BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1715
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1715 (Holden) - As Amended April 12, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes the Behavior Analyst Act (Act), which
provides for the licensure, registration, and regulation of
behavior analysts and related providers, and requires the
California Board of Psychology (BOP), until January 1, 2022, to
administer and enforce the Act. Specifically, this bill:
AB 1715
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1)States intent that BOP begin accepting applications for
behavior analyst licensure and assistant behavior analyst
licensure no later than January 1, 2018, provided necessary
funds have been appropriated.
2)Defines "practice of behavior analysis" or "to practice
behavior analysis" as the design, implementation, and
evaluation of instructional and environmental modifications to
produce socially significant improvements in human behavior,
as specified,
3)Defines licensed and registered personnel under the act,
including "licensed behavior analysts," assistants,
technicians, and interns; and establishes educational and
other criteria as well as supervision standards.
4)Establishes licensing and registration provisions, including
licensure, renewal, enforcement, discipline, ethical
standards, background checks, continuing education, and
related provisions. Establishes civil penalty authority for
violations.
5)Makes it unlawful, on and after July 1, 2019, to practice
behavior analysis without being licensed by BOP, except as
specified. Exempts other healing arts licensees, parents,
researchers, and individuals employed or contracted by a
school from licensure.
6)Vests the BOP, until January 1, 2022, with the power to
enforce the Act. Creates, until January 1, 2022, the Behavior
Analyst Committee within the jurisdiction of the BOP to make
recommendations to the BOP regarding the regulation of the
practice of behavior analysis.
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7)Establishes revenue provisions:
a) Requires the board to establish fees in regulation for
the application for and the issuance and renewal of
licenses to cover, but not exceed, the reasonable
regulatory costs of the board.
b) Specifies fee revenues collected for this purpose are
credited to the Psychology Fund and such funds are
available upon appropriation, for the purposes of the Act.
c) Sets fee amounts for several smaller fee categories.
However, it does not specify licensure or renewal fees.
Exempts certain categories of public service personnel from
renewal fees during active service.
d) Requires the licensing and regulatory program under this
chapter to be supported from fees assessed to applicants
and licensees. Requires startup funds to implement the Act
be derived, as a loan, from the Psychology Fund, subject to
a budget appropriation.
e) Specifies the board shall not implement the Act until
funds have been appropriated.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Approximate fiscal impact to BOP of $1.9 million in 2017-18,
the first year of implementation, and about $2.6 million
ongoing (loan from the Psychology Fund, to be reimbursed by
fees). Initial costs relate to promulgation of regulations,
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development of materials, build-out of office space, and
information technology changes to add a licensure category.
This is based on an assumption of 3,850 licensees and 45,000
technicians and interns. The Psychology Fund has a projected
balance of $9.4 million at the end of $2016-17 based on GF
loan repayments of $6.3 million in 2016-17.
2)Unknown, likely minor if any, potential GF revenue, if penalty
authority contained in the bill is used to enforce the bill's
provisions.
3)Significant costs over the first year of licensure and minor
ongoing costs to DOJ for additional background checks,
reimbursed by the individuals being screened (Fingerprint Fees
Account).
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, a state mandate for health
plans and insurers to cover behavioral health treatment for
autism have substantially increased demand for applied
behavioral analysis (ABA) services. With the increased
demand, there is a greater need to regulate the BA profession,
and to protect autistic children and others who can benefit
from ABA treatment from people who falsely claim that they are
qualified to practice behavior analysis. This bill will
ensure BA professionals are qualified and overseen by the
Board of Psychology, for whom consumer protection will be
paramount.
2)BA. According to the American Psychological Association,
behavior analysis is the study of behavior. The clinical
practice of behavior analysis, called ABA, applies
AB 1715
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interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to
improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree.
Socially significant behaviors include reading, academics,
social skills, communication, and adaptive living skills like
motor skills, eating and food preparation, personal self-care,
domestic skills, home and community orientation, and work
skills. ABA often requires intensive treatments of more than
25 hours each week.
3)BA practitioners. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board
(BACB) is a private non-profit that provides four types of
credentials: (1) board certified behavior analyst, (2) board
certified assistant behavior analyst, registered behavior
technicians (RBTs), and (3) doctoral-level BCBA. The BACB
requirements for the initial certification and renewal of
analysts and assistant analyst certifications are nearly
identical to the requirements for LBAs and LABAs under this
bill. Nineteen other states either license or certify ABA
practitioners.
State law currently recognizes "qualified autism service
providers" (QASPs) who are authorized to provide ABA services
under the state's mandate for health insurers to provide
behavioral health treatment. QASPs must be a specified
licensed health care provider or a person, entity, or group
that is certified by a national entity such as the BACB.
"Qualified autism service professionals" can be employed by
QASPs and must be approved as a regional center vendor by the
Department of Developmental Services (DDS) system, among other
requirements.
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4)Related Legislation. AB 796 (Nazarian), pending in the Senate
Health Committee, requires the BOP, no later than December 31,
2017, and thereafter as necessary, upon appropriation of the
Legislature, to convene a committee to create a list of
evidence-based treatment modalities for purposes of behavioral
health treatment (BHT) for pervasive developmental disorder or
autism. It also extends the sunset on the existing behavioral
health treatment mandate for an additional five years, from
January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2022.
5)Previous Legislation.
a) SB 946 (Steinberg), Chapter 650, Statutes of 2011, among
other things, mandated health care service plan contracts
and health insurance policies, except as specified, to
provide coverage for BHT.
b) SB 126 (Steinberg), Chapter 680, Statutes of 2013,
extended the operation of the BHT mandate until January 1,
2017.
c) SB 479 (Bates) was substantially similar to this bill,
and is pending on the Suspense File of this committee.
1)Support and Opposition. The DIR/Floortime Coalition of
California has expressed opposition, citing concerns that
licensing for one treatment technique may inadvertently
suggest other treatment modalities such as DIR/Floortime are
less legitimate. The California Association for Behavior
Analysis (sponsor) and a number of treatment service providers
write in support.
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2)Staff Comments. Many fee types for other professional
licensure categories have caps in statute. Since it is a new
licensure program, it is appropriate not to set a fee cap at
this time. However, the first sunset review in 2021 should
critically examine whether fees are set commensurate with
workload. It appears given expected costs and number of
regulated individuals, that fees could be set at reasonable
levels.
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)
319-2081