BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2198|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2198
Author: Levine (D), et al.
Amended: 8/4/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMM. : 5-0, 6/23/14
AYES: Lieu, Corbett, Galgiani, Hill, Torres
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Berryhill, Block, Hernandez
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-11, 5/19/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Mental health professionals: suicide prevention
training
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires a psychologist, marriage and
family therapist (MFT), educational psychologist, professional
clinical counselor and clinical social worker, who began
graduate study on or after January 1, 2016, to complete a
minimum of 15 hours of coursework on suicide prevention, before
being issued a license; and requires, commencing January 1,
2016, a person licensed in these professions or any applicant
for licensure who began graduate study prior to January 1, 2016,
to take a six-hour continuing education (CE) course on suicide
prevention in order to renew a license.
ANALYSIS :
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Existing law:
1.Requires the Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs
(DCA), by regulation, to develop guidelines to prescribe
components for mandatory CE programs administered by any board
within DCA and requires that those guidelines ensure that
mandatory CE is used as a means to create a more competent
licensing population, thereby enhancing public protection.
2.Establishes the Psychology Licensing Law which provides for
the licensure and regulation of licensed psychologists.
3.Requires an applicant for licensure as a psychologist to
comply with the following requirements: (a) not be subject to
denial, as specified; (b) possess an earned doctorate degree,
as specified; (c) have engaged for at least two years in
supervised professional experience under the direction of a
licensed psychologist, as specified; (d) take and pass an
examination, as specified; and (e) show by evidence
satisfactory to the Board of Psychology (BOP) that he/she has
completed training in the detection and treatment of alcohol
and other chemical dependency, as specified.
4.Requires BOP to develop guidelines for the basic education and
training of psychologists whose practices include patients
with medical conditions and patients with mental and emotional
disorders who may require psychopharmacological treatment and
whose management may require collaboration with physicians and
other licensed prescribers, as specified.
5.Establishes the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Act
administered by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to
regulate MFTs and interns.
6.Establishes the requirements of educational programs for
applicants for licensure as an MFT, as specified.
7.Requires each educational institution preparing applicants to
qualify for registration or licensure to notify each of its
students by means of its public documents or otherwise in
writing that its degree program is designed to meet the
requirements, as specified, and certify to the BBS that it has
so notified its students.
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8.Specifies that an applicant for registration or licensure
submit to the BBS a certification by the applicant's
educational institution that the institution's required
curriculum for graduation and any associated coursework
completed by the applicant meets specified requirements.
9.Establishes the Licensed Educational Psychologists Practice
Act to regulate licensed educational psychologists (LEPs).
10.States the practice of educational psychology is the
performance of any of the following professional functions
pertaining to academic learning processes or the educational
system or both:
A. Educational evaluation;
B. Diagnosis of psychological disorders related to academic
learning processes;
C. Administration of diagnostic tests related to academic
learning processes including tests of academic ability,
learning patterns, achievement, motivation, and personality
factors;
D. Interpretation of diagnostic tests related to academic
learning processes including tests of academic ability,
learning patterns, achievement, motivation, and personality
factors;
E. Providing psychological counseling for individuals,
groups, and families;
F. Consultation with other educators and parents on issues
of social development and behavioral and academic
difficulties;
G. Conducting psychoeducational assessments for the
purposes of identifying special needs;
H. Developing treatment programs and strategies to address
problems of adjustment; and
I. Coordinating intervention strategies for management of
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individual crises.
1.Requires an LEP seeking to renew his/her license to certify to
BBS, on a prescribed form, completion in the preceding two
years of not less than 36 hours of approved CE in, or relevant
to, educational psychology.
2.Establishes the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act to license
and regulate licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs).
3.Establishes the licensure requirements for an LCSW and
requires each applicant to furnish satisfactory evidence to
BBS that he/she has complied with specified requirements
including adequate instruction and training in the subjects of
alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency; spousal or
partner abuse assessment, detection, and intervention; human
sexuality, as specified; and child abuse assessment and
reporting, as specified.
4.Requires an LCSW to complete CE coursework in aging and
long-term care, as specified.
5.Establishes the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act
to license and regulate professional clinical counselors
(PCCs).
6.Establishes the licensure requirements for a PCC and requires
each applicant to furnish satisfactory evidence to BBS that
he/she has complied with specified education and practicum
requirements.
7.Prohibits BBS from renewing a PCC license unless the applicant
certifies to BBS, on a form prescribed by BBS, that he/she has
completed not less than 36 hours of approved CE in, or
relevant to, the field of professional clinical counseling in
the preceding two-years, as specified.
