BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 705 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 705 (Eggman) As Amended June 11, 2015 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(April 30, |SENATE: |38-0 |(July 2, 2015) | | | |2015) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 705 Page 2 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 The Senate amendments make a clarifying change by updating an outdated reference to the California Department of Education as an issuer of credentials and replace it with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing; remove references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 AB 705 Page 3 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 AB 705 Page 4 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 AB 705 Page 5 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 AB 705 Page 6 was not clear in stating that there was a time requirement. Analysis Prepared by: Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN: 0001135