BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1478 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 1478 (Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development) As Introduced March 10, 2016 Majority vote SENATE VOTE: 38-0 ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Business & |16-0 |Salas, Brough, Baker, | | |Professions | |Bloom, Campos, | | | | |Chávez, Dahle, Dodd, | | | | |Eggman, Gatto, Gomez, | | | | |Holden, Jones, | | | | |Mullin, Ting, Wood | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |18-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bloom, Bonta, | | | | |Calderon, Chang, | | | | |Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Roger Hernández, | | SB 1478 Page 2 | | |Holden, Jones, | | | | |Obernolte, Quirk, | | | | |Santiago, Wagner, | | | | |Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY: Makes numerous minor, technical, or non-substantive changes to various provisions pertaining to the health-related regulatory boards of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). Specifically, this bill: 1)Makes the following changes related to the Dental Board of California (DBC) and the dental practice act: a) Reflects the integration of the National Board Dental Examination of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (Joint Commission) from two parts to one. 2)Makes the following changes related to the Medical Board of California (MBC) and the practice act: a) Deletes obsolete language pertaining to an inoperative task force. b) Deletes an obsolete reference to complaint retention for licensees. c) Deletes obsolete language pertaining to the inoperative Bureau of Medical Statistics. 3)Requires the Board of Podiatric Medicine (BPM) to elect a secretary in addition to a president and vice president. 4)Makes the following changes related to the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) and the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) practice acts. a) Replaces the titles "marriage and family therapist SB 1478 Page 3 intern" or "marriage and family therapist registered intern" with the titles "associate marriage and family therapist" or "registered associate marriage and family therapist" beginning January 1, 2018. b) Deletes an obsolete reference pertaining to school approval. c) Clarifies that social worker, marriage and family, and professional clinical counselor interns, trainees, or associates may not gain supervised experience while employed as independent contractors, as specified. d) Replaces the term "associate social worker" with associate clinical social worker. e) Prohibits LCSW applicants from taking only the clinical examination until the school has obtained accreditation, as specified. f) Expands the approved accreditation agencies, as specified. g) Replaces the titles "professional clinical counselor intern" or "professional clinical counselor registered intern" with the titles "associate professional clinical counselor" or registered associate professional clinical counselor" beginning January 1, 2018. h) Requires applicants for licensure or registration as a professional clinical counselor to submit to the BBS a certification from the applicant's educational institution that the institution's required curriculum for graduation and any associated coursework meet specified curriculum SB 1478 Page 4 requirements. i) Deletes an obsolete reference to a grandfathering provision for licensure as an LPCC. 5)Makes numerous other technical and clarifying amendments. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, any fiscal impact to the DCA and affected boards is expected to be minor and absorbable. COMMENTS: Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the author. According to the author, "this bill is one of two "committee bills" authored by the [Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development] and is intended to consolidate a number of non-controversial provisions related to various regulatory programs and professions governed by the Business and Profession Code (BPC). Consolidating the provisions in one bill is designed to relieve the various licensing boards, bureaus, professions, and other regulatory agencies from the necessity and burden of having separate measures for a number of non-controversial revisions. Many of the provisions of this bill are minor, technical, and updating changes, while other provisions are substantive changes intended to improve the ability of various licensing programs and other entities to efficiently and effectively administer their respective laws. However, as a Committee bill, if controversy or opposition should arise regarding any provision that cannot be resolved, then that provision will be removed from the bill. This will eliminate the chance of placing any of the other provisions in jeopardy." Background. Dental Board of California. The DBC is responsible SB 1478 Page 5 for the licensure and regulation of licensed dental health professionals, which includes dentists, registered dental assistants, and registered dental assistants in extended functions. BPC Section 1632(a) specifies that applicants for licensure as a dentist must successfully complete the Part I and Part II written examinations of the National Board Dental Examination of the Joint Commission. As noted by the author, in 2017, the Joint Commission will be integrating the two-part examination into one singular examination. The changes in this bill reflect the integration of the examinations into one examination. Medical Board of California. AB 2394 (Firebuagh), Chapter 802, Statues of 2000, established a Task Force on Culturally and Linguistically Competent Physicians and Dentists, chaired by the Director of the DCA. The task force was required to report to the Legislature and the respective licensing boards within two years after its establishment. The task force released its report to the Legislature as required by AB 2394 in 2003. According to the author, the task force has not been active since 2003. This bill deletes BPC Section 852 pertaining to the establishment of the inactive task force. BPC Section 2029 requires the MBC to keep a copy of a complaint received regarding poor quality