 of the Business and
Professions Code in Section 1 of this act, that trainees subject to
Section 4980.37 of the Business and Professions Code shall be allowed
to gain hours of experience and counsel clients as of January 1,
2012, and that this act, in that respect, is to operate
retroactively.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to clarify provisions governing the required practicum
for marriage and family therapist trainees as quickly as possible, it
is necessary that this act take effect immediately.