BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2167
Page A
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 2167 (Nava) - As Introduced: February 18, 2010
SUBJECT : Clinical social workers: examination requirements.
SUMMARY : Establishes new examination requirements for
applicants seeking licensure as clinical social workers (LCSW).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Sunsets the current examination requirements for individuals
seeking licensure as an LCSW on January 1, 2014.
2)Requires the Board for Behavioral Sciences (BBS), commencing
January 1, 2014, to issue a LCSW license to each qualified
applicant, as specified, who passes the following
examinations:
a) The Association of Social Work Boards Clinical Level Exam
administered by the Association of Social Work Boards; and,
b) A California jurisprudence and ethic examination incorporated
or developed and administered by BBS.
3)Provides for an unspecified fee for the California
jurisprudence and ethics examination, commencing January 1,
2014, which shall be based on the actual cost to BBS of
developing and administering the examination.
4)Makes conforming changes to the current laws governing
examination requirements for licensure as a LCSW.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides for the licensure and regulation of LCSWs by BBS.
2)Requires BBS to issue a license to each applicant meeting
specified requirements who passes BBS administered
examinations, as specified.
3)Establishes the following examination fee structure:
AB 2167
Page B
a) $150 for the standard written examination; and,
b) $100 for the clinical vignette written examination.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office,
"California is the only state that does not allow masters level
LCSWs to take the national exam, administered by the Association
of Social Work Boards (ASWB), for licensure. This effectively
makes California LCSWs ineligible for the federal National
Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment program (LRP). In
addition, without the national exam, California LCSWs do not
have portability. In addition, recruiting out of state social
workers is nearly impossible because California does not
recognize the national exam. Currently California has a need
for an estimated 19,000 to 25,000 trained, educated social
workers. Since the state's social work programs graduate only
4,500 students annually, there is a shortfall of 14,500 to
20,500 trained social workers."
Background . The ASWB is the national association of boards that
regulate social work. ASWB develops and maintains social work
licensing examinations used across the country and in several
Canadian provinces, and serves as a resource for information on
the legal regulation of social work. California currently does
not recognize the national exam provided by ASWB as a means for
licensure.
Since 2006, BBS has considered requiring candidates for LCSW
licensure to take ASWB's examination. Accordingly, BBS engaged
an independent auditor to perform a psychometric audit of the
ASWB exam and produce a report to BBS assessing whether the
examination meets California legal requirements for licensure
examinations. Additionally, BBS formed the Examination Program
Review Committee (EPRC) to engage in a review of BBS's
examination programs for all licensing types and to conduct
public meetings and discussions with stakeholders relating to
concerns with current and future examination processes.
Based on the auditor's findings, BBS determined it would be
inappropriate to use the ASWB examination and made the following
recommendations:
AB 2167
Page C
1)Staff should work with ASWB to ensure that a significant
sample of California LCSWs participate in the ASWB
occupational analysis process.
2)EPRC should consider the ASWB examination in its work as it
relates to licensure for clinical social work.
3)Staff should engage ASWB in discussions regarding its concerns
identified in the audit report.
BBS continues to work with ASWB to help address the deficiencies
found during the audit of the national exam and with
stakeholders to restructure the current examination program
structure.
NHSC LRP . Allowing California's LCSWs to sit for the national
examination provided by the ASWB would qualify them to
participate in the NHSC LRP. The NHSC LRP is a loan repayment
program administered by the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) of the United States Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS). The NHSC LRP recruits fully-trained
health professionals to provide culturally competent,
interdisciplinary primary health care services to underserved
populations located in selected Health Professional Shortage
Areas (HPSAs) identified by the HHS Secretary. HPSAs can be
found in rural and urban communities across the nation. In
return, the NHSC LRP assists clinicians in their repayment of
qualifying educational loans.
Primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, certified
nurse-midwives, physician assistants, dentists, dental
hygienists, and behavioral and mental health providers,
including LCSWs, are eligible for up to $50,000 in loan
repayments for the initial two-year service commitment and may
be eligible to continue their loan repayment beyond two years if
they have unpaid qualifying educational loans and continue to
serve at an eligible site.
Support . The sponsor of this bill, the National Association of
Social Workers - California Chapter, writes in support, "There
is a great need, especially in these bad economic times, for
social workers to work in underserved areas, which contain
ethnically diverse communities with access to few, if any,
qualified mental health professionals. The NHSC LRP can
AB 2167
Page D
reimburse qualified social workers up to $50,000 for their
education costs. This goes a long way toward recruiting
talented students to the profession.
"Prior to 1993, California LCSWs took the National Exam for
licensure. BBS decided to switch to a state created and
administered exam after they determined that the National Exam
did not reflect social work as it is practiced in California.
Recently, the BBS has been working with the ASWB to improve the
exam. In 2008, BBS requested a number of changes to the exam
that have been met by the ASWB.
"The BBS is investigating how to modify the licensure exam
process for LCSWs and for that to happen, legislation is needed.
All other 49 states are confident that the national exam
reflects clinical social work as practiced in their state."
Author's amendments . The author has agreed to the following two
amendments:
1) In order to allow BBS to make the final determination
regarding the use of the ASWB examination, the author has agreed
to amend the bill as follows:
Page 4, line 15, after "...Association of Social Work Boards..."
insert ", if, the Board [BBS] determines that this examination
meets the prevailing standards for validation and use of
licensing and certifications tests in California"
2) The author has also agreed to set the fee for the California
jurisprudence and ethics examination at $100.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
(sponsor)
Aging Services of California
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO, Local 2712
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO, Local 3511
Opposition
AB 2167
Page E
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301