BILL ANALYSIS �
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1012
Author: Wyland (R)
Amended: 8/7/14
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF.& ECON. DEV. COMM. : 9-0, 4/21/14
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, Berryhill, Block, Corbett, Galgiani,
Hernandez, Hill, Padilla
SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 5/5/14
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Knight, Lara,
Leno, Lieu, Liu, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla,
Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/14/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Healing arts: licensure requirements
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill increases the number of hours, from five to
six, which a marriage and family therapist (MFT) trainee or
intern and a professional clinical counselor (PCC) intern may
count towards their weekly supervision requirement.
Assembly Amendments add PCC interns to the provisions of this
bill and make conforming changes.
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ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides for the licensure, registration and regulation of
MFTs by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS).
2. Defines the following terms:
A. "Practice of marriage and family therapy" to mean that
service performed with individuals, couples, or groups
wherein interpersonal relationships are examined for the
purpose of achieving more adequate, satisfying and
productive marriage and family adjustments, as specified.
B. MFT "intern" to mean an unlicensed person who has
earned his/her master's or doctor's degree qualifying
him/her for licensure and is registered with BBS.
C. MFT "trainee" to mean an unlicensed person who is
currently enrolled in a master's or doctor's degree
program, as specified, that is designed to qualify him/her
for licensure, and who has completed no less than 12
semester units or 18 quarter units of coursework in any
qualifying degree program.
D. "Experience" to mean experience in interpersonal
relationships, psychotherapy, marriage and family therapy,
and professional enrichment activities that satisfies the
requirement for licensure, as specified.
E. "One hour of direct supervisor contact" to mean "one
hour per week of face-to-face contact on an individual
basis or two hours per week of face-to-face contact in a
group."
F. "Professional clinical counseling" to mean the
application of counseling interventions and
psychotherapeutic techniques to identify and remediate
cognitive, mental, and emotional issues, including
personal growth, adjustment to disability, crisis
intervention, and psychological and environmental
problems, and the use, application and integration of the
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coursework and training, as specified.
G. PCC "intern" to mean an unlicensed person, who meets
specified requirements, and is registered with BBS.
H. "Clinical counselor trainee" to mean an unlicensed
person who is currently enrolled in a master's or doctoral
degree program, as specified, that is designed to qualify
him/her for licensure, and who has completed no less than
12 semester units or 18 quarter units of coursework in any
qualifying degree program.
1. Requires an MFT applicant for licensure to complete the
following:
A. A minimum of 3,000 hours completed during a period of
at least 104 weeks;
B. Not more than 40 hours in any seven consecutive days;
C. Not less than 1,700 hours of supervised experience
completed subsequent to the granting of the qualifying
master's or doctoral degree;
D. Not more than 1,300 hours of supervised experience
obtained prior to completing a master's or doctoral
degree, and the applicant cannot be credited with more
than 750 hours of counseling and direct supervision
contact prior to completing the master's or doctoral
degree;
E. No hours of supervised experience may be grained prior
to completing either 12 semester units or 18 quarter units
or graduate instruction and becoming a trainee except for
personal psychotherapy; and
F. No hours of experience may be gained more than six
years prior to the date the application of examination
eligibility was filed, except that up to 500 hours of
clinical experience gained in the supervised practicum
required as specified.
2. Provides for the licensure, registration and regulation of
PCCs by BBS.
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3. Requires, prior to applying for the licensure examination,
applicants for licensure as a PCC to complete clinical mental
health experience under the general supervision of an
approved supervisor which shall include a minimum of 3,000
post-degree hours or supervised clinical mental health
experience related to the practice of professional clinical
counseling, performed over a period of not less than two
years and includes:
A. Not more than 40 hours in any seven consecutive days;
B. Not less than 1,750 hours of direct counseling with
individuals, groups, couples, or families in a specified
setting using a variety of psychotherapeutic techniques
and recognized counseling interventions within the scope
of practice of licensed professional clinical counselors;
C. Not more than 500 hours of experience providing group
therapy or group counseling;
D. Not more than 375 hours of experience providing
personal psychotherapy, crisis counseling, or other
counseling services via telehealth, as specified;
E. Not less than 150 hours of clinical experience in a
hospital or community mental health setting, as specified;
F. Not more than a combined total of 1,250 hours of
experience in the following related activities: (1)
direct supervisor contact; (2) client centered advocacy;
(3) not more than 250 hours of experience administering
tests and evaluating psychological tests of clients,
writing clinical reports, writing progress notes, or
writing process notes; and (4) not more than 250 hours of
verified attendance at workshops, seminars, training
sessions, or conferences directly related to professional
clinical counseling that are approved by the applicant's
supervisor; and
G. No hours of clinical mental health experience may be
gained more than six years prior to the date the
application for examination eligibility was filed.
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1. Establishes certain criteria for the settings in which
supervision hours may be credited to a trainee, including,
among other things, a prohibition against settings that are
private practices owned by a licensed MFT, a licensed
psychologist, a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed
physician and surgeon, or a professional corporation of any
of those licensed professions.
This bill:
1. Increases the number of hours, from five to six, which an
MFT trainee or intern may count towards his/her weekly
supervision requirements, and permits those supervision hours
to be gained on or after January 1, 2009, rather than 2010 as
existing law permits.
