AB 1808, Wood. Minors: mental health treatment or counseling services.
Existing law authorizes a minor who is 12 years of age or older to consent to outpatient mental health treatment or counseling services, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if, in the opinion of the attending professional person, the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently in those services. Existing law defines “professional person,” for the purposes of those provisions, to include, among others, a marriage and family therapist, a marriage and family therapist intern, a professional clinical counselor, a clinical counselor intern, a clinical psychologist, and a clinical social worker, as specified.
This bill would additionally authorize a marriage and family therapist trainee, a clinical counselor trainee, a registered psychologist, a registered psychological assistant, a psychology trainee, an associate clinical social worker, and a social work intern, while working under the supervision of certain licensed professionals, respectively, to provide those services. The bill would require the marriage and family therapist trainee, the clinical counselor trainee, the psychology trainee, or the social work intern to notify his or her supervisor or an on-call supervisor, as specified, at the site where the trainee or intern volunteers or is employed within 24 hours of treating or counseling a minor. The bill would require the trainee or intern, if upon the initial assessment of the minor the trainee or intern believes that the minor is a danger to self or to others, to notify the supervisor, as specified, immediately after the treatment or counseling session. The bill would also change the definition of clinical psychologist for these purposes and would make a technical, nonsubstantive change.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 124260 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Mental health treatment or counseling services” means the provision of outpatient mental health treatment or counseling by a professional person, as defined in paragraph (2).
(2) “Professional person” means any of the following:
(A) A person designated as a mental health professional in Sections 622 to 626, inclusive, of Title 9 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B) A marriage and family therapist, as defined in Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 4980) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code.
(C) A licensed educational psychologist, as defined in Chapter 13.5 (commencing with Section 4989.10) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code.
(D) A credentialed school psychologist, as described in Section 49424 of the Education Code.
(E) A clinical psychologist licensed under Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 2900) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code.
(F) Any of the following persons, while working under the supervision of a licensed professional specified in Section 2902 of the Business and Professions Code:
(i) A registered psychologist, as defined in Section 2909.5 of the Business and Professions Code.
(ii) A registered psychological assistant, as defined in Section 2913 of the Business and Professions Code.
(iii) A psychology trainee, as defined in Section 1387 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations.
(G) A licensed clinical social worker, as defined in Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 4991) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code.
(H) An associate clinical social worker, or a social work intern, as defined in Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 4991) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, while working under the supervision of a licensed professional specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 4996.23 of the Business and Professions Code.
(I) A person registered as a marriage and family therapist intern, or a marriage and family therapist trainee, as defined in Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 4980) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, while working under the supervision of a licensed professional specified in subdivision (g) of Section 4980.03 of the Business and Professions Code.
(J) A board certified, or board eligible, psychiatrist.
(K) A licensed professional clinical counselor, as defined in Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 4999.10) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code.
(L) A person registered as a clinical counselor intern, or a clinical counselor trainee, as defined in Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 4999.10) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, while working under the supervision of a licensed professional specified in subdivision (h) of Section 4999.12 of the Business and Professions Code.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a minor who is 12 years of age or older may consent to mental health treatment or counseling services if, in the opinion of the attending professional person, the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently in the mental health treatment or counseling services.
(2) A marriage and family therapist trainee, a clinical counselor trainee, a psychology trainee, or a social work intern, as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), shall notify his or her supervisor or, if the supervisor is unavailable, an on-call supervisor at the site where the trainee or intern volunteers or is employed within 24 hours of treating or counseling a minor pursuant to paragraph (1). If upon the initial assessment of the minor the trainee or intern believes that the minor is a danger to self or to others, the trainee or intern shall notify the supervisor or, if the supervisor is unavailable, the on-call supervisor immediately after the treatment or counseling session.
(3) Nothing in paragraph (2) is intended to supplant, alter, expand, or remove any other reporting responsibilities required of trainees or interns under law.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the mental health treatment or counseling of a minor authorized by this section shall include involvement of the minor’s parent or guardian, unless the professional person who is treating or counseling the minor, after consulting with the minor, determines that the involvement would be inappropriate. The professional person who is treating or counseling the minor shall state in the client record whether and when the person attempted to contact the minor’s parent or guardian, and whether the attempt to contact was successful or unsuccessful, or the reason why, in the professional person’s opinion, it would be inappropriate to contact the minor’s parent or guardian.
(d) The minor’s parent or guardian is not liable for payment for mental health treatment or counseling services provided pursuant to this section unless the parent or guardian participates in the mental health treatment or counseling, and then only for services rendered with the participation of the parent or guardian.
(e) This section does not authorize a minor to receive convulsive treatment or psychosurgery, as defined in subdivisions (f) and (g) of Section 5325 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or psychotropic drugs without the consent of the minor’s parent or guardian.
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