BILL NUMBER: SB 1183 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 12, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 26, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
An act to amend Section Sections
4980.54 and 4996.22 of the Business and Professions Code,
relating to healing arts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1183, as amended, Lieu. Marriage and family
therapists: continuing education. Marriage and family
therapists: clinical social workers: continuing education.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of marriage
and family therapists and clinical social workers by the
Board of Behavioral Sciences and imposes continuing education
requirements for license renewal. Existing law specifies that
certain accredited schools shall be deemed to be approved continuing
education providers for these licensees. Existing law requires
the board to approve other continuing education providers
and authorizes the board to revoke or deny the right of a
provider those providers to offer coursework if
the provider fails they fail to comply
with specified requirements.
This bill would prohibit training regarding sexual
orientation change efforts from being included in the approved
continuing education coursework require continuing
education providers other than accredited educational institutions
and certain other institutions to be approved by an accrediting
organization, and would delete the requirement for the board to
approve or revoke those providers. The bill would make other
conforming changes .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4980.54 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4980.54. (a) The Legislature recognizes that the education and
experience requirements in this chapter constitute only minimal
requirements to assure that an applicant is prepared and qualified to
take the licensure examinations as specified in subdivision (d) of
Section 4980.40 and, if he or she passes those examinations, to begin
practice.
(b) In order to continuously improve the competence of licensed
marriage and family therapists and as a model for all
psychotherapeutic professions, the Legislature encourages all
licensees to regularly engage in continuing education related to the
profession or scope of practice as defined in this chapter.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (e), the board shall not
renew any license pursuant to this chapter unless the applicant
certifies to the board, on a form prescribed by the board, that he or
she has completed not less than 36 hours of approved continuing
education in or relevant to the field of marriage and family therapy
in the preceding two years, as determined by the board.
(d) The board shall have the right to audit the records of any
applicant to verify the completion of the continuing education
requirement. Applicants shall maintain records of completion of
required continuing education coursework for a minimum of two years
and shall make these records available to the board for auditing
purposes upon request.
(e) The board may establish exceptions from the continuing
education requirements of this section for good cause, as defined by
the board.
(f) The continuing education shall be obtained from one of the
following sources:
(1) An accredited school or state-approved school
educational institution that meets the
requirements set forth in Section 4980.36 or 4980.37. Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed as requiring coursework to be offered
as part of a regular degree program.
(2) Other continuing education providers that are approved by
accrediting organizations , including, but not limited to, a
professional marriage and family therapist association, a licensed
health facility, a governmental entity, a continuing education unit
of an accredited four-year institution of higher learning, or a
mental health professional association , approved by the
board .
(g) The board shall establish, by regulation, a procedure for
approving providers of continuing education courses, and all
providers of continuing education, as described in paragraphs (1) and
(2) of subdivision (f), shall adhere to procedures established by
the board. The board may revoke or deny the right of a provider to
offer continuing education coursework pursuant to this section for
failure to comply with the requirements of this section or any
regulation adopted pursuant to this section.
(h)
(g) Training, education, and coursework by approved
providers shall incorporate one or more of the following:
(1) Aspects of the discipline that are fundamental to the
understanding or the practice of marriage and family therapy.
(2) Aspects of the discipline of marriage and family therapy in
which significant recent developments have occurred.
(3) Aspects of other disciplines that enhance the understanding or
the practice of marriage and family therapy.
(i) Training, education, or coursework by approved continuing
education providers shall not include sexual orientation change
efforts. For purposes of this subdivision, sexual orientation change
efforts, also known as conversion therapy or reparative therapy,
means practices aimed at changing an individual's sexual orientation.
(j)
(h) A system of continuing education for licensed
marriage and family therapists shall include courses directly related
to the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of the client population
being served.
