BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1205
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 1205 (Bill Berryhill) - As Amended: April 4, 2011
SUBJECT : Licensed behavior analysts.
SUMMARY : Requires the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to
license behavioral analysts (BA) and assistant BAs, on and after
January 1, 2015. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires BBS to administer and enforce the licensure of BAs
and assistant BAs and authorizes BBS to adopt related
regulations.
2)Prohibits a person from holding himself or herself out to be a
BA or an assistant BA unless licensed by BBS pursuant to this
bill.
3)Requires BBS to issue a BA license to an applicant who meets
all of the following requirements:
a) Possesses a baccalaureate and a master's degree that is
relevant to the field of behavior analysis, as determined
by BBS, from any of the following:
i) A United States (U.S.) or Canadian institution of
higher education fully or provisionally accredited by a
regional, state, provincial, or national accrediting
body; or,
ii) An institution of higher education located outside
the U.S. or Canada that, at the time the applicant was
enrolled and at the time the applicant graduated,
maintained a standard of training equivalent to the
standards of training of those institutions accredited in
the U.S.
b) Has completed no fewer than 225 classroom hours of
related graduate level instruction;
c) Has completed no fewer than 1,500 hours of supervised
independent fieldwork under the supervision of a licensed
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BA, as specified;
d) Has successfully passed an examination administered by
BBS, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), or
another comparable entity approved by BBS and accredited by
the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA);
e) Is certified by BACB or another comparable entity
approved by BBS and accredited by NCCA; and,
f) Pays the prescribed fees.
4)Requires BBS to issue an assistant BA license to an applicant
who meets all of the following requirements:
a) Possesses at least a baccalaureate degree from any of
the following:
i) A U.S. or Canadian institution of higher education
fully or provisionally accredited by a regional, state,
provincial, or national accrediting body; or,
ii) An institution of higher education located outside
the U.S. or Canada that, at the time the applicant was
enrolled and at the time the applicant graduated,
maintained a standard of training equivalent to the
standards of training of those institutions accredited in
the U.S.
b) Has completed no fewer than 135 classroom hours of
related instruction as required by BBS, BACB, or another
comparable entity approved by BBS and accredited by the
NCCA, as specified;
c) Has completed no fewer than 1,000 hours of supervised
independent fieldwork under the supervision of a licensed
BA, as specified;
d) Has successfully passed an examination administered by
BBS, BACB, or another comparable entity approved by BBS and
accredited by NCCA;
e) Is certified by BACB or another comparable entity
approved by BBS and accredited by the NCCA; and,
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f) Pays the prescribed fees.
5)Authorizes a licensed BA to provide all of the following
services:
a) Design, implement, and evaluate systematic instructional
and environmental modifications to produce socially
significant improvements in human behavior of individuals
or groups;
b) Apply principles, methods, and procedures of operant and
responding learning;
c) Utilize contextual factors, establishing operations,
antecedent stimuli, position reinforcement, and other
consequences to help people develop new behaviors, increase
or decrease existing behaviors, and emit behaviors under
specific environmental conditions;
d) Assess functional relations between behavioral and
environmental factors;
e) Apply interventions based on scientific research and the
direct observation and measurement of behavior and
environment; and,
f) Supervise unlicensed individuals who implement treatment
plans and interventions designed and maintained by the
licensed BA, including delivering procedures and methods
such as prompting, reinforcement, shaping, fading, and
differential reinforcement.
6)Excludes the practice of psychological testing,
neuropsychology, psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, sex
therapy, psychoanalysis, hypnotherapy, and long-term
counseling under the practice of behavior analysis.
7)Authorizes a licensed assistant BA to provide the services
outlined in 5) above, under the supervision of a licensed BA.
8)Requires BBS to establish application, licensure and renewal
fees in an amount sufficient to cover the reasonable
regulatory costs of carrying out the provisions of this bill.
9)Prohibits BBS from issuing a license to a person who has been
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convicted of a crime in California or any other state or
erritory of the U.S. that involves sexual abuse of children or
who is required to register as a sex offender, as specified.
10)Authorizes BBS to refuse to issue a license to an applicant
if it appears he or she may be unable to practice safely due
to mental illness or chemical dependency, as specified.
11)Authorizes BBS to deny an application for licensure or
suspend the license of a licensee if the applicant or licensee
is or has been guilty of unprofessional conduct, as specified.
12)Authorizes BBS to place a license on probation.
13)Provides that a license issued under this bill shall expire
no later than 24 months after its date of issue, as determined
by BBS.
