BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1808
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1808 (Wood)
As Amended April 4, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Business & |14-0 |Salas, Brough, Baker, | |
|Professions | |Bloom, Campos, Dahle, | |
| | |Dodd, Burke, Gatto, | |
| | |Gomez, Holden, | |
| | |Mullin, Ting, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Amends the definition of a "professional person" to
include licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) trainees
and licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) trainees,
while working under supervision, in order to provide specified
mental health services to a minor 12 years of age or older under
specified circumstances, and requires a trainee to consult with
his or her supervisor as soon as reasonably possible, as
specified. Specifically, this bill:
1)Adds a LMFT trainee and a LPCC trainee to the list of
professional persons who can provide mental health treatment
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or counseling services, or residential shelter services, to a
consenting minor 12 years of age or older, as specified.
2)Requires a trainee to consult with his or her supervisor, as
soon as reasonably possible, when assessing the maturity of
the minor, as specified.
3)Makes other technical and clarifying amendments.
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. This bill adds LMFT and LPCC trainees, under the
appropriate supervision, to the list of mental health
professionals who may provide specified mental health services
to a minor age 12 years of age or older. This bill is sponsored
by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
and the California Association for Licensed Professional
Clinical Counselors. According to the author, "[this bill]
would permit trainees, working under the supervision of a [LMFT]
or [LPCC] to treat a minor under the same limited terms and
conditions as interns. Trainees must be enrolled in a master or
doctoral degree program and must have completed at least 12
semester units in the postgraduate degree program. Currently,
trainees routinely work with minors as part of their training
towards licensure. By allowing trainees to provide services to
minors [this bill] will increase the availability of mental
health services to young people and provide more opportunities
for trainees to gain the 3,000 hours of counseling experience
needed to qualify to apply for licensure."
Background. LMFTs are employed in clinics, counseling centers,
and private practice. They use counseling or psychotherapeutic
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techniques to assist individuals, couples, families, and groups
with a focus on marriage and family relationship issues. The
minimum educational and experience requirements for LMFTs
include a master's degree or doctoral degree in an area such as
marriage, family, and child counseling, marriage and family
therapy, couple and family therapy, psychology, clinical
psychology, or counseling psychology from an accredited school.
LPCCs are employed in a variety of settings such as hospitals,
community-based mental health organizations and private
practice. LPCC's apply counseling interventions and
psychotherapeutic techniques to identify and remediate
cognitive, mental and emotional issues. The minimum education
requirements for LPCCs include a master's degree that includes
training in psychotherapy or counseling.
Both LMFT and LPCC degree programs require students to gain
practicum hours of specified counseling experience. In
addition, LMFTs and LPCCs must complete supervised work
experience of at least 3,000 hours within a period of two years.
In order to accumulate supervised hours, a person must register
with the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) as an intern, or
function as a trainee. LMFTs can obtain up to 1,300 hours of
supervised experience during their degree program, while LPCCs
can only obtain supervised experience after completing their
degree program. Both LMFT and LPCC trainees are individuals who
have been enrolled in graduate programs and have completed at
least 12 semester or 18 quarter units of coursework. LMFT and
LPCC trainees are not required to register with the BBS.
Trainees are not authorized to attain supervised experience
hours in a licensee's private practice and can only gain
experience hours in settings such as a governmental entity, a
school, college, university, or an institution that is both
nonprofit and charitable.
For purpose of licensure, trainees can only count those hours of
supervised experience gained under the direct supervision of a
BBS-licensed individual who has been licensed for at least two
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years, whose license is not under probation or suspension, and
has not provided therapeutic services to the trainee. This bill
adds LMFT and LPCC trainees to the current list of professional
persons who may provide mental health counseling or treatment
services or residential shelter services to a minor who is 12
years of age or older under specified circumstances. LMFT
trainees would be permitted to count these hours of supervised
experience towards licensure, as specified under their practice
act, while LPCCs would only be able to count these supervised
hours as practicum hours for completing the degree requirements.
Counseling Services for Minors. Under current law, a minor may
consent to specified medical care including mental health
services. Family Code Section (FC) 6924 and Health and Safety
Code Section (HSC) 124260 authorize a minor who is 12 years of
age or older to consent to mental health treatment or counseling
services. FC Section 6924 provides the list of licensed
professionals who are authorized to provide specified mental
health services to minors including licensed social workers,
LMFTs, LPCCs, psychologists, psychiatrists, educational
psychologist, credentialed school psychologists, and both LMFT
and LPCC interns while working under the supervision of a
licensed LMFT, LPCC, psychologist, or social worker. The minor
may only consent to the specified mental health treatment or
counseling services if, in the attending mental health
professional's opinion, the minor is mature enough to
participate intelligently in the services and if the minor
presents a danger of serious physical or mental harm to self or
others without treatment services or if the minor is a victim of
alleged incest or child abuse.
This bill would add LMFT and LPCC trainees to the list of
professional persons who can provide mental health services to
minors under the specified conditions. In addition, this bill
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would require a trainee to consult with his or her supervisor,
as soon as reasonably possible, when assessing the maturity of a
minor. Under the current provisions, the only non-licensed
professionals who are authorized to provide specified mental
health services to minors are LMFT and LPCC interns who are
required to be registered with the BBS and have completed a
master's or doctoral degree program. Under current law,
trainees are not required to register with the BBS, and they
have not completed a degree program. This bill does not change
minor consent laws; but rather expands the list of professional
persons who may provide those mental health services to a minor,
under specified circumstances, to include LMFT and LPCC
trainees.
Analysis Prepared by:
Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN:
0002694