(k)
(i) The board shall, by regulation, fund the
administration of this section through continuing education provider
fees to be deposited in the Behavioral Sciences Fund. The fees
related to the administration of this section shall be sufficient to
meet, but shall not exceed, the costs of administering the
corresponding provisions of this section. For purposes of this
subdivision, a provider of continuing education as described in
paragraph paragraphs (1) and (2)
of subdivision (f) shall be deemed to be an approved provider.
(l)
(j) The continuing education requirements of this
section shall comply fully with the guidelines for mandatory
continuing education established by the Department of Consumer
Affairs pursuant to Section 166.
SEC. 2. Section 4996.22 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
4996.22. (a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the board
shall not renew any license pursuant to this chapter unless the
applicant certifies to the board, on a form prescribed by the board,
that he or she has completed not less than 36 hours of approved
continuing education in or relevant to the field of social work in
the preceding two years, as determined by the board.
(2) The board shall not renew any license of an applicant who
began graduate study prior to January 1, 2004, pursuant to this
chapter unless the applicant certifies to the board that during the
applicant's first renewal period after the operative date of this
section, he or she completed a continuing education course in spousal
or partner abuse assessment, detection, and intervention strategies,
including community resources, cultural factors, and same gender
abuse dynamics. On and after January 1, 2005, the course shall
consist of not less than seven hours of training. Equivalent courses
in spousal or partner abuse assessment, detection, and intervention
strategies taken prior to the operative date of this section or proof
of equivalent teaching or practice experience may be submitted to
the board and at its discretion, may be accepted in satisfaction of
this requirement. Continuing education courses taken pursuant to this
paragraph shall be applied to the 36 hours of approved continuing
education required under paragraph (1).
(b) The board shall have the right to audit the records of any
applicant to verify the completion of the continuing education
requirement. Applicants shall maintain records of completion of
required continuing education coursework for a minimum of two years
and shall make these records available to the board for auditing
purposes upon request.
(c) The board may establish exceptions from the continuing
education requirement of this section for good cause as defined by
the board.
(d) The continuing education shall be obtained from one of the
following sources:
(1) An accredited school of social work, as defined in Section
4991.2, or a school or department of social work that is a candidate
for accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of the Council
on Social Work Education. Nothing in this paragraph shall be
construed as requiring coursework to be offered as part of a regular
degree program.
(2) Other continuing education providers that are approved by
accrediting organizations , including, but not limited to, a
professional social work association, a licensed health facility, a
governmental entity, a continuing education unit of an accredited
four-year institution of higher learning, and a mental health
professional association , approved by the board .
(e) The board shall establish, by regulation, a procedure for
approving providers of continuing education courses, and all
providers of continuing education, as described in paragraphs (1) and
(2) of subdivision (d), shall adhere to the procedures established
by the board. The board may revoke or deny the right of a provider to
offer continuing education coursework pursuant to this section for
failure to comply with the requirements of this section or any
regulation adopted pursuant to this section.
(f)
(e) Training, education, and coursework by approved
providers shall incorporate one or more of the following:
(1) Aspects of the discipline that are fundamental to the
understanding, or the practice, of social work.
(2) Aspects of the social work discipline in which significant
recent developments have occurred.
(3) Aspects of other related disciplines that enhance the
understanding, or the practice, of social work.
(g)
(f) A system of continuing education for licensed
clinical social workers shall include courses directly related to the
diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of the client population being
served.
(h)
(g) The continuing education requirements of this
section shall comply fully with the guidelines for mandatory
continuing education established by the Department of Consumer
Affairs pursuant to Section 166.
(i)
(h) The board may adopt regulations as necessary to
implement this section.
(j)
(i) The board shall, by regulation, fund the
administration of this section through continuing education provider
fees to be deposited in the Behavioral Science Examiners Fund. The
fees related to the administration of this section shall be
sufficient to meet, but shall not exceed, the costs of administering
the corresponding provisions of this section. For purposes of this
subdivision, a provider of continuing education as described in
paragraph paragraphs (1) and (2)
of subdivision (d) shall be deemed to be an approved provider.