This bill:
For Psychologists :
1.Requires an applicant for licensure as a psychologist, who
began graduate study on or after January 1, 2016, to complete
as a condition of licensure, a minimum of 15 contact hours of
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coursework in suicide assessment, treatment, and management
and prohibits BOP from issuing a license to a psychologist
applicant until the applicant has met the specified
educational requirements.
2.Requires a licensed psychologist or any applicant for
licensure, who began graduate study prior to January 1, 2016,
to complete a six-hour continuing education course in best
practices for suicide assessment, treatment, and management
during his/her first renewal period, as specified, and submit
acceptable evidence to BOP of the person's satisfactory
completion of that course, and prohibits BOP from issuing a
license to a psychologist until the applicant has met the
specified educational requirements.
3.Permits continuing education courses taken in suicide
assessment, treatment and management, to be applied to the 36
hours of approved continuing education required, as specified.
4.Delays the implementation of the continuing education
requirement until January 1, 2016.
For MFTs :
5.Requires a qualified applicant for licensure as an MFT, who
began graduate study on or after January 1, 2016, to complete,
as a condition of licensure, a minimum of 15 contact hours of
coursework in suicide assessment, treatment, and management.
6.Requires an MFT or any applicant for licensure, who began
graduate study prior to January 1, 2016, to complete a
six-hour CE course in best practices for suicide assessment,
treatment, and management during his/her first renewal period,
as specified, and submit acceptable evidence to BBS of the
person's satisfactory completion of that course.
7.Permits CE courses taken in suicide assessment, treatment, and
management, to be applied to the 36 hours of approved CE
required, as specified.
8.Delays the implementation of the CE requirement until January
1, 2016.
For LEPs :
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9.Requires an applicant for licensure as an educational
psychologist, who began graduate study on or after January 1,
2016, to complete as a condition of licensure, a minimum of 15
contact hours of coursework in suicide assessment, treatment,
and management and prohibits BBS from issuing a license to an
educational psychologist until the applicant has met the
specified educational requirements.
10.Requires an LEP or any applicant for licensure, who began
graduate study prior to January 1, 2016, to complete a
six-hour CE course in best practices for suicide assessment,
treatment, and management during his/her first renewal period,
as specified, and submit acceptable evidence to BBS of the
person's satisfactory completion of that course.
11.Permits CE courses taken in suicide assessment, treatment,
and management, to be applied to the 36 hours of approved CE
required, as specified.
12.Delays the implementation of the CE requirement until January
1, 2016.
For LCSWs :
13.Requires an applicant for licensure as a clinical social
worker, who began graduate study on or after January 1, 2016,
to complete as a condition of licensure, a minimum of 15
contact hours of coursework in suicide assessment, treatment,
and management and prohibits BBS from issuing a license to a
social worker until the applicant has met the specified
educational requirements.
14.Requires an LCSW or any applicant for licensure, who began
graduate study prior to January 1, 2016, to complete a
six-hour CE course in best practices for suicide assessment,
treatment, and management during his/her first renewal period,
as specified, and submit acceptable evidence to BBS of the
person's satisfactory completion of that course.
15.Permits CE courses taken in suicide assessment, treatment,
and management, to be applied to the 36 hours of approved CE
required, as specified.
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16.Delays the implementation of the CE requirement until January
1, 2016.
For LPCCs :
17.Requires a qualified applicant for licensure as a
professional clinical counselor, who began graduate study on
or after January 1, 2016, to complete, as a condition of
licensure, a minimum of 15 contact hours of coursework in
suicide assessment, treatment, and management.
18.Requires a PCC or any applicant for licensure, who began
graduate study prior to January 1, 2016, to complete a
six-hour CE course in best practices for suicide assessment,
treatment, and management during his/her first renewal period,
as specified, and submit acceptable evidence to BBS of the
person's satisfactory completion of that course.
19.Permits CE courses taken in suicide assessment, treatment,
and management, to be applied to the 36 hours of approved CE
required, as specified.
20.Delays the implementation of the CE requirement until January
1, 2016.
Background
According to the Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development Committee analysis, this chart reflects the
requirements for the mental health practitioners that will be
affected by this bill. With the exception of the law and ethics
courses, which must be repeated upon renewal of one's license,
all others are one-time pre-requisites for licensure.
