BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 705
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
705 (Eggman)
As Amended June 11, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(April 30, |SENATE: |38-0 |(July 2, 2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: B. & P.
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. Specifically, 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
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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 cumulative total
of five years from the date of employment, beginning January
1, 2016.
5)Makes other technical and clarifying amendments.
The Senate amendments make a clarifying change by updating an
outdated reference to the California Department of Education as
an issuer of credentials and replace it with the Commission on
Teacher Credentialing; remove references to psychometrist,
psychometry, and psychometrics, and makes other minor, technical
and clarifying changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
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
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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]."
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
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 3,000 hours (minimum two
years) of supervised experience, of which 1,500 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% of their
funding from some government source. Registered psychologists
may not engage in psychology practice outside of the nonprofit
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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 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 1,500 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 1,500 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% 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
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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.
Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5751.2 and Health and
Safety Code Section 1277 regulate community 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 1,500 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 Business and Professions Code
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was not clear in stating that there was a time requirement.
Analysis Prepared by:
Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN:
0001135