BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 705
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Date of Hearing: April 7, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 705
Eggman - As Introduced February 25, 2015
SUBJECT: Psychologists: licensure exemption.
SUMMARY: Requires individuals performing psychological
activities, within specified exempt settings, to work under the
supervision of a licensed psychologist; accumulate the
supervised hours required for licensure; and, become licensed
within five years. This bill also makes other technical and
clarifying amendments.
EXISTING LAW
1)Prohibits a person from engaging in the practice of psychology
or representing himself or herself to be a psychologist
without a license unless specifically exempt. (Business and
Professions Code (BPC) Section 2903)
2)Defines "the practice of psychology" to mean "rendering or
offering to render for a fee to individuals, groups,
organizations, or the public any psychological service
involving the application of principles, methods, and
procedures of understanding, predicting, and influencing
behavior, such as the principles pertaining to learning,
perception, motivation, emotions, and interpersonal
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relationships as specified. (BPC Section 2903)
3)Permits the following persons to perform activities of a
psychological nature and use of the official title for which
they are employed, provided they are performing those
activities as part of the duties for which they are employed,
solely within the confines of or under the jurisdiction of the
organization in which they are employed and do not offer or
render psychological services to the public for a fee, over
and above the salary they receive for the performance of their
professional duties with the organization which they are
employed:
a) Persons who hold a valid and current credential as a
school psychologist issued by the California Department of
Education;
b) Persons who hold a valid and current credential as a
psychometrist issued by the California Department of
Education;
c) Persons employed in positions as psychologists or
psychological assistants, or in a student counseling
service, by accredited or approved colleges, junior
colleges or universities; federal, state, county or
municipal governmental organizations which are not
primarily involved in the provision of direct health or
mental health services. Those persons may, without
obtaining a license, consult or disseminate their research
findings and scientific information to other such
accredited or approved academic institutions or
governmental agencies, and may also offer lectures to the
public for a fee, monetary or otherwise, without being
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licensed as specified; and,
d) Persons who meet specified educational requirements and
have one year or more of the supervised professional
experience if they are employed by nonprofit community
agencies that receive a minimum of 25 percent of their
financial support from any federal, state, county, or
municipal governmental organizations for the purpose of
training and providing services; and are registered by the
agency with the Board of Psychology at the time of
employment and identified in the setting as a "registered
psychologist." Those persons may be exempt from licensure
requirements for a maximum period of 30 months from the
date of registration. (BPC Section 2909)
4)Permits persons who are salaried employees of accredited or
approved academic institutions, public schools or governmental
agencies to perform activities of a psychological nature,
provided:
a) Such employees are performing such psychological
activities as part of the duties for which they were hired;
b) Such employees are performing those activities solely
within the jurisdiction or confines of such organizations;
c) Such persons do not hold themselves out to the public by
any title or description of activities incorporating the
words "psychology," "psychological," "psychologist,"
"psychometry," "psychometrics," or "psychometrist;"
d) Such persons do not offer their services to the public
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for a fee, monetary or otherwise; and,
e) Such persons do not provide direct health or mental
health services. (BPC Section 2910)
5)Specifies that persons employed or under contract to provide
county mental health services, as specified, are subject to
all applicable requirements of law regarding professional
licensure, and no person shall be employed in local mental
health programs, as specified, to provide services for which a
license is required, unless the person possesses a valid
license. (Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section
5751.2(a)
6)Permits the State Department of Health Care Services to exempt
individuals from the provisions above if the persons are
employed or under contract to provide mental health services
as psychologists, as specified, who are gaining the experience
required for licensure, and provides that the exemption may
not exceed five years from the date of employment by, or
contract with, a local mental health program for persons in
the profession of psychology. (WIC Section 5751.2(d).
7)Permits the State Department of Public Health to waive
specified licensure requirements in health facilities solely
for persons in the professions of psychology, marriage and
family therapy, clinical social work, or professional clinical
counseling who are gaining qualifying experience for
licensure, and prohibits the waiver from exceeding three years
from the date of employment for psychologists, or four years
from the date of employment for marriage and family
therapists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical
counselors, unless an extension of a waiver is granted as
specified. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) Section 1277(b)(3)
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THIS BILL
1)Deletes a limitation on the compensation, monetary or
otherwise, an exempt individual may receive who is providing
psychological services, as specified.
2)Permits exempt persons who are employed in a private setting
that is not primarily involved in providing direct health or
mental services to conduct research and disseminate their
research findings and scientific information.
3)Requires individuals who are salaried employees of accredited
or approved academic institutions, public schools, or
government agencies, who are practicing psychology, as
specified, to be employees who are primarily gaining the
supervised professional experience required for licensure that
is being accrued consistent with the Board of Psychology (BOP)
regulations and the employee's primary supervisor is a
psychologist licensed in the state.
4)Requires individuals who are salaried employees of accredited
or approved academic institutions, public schools, or
government agencies, who are practicing psychology, as
specified above, to obtain licensure within five years from
the date of employment.
5)Makes other technical and clarifying amendments.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the BOP. According to the
author, "[This bill] will clarify the original intent of the
Psychology Practice Act (Act), which is to have qualified,
licensed individuals performing psychological functions in
both private and public settings. Currently, a loop hole
allows employees in government settings serving vulnerable
populations to continue practicing indefinitely without
supervision by a licensed psychologist. Persons serving in
non-exempt (private) settings are required to be supervised by
a licensed psychologist and accumulate hours towards licensure
from the onset. This bill will provide consumer protection to
the vulnerable individuals being served in exempt settings by
making employees subject to oversight and competency standards
set forth by the [BOP]."