--------------------------------------------------------------
| Courses |Psychologis| LCSWs | LMFTs | LPCCs | LEPs |
| | ts | | | | |
|------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|Human Sexuality | 10 hours | 10 | 10 | 10 | n/a |
| | | hours | hours | hours | |
|------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|Alcoholism/ | one | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
|Chemical |quarter or | hours | hours | hours | hours |
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|Dependence | semester | | | | |
| | long | | | | |
| | course | | | | |
|------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|Child Abuse | 7 hours |7 |7 |7 |7 |
| | | hours| hours| hours| hours|
|------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|Spousal/Partner | 15 hours |7 |7 |7 | n/a |
|Abuse | | hours| hours| hours| |
|------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|Aging/Long-Term | 10 hours |3 |7 |7 |n/a |
|Care | | hours| hours| hours| |
|------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|HIV/AIDS | n/a |7 |7 |7 |n/a |
| | | hours| hours| hours| |
--------------------------------------------------------------
Comments
According to the author, "Currently there are numerous
requirements in California Business and Professions Code
governing graduate and continuing education requirements. There
is however no specific law in California that requires graduate
training or continuing education in suicide assessment?AB 2198
will lead to lives being saved through mental health
professionals identifying suicidal intentions before they become
life threatening."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/31/14)
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention California Chapters
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Greater San Francisco
Bay Area
Chapter
Asian Americans for Community Involvement
Association of California Healthcare Districts
California Association of Local Mental Health Boards and
Commissions
California Catholic Conference of Bishops
California Federation of Teachers
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California Institute for Mental Health
California Mental Health Directors Association
California Professional Firefighters
California State Sheriffs' Association
Caltrain
Community Solutions
Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services
El Camino Hospital
Family & Children Services of Silicon Valley
Momentum for Mental Health
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) California
NAMI Santa Clara County Board of Directors
NAMI Santa Cruz
Veterans Caucus for the California Democratic Party
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/31/14)
Alameda County Psychological Association
Board of Behavioral Sciences
Board of Psychology
California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical
Counselors
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
California Psychological Association
National Association of Social Workers- California Chapter
San Gabriel Valley Psychological Association
San Joaquin Valley Psychological Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The National Alliance on Mental Illness
(NAMI) Santa Clara County Board of Directors, Community
Solutions, California Institute for Mental Health and Momentum
for Mental Health similarly write, "?numerous individuals and
professionals in California are being trained to recognize signs
of suicide; however, no similar requirement mandates that the
people being referred, i.e., our mental health professionals,
are competently trained. Patient safety should be paramount and
excellent suicide assessment, treatment and management of
professionals must always be ensured."
NAMI California writes, "By creating standards for suicide
prevention training for specified mental health professionals,
we can ensure that these mental health professionals providing
services to individuals living with mental illness are in a
position to identify and address potential signs that the
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patient is at risk of death by suicide."
The California Catholic Conference of Bishops writes, "?mental
health professionals are on the front lines. It makes good
sense and quality public policy to provide them with effective
training and tools for assessing and treating those that seek
their help."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Psychological
Association writes, "There currently exist a number of mandated
CEs on psychologists, including law and ethics, domestic
violence, and aging and long-term care- all of these originated
on a piecemeal basis. Moving towards a mandated CE will
increase the burden of professionals in this area, and will not
allow them to take other CE courses in areas that may be more
appropriate to their specialty. The mandated CE creates less
room for other worthy topics such as multiculturalism, advance
in cognitive behavior therapy, current trends in family courts
and child custody proceeding, and new information on
psychopharmacology (to list a few)."
The Board of Psychology writes, "The Board is aware that suicide
is an extremely important topic that has touched the lives of
many families in our state. The Board is committed to educating
our licensees and the general public on this issue via various
outreach and educational tools. The Board does not believe,
however, that AB 2198 is the appropriate vehicle for achieving
competence in this area. Specifically, the Board opposes the
bill for the following reasons;
The coursework and CE hours mandated in the bill will not help
a licensee achieve competence in the area of suicide
assessment, prevention and training. The Board is concerned
that attending a six-hour course may provide a false sense of
subject area mastery to a licensee.
Suicide assessment, prevention and training is currently
integrated into the curriculum of most graduate training
programs. Additionally, suicide assessment is a knowledge
point tested in both the national and state examinations.
The Board is opposed to CE courses being mandated by the
Legislature when the Board, is better positioned to determine
what areas of study will further their professional
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development."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-11, 5/19/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Fong, Fox, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Atkins
NOES: Ch�vez, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Grove, Harkey,
Jones, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Williams
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Brown, Buchanan, Conway, Dababneh,
Dickinson, Donnelly, Frazier, Gorell, Roger Hern�ndez,
Lowenthal, Mansoor, Melendez, Nazarian, Nestande, John A.
P�rez, Quirk, Skinner, Waldron, Weber, Yamada, Vacancy
MW:e 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
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