BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|Hearing Date:April 21, 2014 |Bill No:SB |
| |1012 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Ted W. Lieu, Chair
Bill No: SB 1012Author:Wyland
As Amended:April 21, 2014 Fiscal: No
SUBJECT: Marriage and family therapists: trainees
SUMMARY: Extends the number of hours that an individual with a
qualifying degree can count towards their weekly supervision
requirement from five to six hours.
Existing law:
1) Provides for the licensure, registration and regulation of MFTs by
the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS). (Business and Professions
Code (BPC) § 4990 et seq.)
2) Defines "intern" as an unlicensed person who has earned his or her
master or doctoral degree qualifying him or her for licensure and
is registered with the BBS. (BPC § 4980.03 (b))
3) Defines "trainee" as an unlicensed person who is currently enrolled
in a master or doctoral degree program, that is designed to qualify
him or her for licensure, and who has completed no less than 12
semester units or 18 quarter units of coursework in any qualifying
degree program. (BPC § 4980.03 (c))
4) Defines "experience" as experience in interpersonal relationships,
psychotherapy, marriage and family therapy, and professional
enrichment activities that satisfies the requirement for licensure
as a MFT. (BPC § 4980.03 (f))
5) Defines "supervisor" as an individual who meets all of the
following requirements:
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a) Has been licensed by a state regulatory agency for at least
two years as a marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical
social worker, licensed professional clinical counselor, licensed
psychologist or licensed physician certified in psychiatry by the
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
b) If a licensed professional clinical counselor, the individual
should have completed the additional training and education
requirements specified in BPC § 4999.20 (3) (a).
c) Has not provided therapeutic services to the trainee or
intern.
d) Has a current and valid license that is not under suspension
or probation.
e) Complies with supervision requirements established by the BBS
via regulations. (California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 16,
§ 1833 et seq.)
6) Specifies that an applicant for licensure must not complete more
than 40 clinical hours in any seven consecutive days. (BPC §
4980.43 (a) (2))
7) Specifies that no more than 1300 hours of supervised experience and
750 hours of clinical contact with clients shall be obtained prior
to completing the graduate degree. (BPC § 4980.43 (a) (4))
8) Requires a trainee to attain supervised clinical experience while
working in clinical settings under the supervision of licensed
professionals. (BPC § 4980.43 et seq.)
9) Specifies that a trainee can receive one additional hour of direct
supervisor contact for every week in which more than 10 hours of
client contact is gained in each clinical setting. (BPC § 4980.43
(c) (2))
10)Specifies that no less than 1700 hours of supervised experience
shall be completed after obtaining the graduate degree. (BPC §
4980.43 (a) (3))
11)Specifies that no more than five hours of supervision shall be
credited, during any single week, for interns. (BPC § 4980.43 (c)
(2))
12)Further specifies, that during each week in which experience is
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claimed, and for each work setting in which experience is gained,
an applicant shall have at least one hour of one-on-one,
individual, face-to-face supervisor contact or two hours of
face-to-face supervisor contact in a group of not more than eight
persons receiving supervision. Additionally, no more than five
hours of supervision, whether individual or group, shall be
credited during any single week. (CCR Title 16, § 1833(b) (1) (2))
This bill: Extends the number of hours that an individual with a
qualifying degree can count towards their weekly supervision
requirement from five to six hours.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill has been keyed "non-fiscal" by Legislative
Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the California Marriage and
Family Therapists Association (CAMFT). According to the Author,
"This bill will allow MFT trainees and interns to be able to count
all the supervised hours they actually obtain toward licensure. By
modifying the hour requirement process, the path to licensure will
be improved. MFTs will be able to complete their requirements more
quickly and be available to serve the public."
2. Background. MFT Trainees and Interns . Trainees are individuals
who are enrolled in MFT graduate programs who have completed at
least 12 semester or 18 quarter units of coursework. Interns have
earned their graduate degree, are registered with BBS, but have not
yet taken the licensing examination. There are over 16,000 interns
registered with the BBS.
MFT Trainee and Intern Supervision Requirements . Current law
requires that MFT trainees and interns complete 3000 hours of
clinical experience in order to gain licensure. Clinical
experience includes contact with clients in clinical settings such
as mental health agencies, hospitals or doctor's offices. No more
than 1000 of the required hours can be gained from direct
supervisor contact. Direct supervisor contact is defined as one
hour per week of face-to-face contact in individual supervision or
two hours per week of face-to-face contact in a group supervision
setting. Trainees must receive an average of one hour of direct
supervisor contact for every five hours of clinical work with
clients. Interns must receive at least one additional hour of
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direct supervisor contact for every week in which more than 10
hours of client counseling is gained.
3. Arguments in Support. The California Association of Marriage and
Family Therapists (Sponsor) supports the bill and writes, "MFT
Trainees and Registered Interns often work at multiple work sites
and obtain more than five hours of supervision a week in order to
meet the requirements for counting client counseling hours received
during that week. Removing this limitation is to allow MFT Trainees
and Registered Interns to count all the supervisor contact hours
they actually obtain, which will result in many of these applicants
being able to complete their hours of experience in a timelier
fashion?many more Californians will have insurance coverage for
mental health benefits due to the recent passage of the Affordable
Care Act. The sooner these applicants are licensed, the sooner
they are able to join the workforce and provide the counseling
services consumers desperately need."
The California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies also
supports the bill and states its letter, "The bill would remove the
five hour restriction it (sic) thus provides more opportunity for
trainees to advance towards licensure. Since there is a shortage
of licensed therapists this bill will help address an important
healthcare need."
4. Policy Issues. As it is written, this bill would amend current law
that allows interns to count up to six hours of clinical
supervision per week. However, in materials submitted by the
Author's office, it appears that the intent of this bill is to
allow both interns and trainees to count up to six hours of
clinical supervision per week towards their clinical hour
requirements. It should be noted that this bill will not extend
the hours requirements for trainees.
In addition, the BBS indicates that there have been very few
complaints from applicants regarding the current five hour
supervision cap. The BBS suggests bringing this issue to its
Supervision Committee to discuss further in late June.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (Sponsor)
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
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Opposition:
None received as of April 15, 2014
Consultant:Le Ondra Clark, Ph.D.