BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                 UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 1012
          Author:   Wyland (R)
          Amended:  8/7/14
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE BUSINESS, PROF.& ECON. DEV. COMM.  :  9-0, 4/21/14
          AYES:  Lieu, Wyland, Berryhill, Block, Corbett, Galgiani,  
            Hernandez, Hill, Padilla

           SENATE FLOOR  :  37-0, 5/5/14
          AYES:  Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Corbett,  
            Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani,  
            Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Knight, Lara,  
            Leno, Lieu, Liu, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla,  
            Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Calderon, Wright, Yee

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  78-0, 8/14/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT :    Healing arts:  licensure requirements

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill increases the number of hours, from five to  
          six, which a marriage and family therapist (MFT) trainee or  
          intern and a professional clinical counselor (PCC) intern may  
          count towards their weekly supervision requirement.

           Assembly Amendments add PCC interns to the provisions of this  
          bill and make conforming changes.
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           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law: 

           1. Provides for the licensure, registration and regulation of  
             MFTs by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS).  

           2. Defines the following terms:

              A.    "Practice of marriage and family therapy" to mean that  
                service performed with individuals, couples, or groups  
                wherein interpersonal relationships are examined for the  
                purpose of achieving more adequate, satisfying and  
                productive marriage and family adjustments, as specified.

              B.    MFT "intern" to mean an unlicensed person who has  
                earned his/her master's or doctor's degree qualifying  
                him/her for licensure and is registered with BBS.

              C.    MFT "trainee" to mean an unlicensed person who is  
                currently enrolled in a master's or doctor's degree  
                program, as specified, that is designed to qualify him/her  
                for licensure, and who has completed no less than 12  
                semester units or 18 quarter units of coursework in any  
                qualifying degree program. 

              D.    "Experience" to mean experience in interpersonal  
                relationships, psychotherapy, marriage and family therapy,  
                and professional enrichment activities that satisfies the  
                requirement for licensure, as specified. 

              E.    "One hour of direct supervisor contact" to mean "one  
                hour per week of face-to-face contact on an individual  
                basis or two hours per week of face-to-face contact in a  
                group." 

              F.    "Professional clinical counseling" to mean the  
                application of counseling interventions and  
                psychotherapeutic techniques to identify and remediate  
                cognitive, mental, and emotional issues, including  
                personal growth, adjustment to disability, crisis  
                intervention, and psychological and environmental  
                problems, and the use, application and integration of the  

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                coursework and training, as specified. 

              G.    PCC "intern" to mean an unlicensed person, who meets  
                specified requirements, and is registered with BBS.

              H.    "Clinical counselor trainee" to mean an unlicensed  
                person who is currently enrolled in a master's or doctoral  
                degree program, as specified, that is designed to qualify  
                him/her for licensure, and who has completed no less than  
                12 semester units or 18 quarter units of coursework in any  
                qualifying degree program. 

           1. Requires an MFT applicant for licensure to complete the  
             following: 

              A.    A minimum of 3,000 hours completed during a period of  
                at least 104 weeks; 

              B.    Not more than 40 hours in any seven consecutive days; 

              C.    Not less than 1,700 hours of supervised experience  
                completed subsequent to the granting of the qualifying  
                master's or doctoral degree; 

              D.    Not more than 1,300 hours of supervised experience  
                obtained prior to completing a master's or doctoral  
                degree, and the applicant cannot be credited with more  
                than 750 hours of counseling and direct supervision  
                contact prior to completing the master's or doctoral  
                degree; 

              E.    No hours of supervised experience may be grained prior  
                to completing either 12 semester units or 18 quarter units  
                or graduate instruction and becoming a trainee except for  
                personal psychotherapy; and

              F.    No hours of experience may be gained more than six  
                years prior to the date the application of examination  
                eligibility was filed, except that up to 500 hours of  
                clinical experience gained in the supervised practicum  
                required as specified. 

           2. Provides for the licensure, registration and regulation of  
             PCCs by BBS.  

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           3. Requires, prior to applying for the licensure examination,  
             applicants for licensure as a PCC to complete clinical mental  
             health experience under the general supervision of an  
             approved supervisor which shall include a minimum of 3,000  
             post-degree hours or supervised clinical mental health  
             experience related to the practice of professional clinical  
             counseling, performed over a period of not less than two  
             years and includes: 

              A.    Not more than 40 hours in any seven consecutive days; 

              B.    Not less than 1,750 hours of direct counseling with  
                individuals, groups, couples, or families in a specified  
                setting using a variety of psychotherapeutic techniques  
                and recognized counseling interventions within the scope  
                of practice of licensed professional clinical counselors; 

              C.    Not more than 500 hours of experience providing group  
                therapy or group counseling; 

              D.    Not more than 375 hours of experience providing  
                personal psychotherapy, crisis counseling, or other  
                counseling services via telehealth, as specified; 

              E.    Not less than 150 hours of clinical experience in a  
                hospital or community mental health setting, as specified;  


              F.    Not more than a combined total of 1,250 hours of  
                experience in the following related activities:  (1)  
                direct supervisor contact; (2) client centered advocacy;  
                (3) not more than 250 hours of experience administering  
                tests and evaluating psychological tests of clients,  
                writing clinical reports, writing progress notes, or  
                writing process notes; and (4) not more than 250 hours of  
                verified attendance at workshops, seminars, training  
                sessions, or conferences directly related to professional  
                clinical counseling that are approved by the applicant's  
                supervisor; and

              G.    No hours of clinical mental health experience may be  
                gained more than six years prior to the date the  
                application for examination eligibility was filed. 

