BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2167
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 5, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    AB 2167 (Nava) - As Amended:  April 14, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Business and  
          Professions  Vote:                            11 - 0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill 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 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.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Costs associated with this legislation would be minor and  
          absorbable within existing resources. 

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . 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.  
          Because the state uses its own exam for social worker licensing  
          rather than the national exam, California social workers are  
          ineligible for the federal National Health Service Corps (NHSC)  
          Loan Repayment program (LRP). 








                                                                  AB 2167
                                                                  Page  2


          Under the federal loan repayment program 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.

          In addition, without the national exam, California LCSWs do not  
          have portability and it becomes difficult to recruit  
          out-of-state social workers because California does not  
          recognize the national exam.  According to the sponsors, the  
          National Association of Social Workers, California needs 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.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081