BILL NUMBER: SB 632	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  50
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 3, 2012
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 3, 2012
	PASSED THE SENATE  JUNE 18, 2012
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JUNE 14, 2012
	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, Emmerson. Marriage and family therapists.
   Existing law provides for the licensure 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. The bill, with respect to certain
trainees, including trainees who begin graduate study before August
1, 2012, and do not complete that study on or before December 31,
2018, would allow those trainees 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. Some of 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.


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 (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.