BILL NUMBER: AB 1374	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Levine

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 2914 of the Business and Professions Code,
relating to psychologists.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1374, as introduced, Levine. Psychologists: licensure:
requirements.
   The Psychology Licensing Law provides for the licensure and
regulation of psychologists by the Board of Psychology. The law
requires applicants for licensure to, among other things, engage in
at least 2 years of supervised professional experience under the
direction of a licensed psychologist and authorizes an applicant who
obtains this experience in the United States to send verification of
the experience directly to the board if the supervising psychologist
fails to submit the verification within 30 days of receiving a
request from the applicant, as specified. The law provides that a
violation of any of its provisions is a misdemeanor.
   This bill would instead require the supervisor to submit
verification of the experience to the board and authorize an
applicant who obtains the experience in the United States or Canada
to send verification directly to the board as determined by the board
if the supervisor fails to submit the verification. By expanding the
scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 2914 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   2914.  Each applicant for licensure shall comply with all of the
following requirements:
   (a) Is not subject to denial of licensure under Division 
1.5.   1.5 (commencing with Section 475). 
   (b) Possess an earned doctorate degree (1) in psychology, (2) in
educational psychology, or (3) in education with the field of
specialization in counseling psychology or educational psychology.
Except as provided in subdivision (g), this degree or training shall
be obtained from an accredited university, college, or professional
school. The board shall make the final determination as to whether a
degree meets the requirements of this section.
   No educational institution shall be denied recognition as an
accredited academic institution solely because its program is not
accredited by any professional organization of psychologists, and
nothing in this chapter or in the administration of this chapter
shall require the registration with the board by educational
institutions of their departments of psychology or their doctoral
programs in psychology.
   An applicant for licensure trained in an educational institution
outside the United States or Canada shall demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the board that he or she possesses a doctorate degree
in psychology that is equivalent to a degree earned from a
regionally accredited university in the United States or Canada.
These applicants shall provide the board with a comprehensive
evaluation of the degree performed by a foreign credential evaluation
service that is a member of the National Association of Credential
Evaluation Services (NACES), and any other documentation the board
deems necessary.
   (c) Have engaged for at least two years in supervised professional
experience under the direction of a licensed psychologist, the
specific requirements of which shall be defined by the board in its
regulations, or under suitable alternative supervision as determined
by the board in regulations duly adopted under this chapter, at least
one year of which shall be after being awarded the doctorate in
psychology.  If the supervising licensed psychologist fails
to provide verification to the board of the experience required by
this subdivision within 30 days after being so requested by the
applicant, the applicant may provide written verification directly to
the board.   The supervisor shall submit verification
of the experience required by this subdivision to the board as
prescribed by the board. If the supervisor fails to submit
verification of experience to the board, the applicant may submit
verification directly to the board as determined by the board. 

   If the applicant sends verification directly to the board, the
applicant shall file with the board a declaration of proof of
service, under penalty of perjury, of the request for verification. A
copy of the completed verification forms shall be provided to the
supervising psychologist and the applicant shall prove to the board
that a copy has been sent to the supervising psychologist by filing a
declaration of proof of service under penalty of perjury, and shall
file this declaration with the board when the verification forms are
submitted.  
   Upon receipt by the board of the applicant's verification and
declarations, a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of
producing evidence is created that the supervised, professional
experience requirements of this subdivision have been satisfied. The
supervising psychologist shall have 20 days from the day the board
receives the verification and declaration to file a rebuttal with the
board. 
   The authority provided by this subdivision for an applicant to
file written verification directly shall apply only to an applicant
who has acquired the experience required by this subdivision in the
United  States.   States or Canada. 
   The board shall establish qualifications by regulation for
supervising psychologists and shall review and approve applicants
 for this position  on a case-by-case basis.
   (d) Take and pass the examination required by Section 2941 unless
otherwise exempted by the board under this chapter.
   (e) Show by evidence satisfactory to the board that he or she has
completed training in the detection and treatment of alcohol and
other chemical substance dependency. This requirement applies only to
applicants who matriculate on or after September 1, 1985.
   (f) (1) Show by evidence satisfactory to the board that he or she
has completed coursework in spousal or partner abuse assessment,
detection, and intervention. This requirement applies to applicants
who began graduate training during the period commencing on January
1, 1995, and ending on December 31, 2003.
   (2) An applicant who began graduate training on or after January
1, 2004, shall show by evidence satisfactory to the board that he or
she has completed a minimum of 15 contact hours of coursework in
spousal or partner abuse assessment, detection, and intervention
strategies, including knowledge of community resources, cultural
factors, and same gender abuse dynamics. An applicant may request an
exemption from this requirement if he or she intends to practice in
an area that does not include the direct provision of mental health
services.
   (3) Coursework required under this subdivision may be satisfactory
if taken either in fulfillment of other educational requirements for
licensure or in a separate course. This requirement for coursework
shall be satisfied by, and the board shall accept in satisfaction of
the requirement, a certification from the chief academic officer of
the educational institution from which the applicant graduated that
the required coursework is included within the institution's required
curriculum for graduation.
   (g) An applicant holding a doctoral degree in psychology from an
approved institution is deemed to meet the requirements of this
section if all of the following are true:
   (1) The approved institution offered a doctoral degree in
psychology designed to prepare students for a license to practice
psychology and was approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary
and Vocational Education on or before July 1, 1999.
   (2) The approved institution has not, since July 1, 1999, had a
new location, as described in Section 94721 of the Education Code.
   (3) The approved institution is not a franchise institution, as
defined in Section 94729.3 of the Education Code.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.