BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 632 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 632 (Emmerson) As Amended June 6, 2012 2/3 vote. Urgency SENATE VOTE :38-0 BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 9-0 -------------------------------- |Ayes |Hayashi, Bill Berryhill, | | |Allen, Butler, Eng, | | |Hagman, Hill, Ma, Smyth | |-----+--------------------------| | | | -------------------------------- SUMMARY : Clarifies which marriage and family therapist (MFT) trainees are allowed to counsel clients outside of a practicum course, and clarifies a limited exemption for trainees who are not allowed to counsel clients outside of a practicum course. Specifically, this bill : 1)Specifies that trainees who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and complete that study on or before December 31, 2018, may gain hours of experience and counsel clients outside of the required practicum. 2)Specifies that the following trainees may gain hours of experience outside of the required practicum but must be enrolled in a practicum course to counsel clients: a) Applicants for licensure or registration who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and do not complete that study on or before December 31, 2018; b) Applicants for licensure or registration who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and who graduate from a degree program that meets additional educational requirements, as specified; and, c) Applicants for licensure or registration who begin graduate study on or after August 1, 2012. 3)Specifies that the trainees identified in 2) above, may SB 632 Page 2 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. 4)Deletes an irrelevant implementation date. 5)States legislative intent that trainees identified in 1) above, shall be allowed to gain experience and counsel clients as of January 1, 2012, and that this bill, in that respect, is to operate retroactively. 6)Contains an urgency clause. EXISTING LAW : 1)Licenses and regulates the practice of MFTs by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) within the Department of Consumer Affairs. 2)Establishes education requirements for MFT licensure, including a requirement for a practicum completed by an MFT intern and trainee that involves certain types and hours of experience, as specified. 3)Defines certain terms for purposes of the licensing law, including: a) "Intern" to mean an unlicensed person registered with BBS who has earned a masters or doctors degree qualifying for licensure; and, b) "Trainee" to mean an unlicensed person currently enrolled in a masters or doctors degree program, as specified, that is designed to qualify the person for licensure as an MFT. 4)Authorizes MFT interns and trainees to perform counseling activities and services in certain work settings, provided that the activities and services are part of the trainee's SB 632 Page 3 supervised course of study. 5)Provides that MFT trainees may gain hours of experience outside the required practicum but must be enrolled in a practicum course to counsel clients. 6)Provides that trainees 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 and immediately followed by enrollment in a practicum course. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : According to the author, "SB 632 is a clean-up measure to SB 363 (2011, Chapter 384). Currently, under Section 4980.42 (c), all MFT trainees must be enrolled in a practicum course to counsel clients beginning January 1, 2012, unless the period of lapsed enrollment is less than 90 days, and is immediately preceded and followed by enrollment in a practicum course. However, the intent of SB 363 was to apply this 90 day exemption period to the practicum requirement only to those trainees subject to Section 4980.36, which specifically refers to trainees who begin graduate study on or after August 1, 2012. Therefore, SB 632 will correct this oversight and only apply this practicum requirement to trainees who begin graduate study on or after August 1, 2012. This bill also contains a provision to clarify that the change is retroactive back to January 1, 2012, which is the date that SB 363 became effective and imposed the practicum requirement with the 90 day exemption period to all trainees." Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / B.,P. & C.P. / (916) 319-3301 FN: 0004054