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© 2008 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, California Division
Post Office BOX 6907
Santa Barbara, CA 93160
Phone: 800-662-2638
Fax: (805) 681-1412
updated 07/24/08

Public Policy and Legislative Watch

The following CA bills are relevant to MFTs. The list below contains a summary and information about the bills as well as the AAMFT position.

AB 1486

(Calderon, Charles) Licensed professional counselors. (A-06/26/2007  html  pdf)

Introduced: 02/23/2007

Last Amend: 05/08/2008

Summary: Would provide for the licensure or registration and regulation of licensed professional counselors and interns by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. The bill would add 4 additional members to the board, to be appointed by the Governor. The bill would enact various provisions concerning the practice of licensed professional counselors, interns, and counselor trainees, including, but not limited to, practice requirements, and enforcement specifications. The bill would authorize the issuance of licenses between October 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, to individuals who meet certain criteria. The bill would authorize the board to begin accepting applications for intern registration on January 1, 2009, and for professional counselor licensure on January 1, 2010. The bill would authorize the board to impose specified fees on licensed professional counselors and interns which would be deposited in the Behavioral Sciences Fund to carry out the provisions of the bill. The bill would provide that the startup costs of the program shall be funded by a loan from the Behavioral Sciences Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would provide that a violation of its provisions is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $3,500 for each violation in a civil action brought by a public prosecutor . This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Position: oppose (see details below)

AB 1887

(Beall) Health care coverage: mental health services. (I-02/07/2008  html  pdf)

Introduced: 02/07/2008

Summary: Would expand this coverage requirement for certain health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2009, to include the diagnosis and treatment of a mental illness of a person of any age and would define mental illness for this purpose as a mental disorder defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV. The bill would specify that this requirement does not apply to a health care benefit plan, contract, or health insurance policy with the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System unless the board elects to purchase a plan, contract, or policy that provides mental health coverage. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Position: support

AB 1897

(Emmerson) Marriage and family therapists: licensure. (I-02/07/2008  html  pdf)

Introduced: 02/07/2008

 Summary: Would specify that the doctor's or master's degree may also be obtained from an educational institution accredited by an essentially equivalent accrediting agency, as determined by the board.

Position: support

AB 2753

(Solorio) State employees: social workers

Introduced: 02/22/2008

Would provide that there shall be no classification in the state civil service as a "social worker" except for an individual who possesses a bachelors or doctorate degree from a school of social work as defined. The bill would specify that that provision would only apply to state job classifications for which a civil service qualifying exam is required. The bill would also prohibit a person employed as a social worker in the state civil service on January 1, 2009, from being terminated solely because he or she does not possess a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate degree from a school of social work.

Position: Oppose unless amended

AB 2809

(Leno) Crime victims: mental health counseling. (I-02/22/2008  html  pdf)

 Summary: Would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would make a minor who suffers emotional injury as a result of witnessing a violent crime eligible for compensation from the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for mental health counseling if the minor is not otherwise eligible for compensation as a victim or derivative victim of that crime.

Position: support

AB 2828

(Salas) Veterans' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Fund. (I-02/22/2008  html  pdf)

Summary: Would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to submit a grant application to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for the purposes of funding community-based organizations, certified b the department, to provide substance abuse and mental health services to veterans. This bill contains other related provisions

Position: support

AB 2861

(Hayashi) Mental health services. (I-02/22/2008  html  pdf)

Summary: Would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation regarding the authorization of mental health services by health care service plans and health insurers.

Position: watch

SB 1218

(Correa) Marriage and family therapy: licensure and registration. (I-02/14/2008  html  pdf)

 Summary: Would limit the application of these requirements to applicants for licensure or registration who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and would impose additional requirements on applicants who do not complete that study on or before December 31, 2018, and those who begin graduate study on or after August 1, 2012. The bill would require that these applicants, among other things, possess a doctor's or master's degree containing no less than 60 semester or 90 quarter units of instruction in certain areas, including, but not limited to, cooccurring disorders, multicultural development and cross-cultural interaction, and an understanding of the effects of socioeconomic status on treatment and available resources, as specified. The bill would require that these units include 6 semester or 9 quarter units of practicum that provides training in specified areas and includes a minimum of 225 hours of face-to-face experience counseling individuals, couples, families, or groups. The bill would additionally, with respect to these applicants, revise the requirements needed for the degree program to meet the educational qualifications for licensure, as specified. The bill would make other conforming changes and enact related provisions. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Position: support

SB 1505

(Yee) Whistleblower protection

Summary: Would in addition provide that the act applies to former employees, as specified. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Position: support

SB 1553

(Lowenthal) Health care service plans. (I-02/22/2008  html  pdf)