of care rendered by a licensee for 10 years from the date the MBC received the complaint. Currently, the MBC follows the provisions of BPC Sections of 2227.5 which requires the MBC to keep a copy of a complaint it receives concerning the unprofessional conduct of a licensee for seven years or until the statute of limitations for filing an accusation against a licensee has expired, whichever period is shorter, if the MBC finds after an investigation that there is insufficient evidence to proceed with disciplinary action. The author notes that this provision, along with the statute pertaining to the time limit for filing an accusation (BPC Section 2230.5), renders BPC Section 2029 inoperative; therefore, this bill deletes BPC Section 2029. SB 1478 Page 6 The Bureau of Medical Statistics under the MBC was enacted in 1980. Currently, the MBC is responsible for collecting medical statistics and the bureau is no longer active. This bill deletes obsolete language pertaining to the Bureau of Medical Statistics. Board of Podiatric Medicine. BPC Section 2467 requires the BPM to annually elect a president and a vice president of its board; this bill will require the BPM to additionally elect a secretary. The author notes that the BPM requested the additional elected board position. Board of Behavioral Sciences. The BBS licenses and regulates LCSWs, LMFTs, LEPs, and LPCCs. Additionally, the BBS registers Associate Clinical Social Workers (ACSW), Marriage and Family Therapist Interns (MFT Interns), Professional Clinical Counselor Intern (PCC Interns), and until June 30, 2015, registered continuing education (CE) providers. Each profession has its own scope of practice, entry-level requirements, and professional settings, with some overlap in certain areas. Below are a few examples of settings in which licensees may work; however, licensees may work in other settings that lawfully provide mental health services. Current law requires applicants for licensure as LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC to obtain supervised hours of experience in order to qualify for licensure. LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC applicants are permitted to obtain experience hours as a volunteer or an employee, but BPC Sections 4980.43 and 4999.47 specifically prohibit applicants for LMFT and LPCC from gaining experience while employed as an independent contractor. This bill further clarifies that associates, trainees or interns employed as independent contractors may not gain experience for work performed as an independent contractor or employed as an SB 1478 Page 7 independent contractor. SB 704 (Negrete McLeod), Chapter 387, Statutes of 2011, restructured the examination process for LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs. That bill established new requirements for licensure and registration which included a provision that applicants must take and pass both a California law and ethics examination and a clinical examination as prescribed by the BBS. Those changes also required that beginning January 1, 2016, in order to renew registration as an ACSW, an individual must take and pass the California law and ethics examination. However, under current law, BPC Section 4996.18 specifies that a LCSW applicant is not eligible to take any examination until his or her school or department of social work has received accreditation by the Commission. Without the changes proposed by this bill, an individual may not be able to take the California and law and ethics examination rendering the applicant ineligible for renewal. According to information from the BBS, the purpose of BPC Section 4996.18 was to prohibit an LCSW applicant from obtaining licensure until the applicant's school or department of social work obtained accreditation from the Commission. However, as a result of SB 704, the new examination requirements will be implemented January 1, 2016. After this date, in order to renew an ACSW registration, an applicant must take and pass the law and ethics examination. Previously, both required examinations were taken at the end of acquiring hours and upon meeting educational accreditation standards. Since accrediting a school can takes several years, the current law could cause a first year associate to be unable to take the California law and ethics examination, and consequently, be unable to renew his or her registration. This bill makes conforming changes to allow applicants for LCSW to take the law and ethics examination while their school or department of social work is waiting for accreditation, in order to meet new examination requirements for registered as ACSWs. SB 1478 Page 8 SB 788 (Wyland), Chapter 619, Statutes of 2009, established the LPCC Act. BPC Section 4999.54 was enacted to establish a grandfathering provision at the beginning of the LPCC licensure program. At that time the BBS accepted specified applications for licensure under the grandfathering provisions between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Although the application period ended five years ago, the provision remained to allow those applicants to remediate missing coursework requirements. The remediation period has since ended and this bill will delete now obsolete references to the grandfathering provisions. Persons seeking licensure as an LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC must first register with the BBS and obtain hours of supervised experience. According to the author, Registrants gaining supervised experience hours toward an LMFT or LPCC license are referred to as "interns" throughout applicable code. Stakeholders and registrants have voiced concerns that the "intern" title for LMFT and LPCC registrants may not be an accurate representation of their post-master's degree graduate status. Registrants gaining experience hours toward an LCSW license are referred to as "associates." This bill would change reference from "intern" to "associate" for LMFT and LPCC applicants to create consistency in the titles used by the BBS and remedy a common misconception that LMFT and LPCC interns have not yet graduated. Analysis Prepared by: Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN: 0003577 SB 1478 Page 9