2. Prohibits an MFT trainee from getting credit for more than
six hours of supervision, whether in an individual or group
setting, towards his/her weekly supervision requirements.
3. Increases the number of hours, from five to six, which a PCC
intern may count towards his/her weekly supervision
requirements.
4. Includes a private practice owned by a PCC in the list of
settings in which supervision hours may not be credited.
Background
MTFs . MFTs are employed in clinics, counseling centers and
private practice. They use counseling or psychotherapeutic
techniques to assist individuals, couples, families, and groups
with a focus on marriage and family relationship issues. The
minimum educational and experience requirements for MFTs include
a master's degree in an area such as marriage, family, and child
counseling, marriage and family therapy, couple and family
therapy, psychology, clinical psychology, or counseling
psychology from an accredited school.
In addition, MFTs must complete supervised work experience of at
least 3,000 hours within a period of two years. In order to
accumulate supervised hours, a person must register with BBS as
an intern or function as a trainee. Trainees are individuals
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who have been enrolled in MFT graduate programs and who have
completed at least 12 semester or 18 quarter units of
coursework. Interns have earned the appropriate graduate degree
and registered with BBS, but have not taken the examination. In
2013, there were over 32,000 MFTs and more than 15,000 MFT
interns. This bill explicitly authorizes MFT trainees to
accumulate the same number of direct supervision hours as
interns.
PCCs . PCCs apply counseling interventions and psychotherapeutic
techniques to identify and remediate cognitive, mental and
emotional issues including personal growth, adjustment to
disability, crisis intervention and psychosocial and
environmental problems. PCCs are required to meet specific
educational standards including a master's degree in an approved
subject, and are required to obtain supervised work experience
as an intern amounting to at least 3,000 hours.
Because PCCs are largely comparable to MFTs, SB 146 (Wyland,
Chapter 381, Statutes of 2011) amended code sections so that the
same substantive provisions and requirements apply to PCCs and
MFTs.
Supervision requirements for trainees and interns . Existing law
requires both interns and trainees to obtain 3,000 hours of
supervised work experience within a period of at least two
years. Not more than 1,300 hours of supervised experience may
be obtained prior to completing the master's or doctoral degree,
and not less than 1,700 hours of experience may be completed
subsequent to the granting of the qualifying degree. MFT
interns are not permitted to receive more than 1,000 of the
required hours of experience from direct supervisor contact.
Direct supervisor contact is defined as one hour per week of
face-to-face contact in individual supervision or two hours per
week of face-to-face contact in a group supervision setting.
Interns are permitted to receive an additional hour of direct
supervision for every week in which more than 10 hours of client
contact is gained in each setting and no more than five hours of
supervision, whether individual or group, can be counted per
week. Trainees must receive an average of one hour of direct
supervisor contact for every five hours of clinical work with
clients. Interns must receive at least one additional hour of
direct supervisor contact for every week in which more than 10
hours of client counseling is gained.
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This bill seeks to increase the number of hours, from five to
six, that an MFT and PCC intern or MFT trainee can count towards
his/her required hours of supervision. Because individuals have
up to six years to obtain the required hours of direct
supervision, this bill authorizes individuals who gained
experience on or after January 1, 2009, to be able to count six
hours of direct supervision towards the hour requirement.
Because MFT and PCC applicants have six years to complete the
supervised hour requirements, it is necessary to retroactively
apply this bill to 2009, in order for any hours earned prior to
2015, to not be counted differently, which could slow down the
evaluation process and create licensing delays.
Comments
According to the author:
MFT trainees must receive an average of at least one hour of
direct supervisor contact for every five hours of client
counseling in each setting, and MFT interns must receive at
least one additional hour of direct supervisor contact for
every week in which more than 10 hours of client counseling is
gained in each setting. Additionally, "one hour of direct
supervisor contact" is defined as one hour per week of
face-to-face contact on an individual basis with a supervisor
or two hours per week of face-to-face contact in a group.
There are many cases [in which] interns are acquiring more
hours than they can count toward the requirement, as they work
at multiple counseling sites. LMFTs must obtain 3,000 hours
of experience in order to gain licensure, and no more than
1,000 of the required hours can be gained from direct
supervisor contact. However, in a given week many trainees
and interns accumulate more than the 5-hour cap on supervised
hours. This bill will allow LMFT [and LPCC] trainees and
interns to be able to count an additional supervised hour each
week toward their licensure.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/14)
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California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the California Association
of Marriage and Family Therapists, "The purpose of this bill is
to remove the arbitrary limitation on the number of supervisor
contact hours [MFT] trainees and registered interns may be
credited toward licensure during a single week. Increasing this
limitation is to allow [MFT] trainees and registered interns to
count more of the supervisor contact hours they actually obtain,
which will result in many of these applicants being able to
complete their hours of experience in a timelier fashion."
The California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
states, "This bill would remove the five hour restriction it
(sic) thus provides more opportunity for trainees to advance
towards licensure. Since there is a shortage of licensed
therapists this bill will help address an important healthcare
need."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 08/14/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen,
Pan, Patterson, John A. P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Perea, Vacancy
MW:k 8/15/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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