Summary: Would require health care service plans to establish Web sites, updated at least every 2 months, and would require plans to issue a benefits card to enrollees. The bill would delete the ability of a plan to retrospectively modify, delay, or deny health care services to an enrollee, and would modify provisions relating to disclosure by health plans of the process used to authorize, modify, or deny health care services. The bill would impose various additional requirements on health plans, including standards for appointment scheduling, waiting times, and other related matters, and would require plans to have a monitoring system for compliance with these requirements and to prepare an annual compliance report. The bill would expand the grievance system, departmental review, and independent medical review systems to allow health care providers to participate in addition to enrollees. The bill would revise provisions governing timeliness of payment of claims made for health care services. The bill would extend certain requirements now only applicable to full service plans to also apply to specialized plans, including certain mental health plans. The bill would revise provisions relating to imposition of civil penalties by the department. The bill would enact other related provisions. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Position: watch

SB 1606

(Yee) Assisted outpatient treatment services. (I-02/22/2008  html  pdf)

 Summary: Would instead allow an order for assisted outpatient treatment for a person who had been offered any opportunity to participate in treatment but continues to fail to engage in treatment. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Position: watch

AAMFT-CA OPPOSITION TO AB 1486

While AAMFT-CA does not oppose the concept of regulating qualified counselors and views this bill as an improvement over last year's AB 894, we remain concerned about provisions within the language of the current legislation that create a potential for harm.

In brief, AB 1486 seeks to create an umbrella license for counselors that encompasses a diffuse group of clinical and vocational specialties (such as career, school, rehabilitation, college counseling) and gives them the right to practice psychotherapy.

Following summarizes the reasons for continued opposition:

• The most recent amendments only went halfway toward resolving the potential mismatch between supervised training and eventual practice. The scope of practice remains exceptionally broad, and includes career counseling, rehabilitation counseling, and many other forms of non-mental-health counseling. Yet all supervised experience now must be in mental health. If there is a genuine need to regulate non-mental-health counselors, then their supervised experience should match what they ultimately will do under this license – which can be accomplished by bifurcating the license.  If there is no genuine need to regulate non-mental-health counselors, they should be excluded from the bill's scope of practice.

• The startup loan would take the Board of Behavioral Sciences Fund below the minimum reserve recommended by the Department of Finance.  The bill requires that the startup costs associated with AB 1486 are to be provided by a loan from the reserve fund of the Board of Behavioral Sciences (p. 43, line 21).  It is important to note the Governor’s May Revision transferred $3 million from the reserve to the General Fund leaving the fund with only a few months operating reserve. 
• AAMFT and the American Counseling Association both recognize counseling and marriage and family therapy as distinct professions, each with its own history, skill set, and body of knowledge. Current grand parenting provisions in AB1486 do not require an MFT to establish any preparedness for the scope of practice in a counseling license, as they would not even be required to take a counseling exam. The grand parenting provisions render all three masters-level licenses effectively indistinguishable and should be removed.

In addition, AB 239 (DeSaulnier), legislation to create a new category of license for drug and alcohol counselors, has the same loan language – meaning the start-up funding for this bill would come from the same source (BBS reserve).  To be sure, there are insufficient dollars in the BBS account to cover the start-up associated with both bills.   At a time of fiscal constraints at all levels of state government, it makes no sense to place the Board’s funding in jeopardy by implementing AB 1486 … a very broad counselor licensure initiative.  AB 239 is a much more narrowly tailored and prudent measure.

If you have questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me: olivialoewy@aamftca.org or AAMFT-CA Advocacy Committee Chair Dr. Ben Caldwell at: bcaldwell@alliant.edu.

If you would like to read the legislation in its entirety, you can access it at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1451-1500/ab_1486_bill_20070601_amended_asm_v95.html.

DoT Substance Abuse Professional certification officially open to MFTs

After over ten years of advocacy by the AAMFT, the Department of Transportation (DoT) just released its Final Rule granting all licensed/certified MFTs eligibility for its Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) certification.  Effective September 22, 2006, all MFTs may apply for the certification after taking the required SAP preparatory courses and passing the SAP examination.  Interested members should note that DOT Substance Abuse Professional certification is often recognized by private payers and other federal programs as the gatekeeper for entry, so additional professional opportunities for MFTs may evolve out of this certification. 

The final rule comes after years of advocacy, including a successful effort by the AAMFT to include language in last year's transportation reauthorization, H.R. 3. / PL 109-59), mandating MFT recognition.  The DoT issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to include MFTs on March 10, 2006, and the Final Rule was published on August 23, 2006. 

Members who are interested in becoming DoT SAPs should click on the following links to read the new Rule or to find information on the SAP coursework, testing sites, training and credentialing: 

Rule:

SAP RESOURCES & REQUIREMENTS:

http://www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/testingpubs/SAPExamSources_200605_alpha.pdf http://www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/testingpubs/SAP_Guide_200403.pdf

Contact AAMFT Government Affairs (703) 838-9808, with additional questions or concerns.