BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|Hearing Date:June 3, 2013 | Bill No: AB 428|
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Chair
Bill No: AB 428Author:Eggman
As Amended:March 21, 2013 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: Healing arts: marriage and family therapists: clinical
social workers: coursework.
SUMMARY: Permits Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) applicants to remediate
specified coursework by taking courses at an educational institution
or continuing education provider approved by the Board of Behavioral
Sciences (BBS).
Existing law:
1)Defines the practice of marriage and family therapy. (Business and
Professions Code (BPC) § 4980.10)
2)Establishes the prerequisite coursework and training requirements
for a LMFT applicant, who completes study before December 31, 2018,
to sit for the licensing examination and repeals those provisions on
January 1, 2019. (BPC §§ 4980.37; 4980.41)
3)Establishes the educational requirements for licensure as a LMFT and
provides that a doctoral or master's degree in marriage and family
therapy, couple and family therapy, psychology or counseling with an
emphasis in either marriage or family therapy obtained from a
school, college or university approved by the Bureau for Private
Postsecondary Education (BPPE) as of a specified date, shall be
considered by the BBS to meet the requirements necessary for
licensure as LMFT and LMFT intern. (BPC § 4980.40.5)
4)Establishes the requirements for licensure for a LCSW and requires
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each applicant to furnish satisfactory evidence to the BBS that the
applicant has complied with specified requirements. (BPC § 4996.2)
This bill:
1) Specifies that alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency
coursework taken in a master's or doctoral degree program, at an
accredited or approved institution or from a BBS accepted provider
of continuing education, satisfies educational requirements for
LMFT applicants.
2) Specifies that spousal or partner abuse assessment, detection and
intervention strategies coursework taken in a master's or doctoral
degree program, at an accredited or approved institution or from a
BBS accepted provider of continuing education, satisfies
educational requirements for LMFT applicants.
3) Deletes the requirement for the BBS to receive certification from
the chief academic officer at the LMFT applicant's graduate program
attesting that spousal and partner abuse coursework was offered as
part of the applicant's graduate degree curriculum.
4) Deletes the requirement for the BBS to receive certification from
the chief academic officer at the LCSW applicant's graduate program
attesting that spousal and partner abuse coursework was offered as
part of the applicant's graduate degree curriculum.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee
Analysis dated May 1, 2013, this bill will result in minor and
absorbable costs to the BBS.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the BBS . According to the
Author, this bill will allow applicants for a LMFT license to
remediate courses they may have missed during their graduate degree
program. The Sponsor asserts that this bill is needed because,
during the application process, some applicants discover that they
do not qualify for a license due to missing coursework. Though
existing law permits an out-of-state applicant to remediate missing
coursework, the law does not allow an in-state applicant to
remediate required coursework.
2.Background. All four licensing groups regulated by the BBS are
subject to specific coursework requirements. For example, both LCSW
and LMFT applicants must demonstrate that they have taken courses in
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specified topic areas. Certain courses must be completed within the
graduate degree program, while other courses may be remediated after
completion of the degree program. The acceptable methods to
remediate are either through completing a course at an educational
institution approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary
Education or by taking a course offered by a BBS approved continuing
education provider.
LMFT Applicant Courses. Current law necessitates that the following
courses be completed during a LMFT applicant's degree program: 1)
alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency and 2) spousal or
partner abuse assessment. For those out of state applicants who
have not completed the required coursework during their degree
programs, the BBS permits them to remediate the coursework after
completing their programs.
LCSW Applicant Courses. The law also requires that LCSW applicants
complete coursework in spousal or partner abuse assessment.
However, it is unclear if this coursework requirement must be
completed during a LCSW applicant's degree program or after. As
such, the BBS has allowed LCSW applicants to remediate coursework
requirements.
3.Arguments in Support. The Board of Behavioral Sciences (Sponsor)
writes, "Correcting this inequity in the law will ensure that all
applicants are treated equally regarding remediation of these
subject matters, and would prevent an unfortunate situation where an
applicant must obtain a new master's degree because their degree was
missing a single course."
The California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical
Counselors and the County Welfare Directors Association both support
the bill. In their letters they indicate the bill would allow LMFT
and LCSW applicants the ability to remediate coursework deficiencies
after they graduate.
The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists also
supports the bill when they write, "This bill would serve to make
the laws more consistent and, therefore, equitable across the
licensing types."
The National Association of Social Workers-California Chapter
indicates in their letter, "Under current law, out-of-state LMFT
applicants are able to remediate coursework that in-state applicants
cannot. For LMFT's, if an in-state applicant is missing required
coursework, they must return to graduate study and obtain an
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entirely new degree. For LCSW's it is less clear whether the
instruction and training must be part of the degree program. This
will allow both professions to remediate specified courses from an
accredited or approved educational institution or from a Board
accepted continuing education provider."
The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy-California
Division notes in their support letter, "These changes ensure that
the required course content is delivered, while reducing a needless
(and, we believe, unintended) roadblock to licensure."
4. Current Related Legislation. AB 451 (Eggman, 2013) extends the
current effective date for new education, examination and
eligibility requirements for out-of-state applicants for LMFT and
LPCC applicants from January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2015, and
extends the repeal date of certain existing education, examination
and eligibility requirements for out-of-state applicants from
January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2015. ( Note : This bill has been
referred to the Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development Committee for hearing.)
5.Prior Related Legislation. SB 33 (Correa, Chapter 26, Statutes of
2009) updated the educational curriculum requirements for LMFTs to
require persons who begin graduate study after August 1, 2012 to
meet increased total unit requirements and practicum hours for
face-to-face counseling. It also integrated elements, including
public mental health practices throughout the curriculum, and
revised the requirements for applicants licensed or educated outside
of California. The current LMFT educational requirements are
scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2019.
SB 1218 (Correa, 2008) would have updated and recast the educational
curriculum requirements for LMFTs. SB 1218 was one of several
measures vetoed by the Governor due to the 2008-2009 State Budget
delay.
SB 564 (Speier, Chapter 481, Statutes of 2002) required applicants
for licensure as LMFTs, LCSWs and psychologists to complete a
minimum of 15 hours of specified coursework in spousal or partner
abuse assessment, detection and intervention strategies. The bill
also required licensees to take a one-time continuing education
course.
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SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
Board of Behavioral Sciences (Sponsor)
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy-California
Division
California Association of Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
County Welfare Directors Association of California
National Association of Social Workers-California Chapter
Opposition:
None received as of May 28, 2013
Consultant: Le Ondra Clark, Ph.D.