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           1. Establishes certain criteria for the settings in which  
             supervision hours may be credited to a trainee, including,  
             among other things, a prohibition against settings that are  
             private practices owned by a licensed MFT, a licensed  
             psychologist, a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed  
             physician and surgeon, or a professional corporation of any  
             of those licensed professions.

          This bill: 

           1. Increases the number of hours, from five to six, which an  
             MFT trainee or intern may count towards his/her weekly  
             supervision requirements, and permits those supervision hours  
             to be gained on or after January 1, 2009, rather than 2010 as  
             existing law permits. 

           2. Prohibits an MFT trainee from getting credit for more than  
             six hours of supervision, whether in an individual or group  
             setting, towards his/her weekly supervision requirements. 

           3. Increases the number of hours, from five to six, which a PCC  
             intern may count towards his/her weekly supervision  
             requirements.

           4. Includes a private practice owned by a PCC in the list of  
             settings in which supervision hours may not be credited.

           Background
           
           MTFs  .  MFTs are employed in clinics, counseling centers and  
          private practice.  They use counseling or psychotherapeutic  
          techniques to assist individuals, couples, families, and groups  
          with a focus on marriage and family relationship issues.  The  
          minimum educational and experience requirements for MFTs include  
          a master's degree in an area such as marriage, family, and child  
          counseling, marriage and family therapy, couple and family  
          therapy, psychology, clinical psychology, or counseling  
          psychology from an accredited school. 

          In addition, MFTs must complete supervised work experience of at  
          least 3,000 hours within a period of two years.  In order to  
          accumulate supervised hours, a person must register with BBS as  
          an intern or function as a trainee.  Trainees are individuals  

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          who have been enrolled in MFT graduate programs and who have  
          completed at least 12 semester or 18 quarter units of  
          coursework.  Interns have earned the appropriate graduate degree  
          and registered with BBS, but have not taken the examination.  In  
          2013, there were over 32,000 MFTs and more than 15,000 MFT  
          interns.  This bill explicitly authorizes MFT trainees to  
          accumulate the same number of direct supervision hours as  
          interns. 

           PCCs .  PCCs apply counseling interventions and psychotherapeutic  
          techniques to identify and remediate cognitive, mental and  
          emotional issues including personal growth, adjustment to  
          disability, crisis intervention and psychosocial and  
          environmental problems.  PCCs are required to meet specific  
          educational standards including a master's degree in an approved  
          subject, and are required to obtain supervised work experience  
          as an intern amounting to at least 3,000 hours.  
          Because PCCs are largely comparable to MFTs, SB 146 (Wyland,  
          Chapter 381, Statutes of 2011) amended code sections so that the  
          same substantive provisions and requirements apply to PCCs and  
          MFTs. 

           Supervision requirements for trainees and interns  .  Existing law  
          requires both interns and trainees to obtain 3,000 hours of  
          supervised work experience within a period of at least two  
          years.  Not more than 1,300 hours of supervised experience may  
          be obtained prior to completing the master's or doctoral degree,  
          and not less than 1,700 hours of experience may be completed  
          subsequent to the granting of the qualifying degree.  MFT  
          interns are not permitted to receive more than 1,000 of the  
          required hours of experience 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.   
          Interns are permitted to receive an additional hour of direct  
          supervision for every week in which more than 10 hours of client  
          contact is gained in each setting and no more than five hours of  
          supervision, whether individual or group, can be counted per  
          week.  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  
          direct supervisor contact for every week in which more than 10  
          hours of client counseling is gained. 

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          This bill seeks to increase the number of hours, from five to  
          six, that an MFT and PCC intern or MFT trainee can count towards  
          his/her required hours of supervision.  Because individuals have  
          up to six years to obtain the required hours of direct  
          supervision, this bill authorizes individuals who gained  
          experience on or after January 1, 2009, to be able to count six  
          hours of direct supervision towards the hour requirement.   
          Because MFT and PCC applicants have six years to complete the  
          supervised hour requirements, it is necessary to retroactively  
          apply this bill to 2009, in order for any hours earned prior to  
          2015, to not be counted differently, which could slow down the  
          evaluation process and create licensing delays. 

           Comments
           
          According to the author:

            MFT trainees must receive an average of at least one hour of  
            direct supervisor contact for every five hours of client  
            counseling in each setting, and MFT interns must receive at  
            least one additional hour of direct supervisor contact for  
            every week in which more than 10 hours of client counseling is  
            gained in each setting.  Additionally, "one hour of direct  
            supervisor contact" is defined as one hour per week of  
            face-to-face contact on an individual basis with a supervisor  
            or two hours per week of face-to-face contact in a group. 

            There are many cases [in which] interns are acquiring more  
            hours than they can count toward the requirement, as they work  
            at multiple counseling sites.  LMFTs must obtain 3,000 hours  
            of experience in order to gain licensure, and no more than  
            1,000 of the required hours can be gained from direct  
            supervisor contact.  However, in a given week many trainees  
            and interns accumulate more than the 5-hour cap on supervised  
            hours.  This bill will allow LMFT [and LPCC] trainees and  
            interns to be able to count an additional supervised hour each  
            week toward their licensure.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   Local:  
           No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/15/14)


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          California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists 
          California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT :    According to the California Association  
          of Marriage and Family Therapists, "The purpose of this bill is  
          to remove the arbitrary limitation on the number of supervisor  
          contact hours [MFT] trainees and registered interns may be  
          credited toward licensure during a single week. Increasing this  
          limitation is to allow [MFT] trainees and registered interns to  
          count more of 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."

          The California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies  
          states, "This 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."

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 78-0, 08/14/14
          AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,  
            Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,  
            Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,  
            Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,  
            Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,  
            Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, 
            Pan, Patterson, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,  
            Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,  
            Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Williams, Yamada, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Perea, Vacancy


          MW:k  8/15/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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