BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1527|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1527
Author: Negrete McLeod (D)
Amended: 04/09/12
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEVELOP. COM. : 9-0,
04/16/12
AYES: Price, Emmerson, Corbett, Correa, Hernandez, Negrete
McLeod, Strickland, Vargas, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Social workers: licensing
SOURCE : Board of Behavioral Sciences
DIGEST : This bill requires applicants for licensure as a
clinical social worker and registration as an associate
social worker to complete coursework in California law and
professional ethics. It also clarifies the age of
licensure examination scores that the Board of Behavioral
Sciences may accept from an out of state applicant.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Provides for the licensure and regulation of social
workers by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (Board) per
the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act.
2.Requires an applicant for registration to satisfy certain
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training and course work requirements.
3.Requires a person who wishes to be credited with
experience toward license requirements to register with
the Board as an associate clinical social worker.
4.Grants all boards under the authority of the Department
of Consumer Affairs, by regulation, to develop guidelines
to prescribe components for mandatory continuing
education programs.
5.Specifies that any board administering a mandatory
continuing education program, when accepting hours for
credit which are obtained out of state, shall ensure that
the course for which credit is given is administered in
accordance with specific guidelines to ensure that
mandatory continuing education is used as a means to
create a more competent licensing population, thereby
enhancing public protection.
6.Requires the Board to issue a clinical social worker
license to each applicant, outside of the state, who
satisfies specified educational requirements and passes
the licensure examinations administered by the Board.
This bill:
1.Restructures the examination process by requiring the
applicant, commencing January 1, 2013, to complete an
18-hour course in California Law and Professional Ethics
in order for the Board to issue a clinical social worker
license or register an associate social worker from
another state.
2.Requires that, after January 1, 2013, the California Law
and Professional Ethics Examination must be taken within
the first year of an applicant's registration with the
Board.
3.Clarifies that, for applicants who do not hold an out of
state license, a passing score on the licensure
examination taken out of state, and received no more than
7 years prior, may be accepted by the Board.
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4.Authorizes the Board to accept licensure examination
scores for applicants who already hold a valid license in
good standing in another state and who have passed the
licensure examination regardless of when it was taken.
5.Specifies that the Board shall accept the examination
scores only if the applicant's license has not been
revoked, suspended, surrendered, denied or otherwise
restricted or encumbered as a result of any disciplinary
proceeding brought about by the licensing authority of
that jurisdiction.
Related Legislation
SB 704 (Negrete McLeod) Chapter 387, Statutes of 2011,
restructures the examination process for individuals
seeking a licensed clinical social worker license beginning
January 1, 2013. After this date, an associate social
worker registrant must do the following:
Take the California Law and Professional Ethics
examination within the first year of registration with
the Board.
If the Law and Professional Ethics examination is
not passed within the first renewal period, the
registrant must complete a 12-hour law and ethics
course in order to be eligible to take the examination
in the next renewal cycle. The exam must be re-taken
in each renewal cycle until passed. In addition, in
each year the examination is not passed, the 12-hour
law and ethics course must be taken to establish
examination eligibility.
SB 704 specifies that the Law and Professional Ethics
examination must be passed in order to obtain a license.
SB 704 also allows the Board to consider using national if
they meet California standards. However, it did not place
a limit on when a passing score on the clinical examination
must have been obtained for licensed clinical social worker
and licensed marriage and family therapist applicants.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 4/30/12)
California Board of Behavioral Sciences (source)
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
JJA:nl 4/30/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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