BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 620|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 620
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 4/15/15
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 4/13/15
AYES: Hill, Bates, Berryhill, Block, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Jackson, Mendoza, Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Board of Behavioral Sciences: licensure
requirements
SOURCE: Board of Behavioral Sciences
DIGEST: This bill streamlines the supervised experience hour
requirements for licensed marriage and family therapists and
licensed professional clinical counselors, and revises certain
experience hour requirements for licensed clinical social
workers for consistency.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Board of Behavioral Sciences (Board) to employ
its resources for each and all of the following functions:
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a) The licensure of marriage and family therapists,
clinical social workers, professional clinical counselors,
and educational psychologists.
b) The development and administration of licensure
examinations and examination procedures consistent with
prevailing standards for the validation and use of
licensing and certification tests.
c) Enforcement of laws designed to protect the public from
incompetent, unethical, or unprofessional practitioners.
d) Consumer education.
(Business and Professions Code (BPC) §§ 4990 and 4990.18)
2)Establishes requirements for the licensure of marriage and
family therapists, clinical social workers, and professional
clinical counselors.
(BPC §§ 4980 - 4989, 4990.10 - 4998.7, 4999.10 - 4999.129)
This bill:
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
1) Expands the definition of "experience" by replacing
"professional enrichment activities" with "direct counseling
and nonclinical practice."
2) Prohibits a student from gaining experience hours through
personal psychotherapy prior to completing either 12
semester units or 18 quarter units of graduate instruction.
3) Eliminates the ability for one hour of personal
psychotherapy to qualify for three experience hours.
4) Eliminates the ability for one hour of treating couples
and families in conjoint therapy to qualify for two
experience hours.
5) Replaces specified hour restrictions with the requirement
of a minimum of 1,750 experience hours of direct counseling
with individuals, groups, couples, or families.
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6) Replaces specified hour restrictions with the requirement
of a maximum of 1,250 experience hours be in nonclinical
practice, which may include direct supervisor contact,
administering and evaluating psychological tests, writing
clinical reports, writing progress or process notes,
client-centered advocacy, and workshops, seminars, training
sessions, or conferences directly related to marriage and
family therapy that have been approved by the applicant's
supervisor.
7) Permits an individual who submits an application for
examination eligibility between January 1, 2016, and
December 31, 2020, to alternately qualify under the LMFT
experience requirements that were in place on January 1,
2015.
Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW)
8) Permits a clinical social worker student to count direct
supervisor contact, workshops, seminars, training sessions,
and conferences directly related to clinical social work
towards the 1,200 experience hours requirement.
9) Permits an individual who submits an application for
examination eligibility between January 1, 2016, and
December 31, 2020, to alternately qualify under the LCSW
experience requirements that were in place on January 1,
2015.
10) Increases from five to six the number of supervision
hours, whether individual or group, that may be credited to
an associate during any single week. This applies only to
supervision hours gained on or after January 1, 2010.
11) Requires supervision to include at least one hour of
direct supervisor contact during each week for which
experience is gained in each work setting. Supervision is
not required for experience gained attending workshops,
seminars, training sessions, or conferences.
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCC)
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12) Replaces "clinical mental health experience related to the
practice of professional clinical counseling" with
"experience," relative to the type of training necessary to
achieve the minimum 3,000 post-degree supervised experience
hours.
13) Deletes specified hour restrictions and requires instead a
maximum of 1,250 hours of nonclinical practice, which may
include direct supervisor contact, administering and
evaluating psychological tests, writing clinical reports,
writing progress or process notes, client-centered advocacy,
and workshops, seminars, training sessions, or conferences
directly related to professional clinical counseling that
have been approved by the applicant's supervisor.
14) Permits an individual who submits an application for
examination eligibility between January 1, 2016, and
December 31, 2020, to alternately qualify under the
experience requirements that were in place on January 1,
2015.
Background
According to the Author, SB 620 streamlines the supervised
experience hour requirements for LMFT and LPCC applicants by
requiring 3,000 total experience hours, 1,750 of which must
consist of direct counseling and the remaining 1,250 hours may
be non-clinical experience. For consistency, SB 620 also allows
LCSW applicants to apply direct supervisor contact, workshops,
seminars, training, and conferences toward their experience
hours. SB 620 will also provide a five year transition period
during which applicants can choose to apply under this
simplified process or current requirements.
The Board regulates the practice of LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs.
These individuals have different training that focuses on
particular aspects of human interaction.
LMFT. The practice of marriage and family therapy means
a service performed with individuals, couples, or groups
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wherein interpersonal relationships are examined for the
purpose of achieving more adequate, satisfying, and
productive marriage and family adjustments. This practice
includes relationship and pre-marriage counseling.
LCSW. The practice of clinical social work is defined
as a service in which a special knowledge of social
resources, human capabilities, and unconscious motivations
is directed at helping people to achieve more adequate,
satisfying, and productive social adjustments. The
application of social work principles and methods includes,
but is not restricted to, counseling and using applied
psychotherapy of a nonmedical nature with individuals,
families, or groups; providing information and referral
services; providing or arranging for the provision of
social services; explaining or interpreting the
psychosocial aspects in the situations of individuals,
families, or groups; helping communities to organize, to
provide, or to improve social or health services; or doing
research related to social work.
LPCC. Professional clinical counseling is the
application of counseling interventions and
psychotherapeutic techniques to identify and remediate
cognitive, mental, and emotional issues, including personal
growth, adjustment to disability, crisis intervention, and
psychosocial and environmental problems, and the use,
application, and integration of the required coursework and
training. It also includes conducting assessments for the
purpose of establishing counseling goals and objectives to
empower individuals to deal adequately with life
situations, reduce stress, experience growth, change
behavior, and make well-informed and rational decisions.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified4/28/15)
Board of Behavioral Sciences (Sponsor)
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, California
Division
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California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical
Counselors
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/28/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The American Association for Marriage and
Family Therapy, California Division writes, "The current
required hours for becoming licensed as an MFT are broken into
no less than nine different categories with confusing and
arbitrary minimums and maximums, in stark contrast to similar
graduate level licenses issued by the [Board]?.
"The current structure has created unnecessary obstacles in the
path to licensure for hundreds of potential MFTs. The [Board]
reports that applications for exam eligibility are significantly
more difficult to evaluate than those for LCSW exam eligibility
due to the complexity created by so many different categories
with equally abstruse minimums, maximums, incentives, and
combinations. Even tracking these hours is so complex that it
has given rise to a successful for-profit business, whose
process is essentially a complicated spreadsheet that keeps
track of all the different requirements in all the different
categories.
"[SB 620] is a necessary and welcome simplification of existing
law."
Prepared by: Sarah Huchel / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104
4/29/15 16:07:40
**** END ****
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