14)Requires a licensee, when renewing an unexpired license to:
a) Apply for renewal on a form prescribed by BBS.
b) Pay a renewal fee to be determined by BBS through
regulation;
c) Inform BBS of whether he or she has been convicted of
any misdemeanor or felony and whether any disciplinary
action has been taken by a regulatory or licensing board in
California or any other state after the prior issuance or
renewal of his or her license;
d) Maintain compliance with the requirements for licensed
BAs and licensed assistant BAs, as described above; and,
e) Complete continuing education requirements, as
specified.
15)Provides that a suspended license is subject to expiration
and may be renewed as specified.
16)Provides that a revoked license is subject to expiration but
may not be renewed.
17)Specifies that a license that is not renewed within three
years after its date of expiration may not be renewed,
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restored, reinstated, or reissued; however, the licensee may
apply for and obtain a new license if the following criteria
are satisfied:
a) No fact, circumstance, or condition exists that, if the
license were issued, would constitute grounds for its
revocation or suspension;
b) He or she submits an application for examination
eligibility and the fee for that application;
c) He or she takes and passes the current licensing
examination; and,
d) He or she submits the fee for initial license issuance.
18)Prohibits BBS from renewing any license unless the licensee
certifies to BBS, on a form prescribed by BBS, that he or she
has completed the following:
a) For a licensed BA, no fewer than 36 hours of continuing
education (CE); and,
b) For a licensed assistant BA, no fewer than 24 hours of
CE.
19)Authorizes BBS to have the right to audit the records of any
licensee to verify the completion of the applicable CE
requirement, as specified.
20)Authorizes BBS to establish exceptions from the CE
requirements for good cause, as defined by BBS through
regulation.
21)Requires BBS to report each month to the Controller the
amount and source of all revenue received pursuant to this
bill and at the same time pay the entire amount thereof into
the State Treasury for credit to the Behavioral Sciences Fund.
22)Provides that this bill does not limit, impair, or otherwise
preclude persons acting within their scope of practice, as
specified.
23)Commences the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2015.
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24)Defines "direct supervisor contact" to mean in-person and on
an individual basis.
EXISTING LAW provides for the licensure and regulation of
various healing arts professions and vocations, including, but
not limited to, marriage and family therapists, licensed
educational psychologists, social workers, and licensed
professional clinical counselors by BBS.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office,
"Currently, licensed professionals with behavior analysis in
their scope of practice, such as psychiatrists, psychologists
and clinical social workers, provide applied behavior analysis
services. However, the vast majority of these services are
provided by individuals certified as Board Certified BAs by the
BACB, a nationally accredited organization. But, even with the
BACB disciplinary procedures, these individuals are not
regulated by any state licensing or credentialing authority,
which leaves California consumers without state sanctioned
protection or recourse when there is any concern associated with
the services provided by these unlicensed individuals."
Background . The field of behavior analysis grew out of the
scientific study of principles of learning and behavior. It has
two main branches: experimental and applied behavior analysis.
Applied behavior analysis professionals engage in the specific
and comprehensive use of principles of learning, including
operant and respondent learning, in order to address behavioral
needs of widely varying individuals in diverse settings.
Examples of these applications include: building the skills and
achievements of children in school settings; enhancing the
development, abilities, and choices of children and adults with
different kinds of disabilities; and augmenting the performance
and satisfaction of employees in organizations and businesses.
Support . The California Association for Behavior Analysts, the
sponsor of this bill, writes in support, "Behavior analysis
services are used to treat people with disabilities, most
notably autism spectrum disorders. While psychologists,
psychiatrists, and clinical social workers provide behavior
analysis services, the vast majority of the services are
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provided by BAs and assistant BAs who are certified by the
national BACB. Though accredited and certified, these
professionals are not licensed or regulated by the state.
"AB 1205's licensure requirements would provide both the state
and consumers recourse when there are any concerns with the
services provided to children by BAs and assistant BAs. At the
same time, the bill would not preclude other licensed
professionals from providing behavior analysis services, if such
services are within their scope of practice."
Opposition . The California Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists (CAMFT) writes in opposition, "Currently, BBS does
not have the staffing resources to administer and regulate the
professions it already regulates. By way of example, consider
this posting on the BBS website as it relates to Marriage and
Family Therapists: 'Due to hiring constrains, the Board is
unable to fill vacancies, including those occurring in the
application evaluation and renewal processing units?Simply put,
BBS cannot assume additional responsibilities to regulate
another profession unless it is provided the necessary staffing
to do so?.'"
Related legislation . AB 171 (Beall) of 2011, requires health
care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to
provide coverage for the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of
autism spectrum disorders. This bill is pending in the Assembly
Health Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association for Behavior Analysts (sponsor)
Numerous individuals
Opposition
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
California Psychological Association
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
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