Amended in Assembly January 4, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1084

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonilla

February 27, 2015

An act to begin delete repeal Sections 65890.3 and 65890.5 of the Government Code, relating to land use. end delete begin insert amend Section 4996.18 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to social workers. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1084, as amended, Bonilla. begin delete Jobs and housing. end delete begin insert Social workers: examination. end insert

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The Clinical Social Worker Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of clinical social workers by the Board of Behavioral Sciences within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act requires an applicant for licensure to, among other things, have at least 3,200 hours of post-master’s degree supervised experience providing social work services. The act requires an applicant who possesses a master’s degree from a school or department of social work that is a candidate for accreditation by a specified accrediting body, to register with the board as an associate clinical social worker in order to gain the required experience in social work services; however, the act prohibits that applicant from being eligible for examination for licensure until the school or department of social work receives accreditation. On and after January 1, 2016, an applicant for licensure under the act is required to pass 2 examinations, a California law and ethics examination and a clinical examination.

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This bill would, instead, prohibit an applicant who possesses a master’s degree from a school or department of social work that is a candidate for accreditation, from taking only the clinical examination until the school or department receives the accreditation.

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Existing law, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to prepare a guidebook for use by certain public and private entities in the planning and development of a housing supply to meet the need created by employment growth, and requires the Assembly Office of Research to complete a study on the effectiveness of the guidebook.

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This bill would delete those provisions.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 4996.18 of the end insert begin insert Business and Professions
Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

4996.18.  

(a) A person who wishes to be credited with
experience toward licensure requirements shall register with the
board as an associate clinical social worker prior to obtaining that
experience. The application shall be made on a form prescribed
by the board.

(b) An applicant for registration shall satisfy the following
requirements:

(1) Possess a master’s degree from an accredited school or
department of social work.

(2) Have committed no crimes or acts constituting grounds for
denial of licensure under Section 480.

(3) Commencing January 1, 2014, have completed training or
coursework, which may be embedded within more than one course,
in California law and professional ethics for clinical social workers,
including instruction in all of the following areas of study:

(A) Contemporary professional ethics and statutes, regulations,
and court decisions that delineate the scope of practice of clinical
social work.

(B) The therapeutic, clinical, and practical considerations
involved in the legal and ethical practice of clinical social work,
including, but not limited to, family law.

(C) The current legal patterns and trends in the mental health
professions.

(D) The psychotherapist-patient privilege, confidentiality,
dangerous patients, and the treatment of minors with and without
parental consent.

(E) A recognition and exploration of the relationship between
a practitioner’s sense of self and human values, and his or her
professional behavior and ethics.

(F) Differences in legal and ethical standards for different types
of work settings.

(G) Licensing law and process.

(c) An applicant who possesses a master’s degree from a school
or department of social work that is a candidate for accreditation
by the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social
Work Education shall be eligible, and shall be required, to register
as an associate clinical social worker in order to gain experience
toward licensure if the applicant has not committed any crimes or
acts that constitute grounds for denial of licensure under Section
480. That applicant shall not, however, be eligible begin delete for end delete begin insert to take the
clinical end insert examination until the school or department of social work
has received accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation
of the Council on Social Work Education.

(d) All applicants and registrants shall be at all times under the
supervision of a supervisor who shall be responsible for ensuring
that the extent, kind, and quality of counseling performed is
consistent with the training and experience of the person being
supervised, and who shall be responsible to the board for
compliance with all laws, rules, and regulations governing the
practice of clinical social work.

(e) Any experience obtained under the supervision of a spouse
or relative by blood or marriage shall not be credited toward the
required hours of supervised experience. Any experience obtained
under the supervision of a supervisor with whom the applicant has
a personal relationship that undermines the authority or
effectiveness of the supervision shall not be credited toward the
required hours of supervised experience.

(f) An applicant who possesses a master’s degree from an
accredited school or department of social work shall be able to
apply experience the applicant obtained during the time the
accredited school or department was in candidacy status by the
Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work
Education toward the licensure requirements, if the experience
meets the requirements of Section 4996.23. This subdivision shall
apply retroactively to persons who possess a master’s degree from
an accredited school or department of social work and who
obtained experience during the time the accredited school or
department was in candidacy status by the Commission on
Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education.

(g) An applicant for registration or licensure trained in an
educational institution outside the United States shall demonstrate
to the satisfaction of the board that he or she possesses a master’s
of social work degree that is equivalent to a master’s degree issued
from a school or department of social work that is accredited by
the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work
Education. These applicants shall provide the board with a
comprehensive evaluation of the degree and shall provide any
other documentation the board deems necessary. The board has
the authority to make the final determination as to whether a degree
meets all requirements, including, but not limited to, course
requirements regardless of evaluation or accreditation.

(h) A registrant shall not provide clinical social work services
to the public for a fee, monetary or otherwise, except as an
employee.

(i) A registrant shall inform each client or patient prior to
performing any professional services that he or she is unlicensed
and is under the supervision of a licensed professional.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 65890.3 of the Government Code is
repealed.

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SEC. 2.  

Section 65890.5 of the Government Code is repealed.

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