BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 428|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 428
Author: Eggman (D)
Amended: 3/21/13 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEVELOPMENT COMM. : 10-0, 6/3/13
AYES: Price, Emmerson, Block, Corbett, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Hill, Padilla, Wyland, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/9/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Healing arts: marriage and family therapists:
clinical social
workers: coursework
SOURCE : Board of Behavioral Sciences
DIGEST : This bill 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).
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Establishes the prerequisite coursework and training
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requirements for an LMFT applicant, who completes study
before December 31, 2018, to sit for the licensing
examination and repeals those provisions on January 1, 2019.
2. Establishes the educational requirements for licensure as an
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 an LMFT and LMFT intern.
3. Establishes the requirements for licensure for an LCSW and
requires each applicant to furnish satisfactory evidence to
the BBS that the applicant has complied with specified
requirements.
This bill:
1. Specifies that coursework in alcoholism and other chemical
substance dependency and coursework in spousal or partner
abuse assessment, detection and intervention strategies 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. Deletes the requirement for the BBS to receive certification
from the chief academic officer at the LMFT and LCSW
applicant's graduate program attesting that spousal and
partner abuse coursework was offered as part of the
applicant's graduate degree curriculum.
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
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
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acceptable methods to remediate are either through completing a
course at an educational institution approved by the BPPE or by
taking a course offered by a BBS approved continuing education
provider.
LMFT applicant courses . Existing law necessitates that the
following courses be completed during an 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 an LCSW applicant's degree
program or after. As such, the BBS has allowed LCSW applicants
to remediate coursework requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/24/13)
Board of Behavioral Sciences (source)
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, California
Division
California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical
Counselors
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
County Welfare Directors Association of California
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this
bill will allow applicants for an LMFT license to remediate
courses they may have missed during their graduate degree
program.
The bill's sponsor, the Board of Behavioral Sciences, 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
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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 indicate
this bill allows LMFT and LCSW applicants the ability to
remediate coursework deficiencies after they graduate.
The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
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, "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
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, "These changes ensure that
the required course content is delivered, while reducing a
needless (and, we believe, unintended) roadblock to licensure."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/9/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Torres, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Logue, Waldron, Vacancy
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MW:d 6/25/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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