BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1183|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1183
Author: Lieu (D)
Amended: 4/30/12
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 5-3, 4/23/12
AYES: Price, Corbett, Correa, Hernandez, Vargas
NOES: Emmerson, Strickland, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Negrete McLeod
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Board of Behavioral Sciences: continuing
education
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires continuing education
providers, with the exception of accredited educational
institutions and certain other institutions, to be approved
by an accrediting organization, and deletes the requirement
for the Board of Behavioral Sciences (Board) to approve or
revoke those continuing education providers.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of
marriage and family therapists (LMFTs), clinical social
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workers (LCSWs), licensed professional clinical
counselors (LPCCs) and licensed educational psychologists
(LEPs) by the Board of Behavioral Sciences.
2.Requires continuing education units in order for a
licensee to renew their license.
3.Specifies that certain accredited schools shall be deemed
to be approved continuing education providers for these
licensees.
4.Requires the Board to approve continuing education
providers, other than at an accredited school, and
authorizes the Board to revoke or deny the right to offer
coursework if the provider fails to comply with specified
requirements.
This bill specifies the authority of the Board to approve
certain providers of continuing education for LMFTs
education psychologists, professional clinical counselors,
and LCSWs. This bill adds the requirement that continuing
education providers first receive accreditation from an
accredited educational institution or an accrediting
organization, such as a statewide or national mental health
association, in order to ensure that all continuing
education providers are subjected to a stringent review by
subject matter experts and practitioners.
Comments
Continuing Education Requirements for the Board
General Requirements . Existing law requires LMFTs, LCSWs,
LEPs, and LPCCs to have 36 hours of continuing education
every two years. Licensees must take courses from
accredited/approved schools or Board-approved continuing
education providers. The Board also requires that the
subject matter of the course be related to the licensees'
scope of practice. Currently, the process to become an
approved provider of continuing education by the Board is
the following: (a) complete an application to be a
continuing education provider; (b) Board staff reviews the
application to ascertain if the provider's continuing
education program is relevant to the practice of the
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Board's licensees and the program's content addresses
direct or indirect client care; (c) if the application
meets the minimum requirements, the provider pays the
$200.00 continuing education provider fee.
Once the provider is approved, they may offer unlimited
continuing education courses over a two year time period.
After two years, the provider must submit a renewal
application and fee.
Renewal Process for Continuing Education Providers . For
the renewal process, the Board sends a renewal notice to
the provider 90 days before their two-year time period is
complete. The continuing education provider submits a
renewal application and a $200.00 renewal application fee
to the Board. If the renewal application and fee is
submitted by the two-year deadline, the provider status is
renewed. If the provider submits their renewal application
and pays their renewal fee after the two year deadline,
they are charged an additional $100.00 delinquent renewal
fee. If the provider does not renew within one year after
the two year period, they lose the right to renew and their
provider status will be cancelled. Any course offered
after the renewal period will not be accepted towards Board
required continuing education units. During the renewal
process, the content of a continuing education provider's
program is not reviewed by the Board staff.
Unacceptable Courses . Course subject matter outside of the
scope of practice for licensees is not accepted by the
Board. The Board does not approve individual courses. The
Board issues approval based on the sample course
information that is submitted with a provider's
application.
Course Instructor Requirements . Providers are responsible
for ensuring that instructors meet at least two of the
following criteria: (a) a current, valid, license,
registration or certificate free from disciplinary action
in an area related to the subject matter of the course; (b)
if at any time an instructor's license is restricted
pursuant to disciplinary action in California or any other
state or territory, he or she must notify all approved
providers that he or she is providing instruction for,
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before instruction begins or immediately upon notice of the
decision, whichever occurs first; (c) a master's or higher
degree from an educational institution in an area related
to the subject matter of the course; (d) training,
certification or experience in teaching related to the
subject matter of the course; or at least two years'
experience in an area related to the subject matter of the
course.
Audits . The Board is authorized to audit records, courses,
instructors, related activities of a provider and licensees
to assure compliance with the law and regulations.
Denial of an Application to be a Continuing Education
Provider . If there is any disciplinary action against the
license of the individual who applies to be a continuing
education provider, this may affect ones provider approval
by the Board. The Board can deny an application for the
following reasons: (a) a provider is convicted of a felony
or misdemeanor offense related to the activities of a
provider; (b) a provider, if a licensee, violates any laws
or regulation relating to the practice of LMFT, LCSW, LEP
or LPCC; (c) a provider makes a material misrepresentation
of fact in information submitted to the Board.
A notice of denial will be sent to the provider and the
provider will have an opportunity to appeal the denial.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/9/12)
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OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/9/12)
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy,
California Division
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill seeks to ensure that the continuing education
programs available to the various licensees of the Board
are accredited and thus, high quality. The author's office
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states that the current process of approving continuing
education providers lacks both quality assurance of the
continuing education program's content and does not include
a review of the content, such as the effectiveness of the
therapeutic techniques that are taught to licensees. This
bill ensures that all continuing education providers go
through a stringent review by subject matter experts and
practitioners. The author's office states that if the
continuing education programs are required to be approved
by an accrediting organization or an accredited educational
institution, the overall quality of the continuing
education programs will be improved.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The American Association for
Marriage and Family Therapy, California Division states in
opposition:
While we share your concerns about the current state of
CE regulation, we are encouraged by the committee
process in which the BBS �Board of Behavioral Sciences]
has already begun to thoughtfully address the issue
with an abundance of stakeholder input. Such committee
processes have proven extremely successful for the
Board, the stakeholders, and the professions in the
recent past. SB 33 (2009), the bill that significantly
changed required graduate curriculum in MFT, and SB 704
(2011), which made significant changes to the process
of examination for licensure, each came about as a
direct result of such a committee process. Because
these processes involved so much stakeholder input,
their resulting legislation received little to no
opposition.
Our strong preference would be that this bill be
rescinded in order to allow the BBS committee process
to work as designed. We are confident that this
process has the best chance of resulting in CE
regulation that is effective for the professions and
the public.
JJA:dom 5/9/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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