2)Background. This bill revises supervised experience
requirements for individuals who are performing psychological
services in exempt settings by requiring an employee of an
accredited or approved academic institution, public school, or
governmental agency, who is not licensed to practice
psychology to be supervised by a psychologist for purposes of
gaining experience hours, and become licensed within five
years from the date of employment and makes other technical
and clarifying amendments.
Psychologists. Licensed psychologists may practice
independently in any private or public setting using
psychological methods to diagnose, treat, prevent, and
ameliorate emotional and mental disorders of individuals and
groups. There are currently 20,000 licensed psychologists in
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California. Licensed psychologists practicing in private
practice must hold a license from the BOP.
Licensure requirements. Licensed psychologists are required
to obtain a doctoral degree from an accredited institution in
psychology, educational psychology, or in a field specializing
in counseling psychology or educational psychology.
Psychologists are required to complete 3000 hours (minimum
two-years) of supervised experience, of which 1500 must be
completed after obtaining a doctoral degree. Registered
psychologists are required to register with the BOP and are
authorized to engage in psychological activities at nonprofit
community agencies that receive a minimum of 25 percent of
their funding from some government source. Registered
psychologists may not engage in psychology practice outside of
the nonprofit community agency where they are registered and
may nor may not be fully licensed. There are approximately
321 registered psychologists.
Many post-doctoral psychologists gain supervision experience
requirements while employed at schools, colleges or
universities and government entities, which provide
opportunities to gain the required supervisory hours needed
for licensure. However, these employment settings are
considered "exempt" by the BOP.
Exempt settings. Under current law there are certain types of
organizations which are referred to as "exempt settings,"
where employees are not required to have a license or a
registration in order to perform activities of a psychological
nature as long as those individuals are providing the services
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within the scope of their employment. Exempt settings include
places such as an educational institution (approved or
accredited), a school district, or a governmental entity.
Most individuals working in an exempt setting have completed
their doctoral program and are in the process of acquiring the
required 1500 hours of supervised experience necessary for
licensure. However, the Act does not restrict the number of
years that an individual may work in an exempt setting without
becoming licensed nor does it specify that a person working in
an exempt setting is required to work under a licensed
supervisor, unless they are obtaining their 1500 hours of
supervised experience. These individuals are also not
required to register with the BOP prior to or during their
employment, unless they are working for a non-profit community
agency which received 25 percent or more of its funding from
government sources. Many exempt settings do not meet this
threshold, meaning individuals employed in these positions are
not registered with the BOP and the BOP has no enforcement
authority.
According to the author, the BOP has no way of determining how
many unlicensed individuals are practicing in exempt settings
as these individuals are not required to register with the
BOP. In addition, the BOP does not know how many individuals
are employed in exempt settings who have attempted to take and
failed the licensure examination or the number of individuals
who are employed in these settings and have not applied for
licensure. Effectively, this means that individuals employed
in exempt settings may be providing services of a
psychological nature without a license issued by the BOP. It
is not clear under the Act that individuals employed in these
exempt settings are required to work under the supervision of
a licensed psychologist nor does it restrict their length of
employment.
WIC Section 5751.2 and HSC Section 1277 regulate community
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mental health and health facilities and include provisions
which allow for the employment of individuals to perform
psychological services for the purpose of gaining supervised
hours and experience, but require individuals employed in all
exempt settings to become licensed within five years. This
bill seeks to make licensing requirements consistent for
individuals employed in exempt settings by requiring
individuals employed in all exempt settings to obtain
licensure within five years of the start of their employment.
According to the BOP, gaining 1500 hours of required
supervision can take as little as one year. The BOP contends
that five years is more than enough time to complete the
required supervised hours. The BOP states that it takes
approximately six months to complete the application and
licensing process.
Court Case. According to the author, there was a recent court
case, Brown v. County of Los Angeles (2012) 203 Cal. App. 4th
1529, in which the California Second Appellate Court found
that the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
wrongfully terminated a Mental Health Clinician II for failing
to obtain her psychology license. The woman argued that she
was exempt, but the County argued that she had to obtain a
license within five years and failed to do so. However, the
Court ruled that current law as specified in the BPC was not
clear in stating that there was a time requirement.
3)Related Legislation. AB 1374 (Levine) of 2015, requires a
supervisor to submit verification of supervised hours directly
to the BOP and authorizes an individual to submit the hours to
the BOP, as determined by the BOP, if the supervisor fails to
do so. (Note: This bill is currently pending in the Assembly
Committee on Business and Professions)
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT. The BOP writes in support, "This bill
will enhance consumer protection of particularly vulnerable
populations by ensuring that employees in exempt settings are
properly supervised and working towards licensure. This will be
done by requiring employees to be supervised by licensed
psychologists, to be earning supervised professional experience
hours, and to be working towards licensure within a given
timeframe of five years."
SUGGESTED AUTHOR'S AMENDMENTS
On page 3, strike line 14.
On page 3, in line 15, strike "of direct health or mental health
services. Those persons"
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None on file.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Board of Psychology (sponsor)
California Psychological Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301
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