BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 704|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 704
Author: Negrete McLeod (D)
Amended: 5/5/11
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/4/11
AYES: Price, Emmerson, Corbett, Correa, Hernandez, Vargas,
Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Negrete McLeod
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Healing arts: licensees: Board of Behavioral
Sciences
SOURCE : Board of Behavioral Sciences
DIGEST : This bill revises and recasts examination
requirements for marriage and family therapists and interns
and for licensed clinical social workers and associate
social workers, and makes technical cleanup and conforming
changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Licenses and regulates the practice of marriage and
family therapists (MFTs), licensed educational
psychologists (LEPs), and licensed clinical social
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workers (LCSWs) by the Board of Behavioral Sciences
(BBS) within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Beginning
January 1, 2012, the BBS will additionally license
professional clinical counselors.
2. Provides that in order to qualify for an MFT license,
an applicant must meet specified education, age, and
experience qualifications, and pass a
board-administered standard written examination or an
oral examination. After passing the standard written
examination, the applicant must additionally pass a
clinical vignette written examination.
3. Provides that in order to qualify for an LCSW license
an applicant must meet specified education, age, and
experience qualifications, and pass a
board-administered standard written examination. After
passing the standard written examination, the applicant
must additionally pass a clinical vignette written
examination.
4. Additionally provides for the registration and
regulation of MFT interns, and associate clinical
social workers (ASWs) by the BBS; and provides that a
registration expires each year and may be renewed a
maximum of five times.
5. Further provides for each applicant for an LCSW
license, after
January 1, 2014, to successfully pass the Association of
Social Work Boards Clinical Level Examination
administered by the Association of Social Work Boards,
only if the Board determines that the examination meets
the prevailing examination standards in California.
The applicant must also complete a separate California
jurisprudence and ethics examination incorporated or
developed and administered by the BBS.
This bill:
1. Revises the requirements for MFT and LCSW applicants
to pass a standard written examination to instead
require applicants to pass a California law and ethics
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examination.
2. Revises the requirements for MFT and LCSW applicants
to pass a clinical vignette written examination to
instead require applicants to pass a clinical
examination.
3. Removes references to the oral examination.
4. Repeals those provisions that would have become
operative on
January 1, 2014, and would instead, for an MFT and LCSW
license, revise and recast provisions related to
examinations to require, effective January 1, 2013,
applicants to pass a clinical examination and a
California law and ethics examination.
5. Requires, effective January 1, 2013, MFT interns and
ASWs to take the California law and ethics examination
in the first year after they are registered with the
BBS.
6. States the intent of the Legislature that the national
licensing examination, the Association of Social Work
Boards Clinical Level Examination administered by the
Association of Social Work Boards, be evaluated by the
BBS as a requirement for licensure as a clinical social
worker.
7. Authorizes the BBS to adopt the Association of Social
Work Boards Clinical Level Examination as the clinical
examination for social workers, if the BBS finds that
the examination meets the examination standards for
licensing and certification tests in California.
8. Makes technical, cleanup, and conforming changes.
Background
Beginning in February 2008, the BBS established an
Examination Program Review Committee (EPRC) to review the
BBS's LCSW, LEP, and MFT examination programs and evaluate
associated issues. The EPRC conducted an open-ended
inquiry to gather information, allowing stakeholders and
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interested parties opportunities to provide input,
feedback, and express any concerns regarding the
examination programs.
In December 2009, the EPRC made several recommendations
relating to modification of the current license examination
process for MFTs and LCSWs. The first recommendation is to
revise the current process for applicants, which includes
the standard examination after meeting the examination
eligibility requirements. After passing the standard
examination, the applicant must pass the clinical vignette
examination. The Committee further recommended requiring
MFT interns and ASWs to complete and pass a California law
and ethics examination. The framework of this examination
would consist of law and ethics questions that a recent
program graduate would be reasonably expected to know.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/2/11)
Board of Behavioral Sciences (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : In sponsoring this bill, the BBS
states that this bill requires applicants for MFT and LCSW
licenses to pass two new examinations: a California law
and ethics examination and a clinical examination. These
new examinations would replace the standard written and the
clinical vignette examinations currently in place. BBS
argues that the proposed examination restructure would
enhance consumer protection by requiring an applicant,
while practicing as an unlicensed registrant (MFT intern or
ASW) to pass an examination on the legal and ethical
practice of their profession.
Additionally, BBS states, restructuring the examinations
establishes a framework for the Board to transition to a
national testing system. Ultimately, accepting the
national examinations would benefit applicants by allowing
greater reciprocity and portability of licenses across
states.
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JJA:kc 5/4/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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