BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1113
Author: Lowenthal (D) and Anderson (R)
Amended: 5/14/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEVELOP. COM. : 10-0,
6/22/09
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Wyland, Aanestad, Corbett, Correa,
Florez, Oropeza, Romero, Walters, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Prisoners: professional mental health
providers: marriage
and family therapists
SOURCE : California Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists
DIGEST : This bill allows a marriage and family therapist
intern to gain qualifying experience for licensure as a
marriage and family therapist while working in a state
correctional facility.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the Business and Professions
Code:
1.Licenses and regulates marriage and family therapists
CONTINUED
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(MFTs), marriage and family therapy interns (MFT
Interns), licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) and
associate social workers (ASWs) by the Board of
Behavioral Sciences (Board) within the Department of
Consumer Affairs.
2.Provides that a person who wishes to gain experience
toward licensure as an LCSW shall register with the Board
as an ASW prior to obtaining that experience. The ASW
shall gain experience under the supervision of a LCSW,
licensed psychologist, MFT or psychiatrist, as specified.
3.Provides that a person who wishes to gain experience
toward licensure as an MFT shall register with the Board
as an MFT Intern prior to obtaining that experience. The
MFT Intern shall gain experience under the supervision of
an, MFT, LCSW, licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, as
specified.
This bill:
1.Adds a person gaining qualifying experience for licensure
as an MFT (i.e., an MFT Intern) to the list of those for
whom the license requirement may be waived.
2.Specifies that an MFT Intern is limited to working within
his or her scope of practice.
3.Makes technical and clarifying changes.
Background
The Business and Professions Code provides for the
licensing and regulation of more than 28,000 MFTs, 10,000
MFT interns, 16,000 LCSWs, and 7,200 ASWs by the Board. In
order to qualify for MFT licensure, an individual must have
at least a master's level degree and 3,000 hours of
supervised experience as a MFT Intern over a period of at
least 104 weeks, and consisting of specified types of
activities. The experience must be gained under the
supervision, as specified, of an MFT, LCSW, licensed
psychologist or psychiatrist.
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The Penal Code requires a person employed or under contract
to provide diagnostic, treatment, or other mental health
services or to supervise or provide consultation on those
services in the State correctional system to be licensed as
a physician and surgeon, psychologist or as an "other
health professional" (which includes LCSW, and MFT
licensees). An exemption from the requirement to hold a
license provides for persons gaining qualifying experience
in order to become licensed as a psychologist, or LCSW.
Prior Legislation
AB 2652 (Anderson) was introduced last year (2008) and was
nearly identical to this bill. That bill was held in
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1975 (Romero) Chapter 356, Statutes of 2000, waived the
license requirement to practice in the state correctional
system for clinical social workers gaining qualifying
experience for licensure.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/09)
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
(source)
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy,
California Division
Board of Behavioral Sciences
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
California Psychiatric Association
Mental Health Association in California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/30/09)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees
California Psychological Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Association of
Marriage and Family Therapists, states: "MFT Interns have
education and experience requirements substantially
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equivalent to clinical social work associates and are
equally capable of providing the mental health services
necessary within correctional settings. Permitting MFT
interns to be employed within the CDCR would help reduce
the mental health professional shortage currently at
issue."
The Board of Behavioral Sciences states that marriage and
family therapy interns may already gain qualifying
experience for licensure in other settings when those
services are provided under the supervision of a qualified
mental health practitioner pursuant to the Marriage and
Family Therapy Act. Therefore, this bill proposes a
practice already acceptable to the Board and merely makes
it possible for CDCR to allow interns to provide services
within its facilities.
The California Psychiatric Association indicates that the
bill would take a small but significant step toward meeting
the crisis in providing constitutionally adequate mental
health care to California's prison inmates.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Psychological
Association (CPA) states in opposition, "With nearly 20% of
the prison population in the mental health program designed
for individuals with severe mental illness, the CDCR needs
trained clinicians who possess the training and skill sets
to assist these individuals. CPA does not believe that the
skills, training, and education of an MFT make for a good
fit within the prison system.
"The scope of practice for an MFT is to assist individuals
to have healthier interpersonal relationships within their
families. This bill, in effect, is requesting a significant
scope of expansion for MFTs to work with individuals with
severe mental illness without any increase in training and
educational standards to accommodate the expansion.
"CPA is also concerned that the training of these
individuals will not be effective as there will not be a
position for an MFT in CDCR once they are licensed. There
is currently no state-approved position for an MFT in state
service ? Training an individual in a position in a
Department for a job that will not exist is a poor use of
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state resources."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eng, Jones, Ma, Nava, Price, Ruskin,
Saldana, Solorio, Swanson
JA:nl 6/30/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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