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March, 2011
Following is an update on the Board of Behavioral Sciences based on
its meeting held in late February.
BBS Operations
Due to California’s budget crisis, State Boards, Bureaus,
and Commissions, including the BBS, are under a hiring freeze. The
BBS is prohibited from hiring new staff, even though it is soon to
regulate a new profession—licensed professional clinical
counselors. The BBS, like other Boards, is not permitted to hire any new
staffing; and it is also prohibited from filling vacancies that occur
amongst existing staff. The BBS currently has 12 or 13
vacancies. What this means for MFTs is that all applications and
renewals are taking substantially longer than anticipated or as provided
in Regulations. Currently the BBS has one person processing MFT
examination applications, which has resulted in a four to five month
backlog on these applications. Applications for intern
registration are also slow. But generally speaking, these
applications do not typically put one’s life on hold until the
application is processed—unless one has waited more than ninety
days post the granting of the degree or one is awaiting the registration
to be employed in a private practice. Similarly, licensure
renewals and posting these renewals to the BBS website is also slow,
which should motivate persons sending in renewals to do so as soon as
practicably possible.
Implementation of the LPCC Licensing Law
Implementing regulations must be in place to begin
grand-parenting LPCCs in the state of California. Included in
these regulatory provisions are the fees that will be charged applicants
for LPCC licensure. Without established and approved fees, LPCC
applications cannot be received by the Board. The proposed
regulations have been approved by the Department of Consumer
Affairs, but must also be approved by the State and Consumer
Services Agency, the Department of Finance, and then by the Office of
Administrative Law. These approvals must be gained sequentially
and not concurrently. At this time, no one has been appointed to
the State and Consumer Services Agency, thus any approval is in
limbo. The other state agencies are also slow to take action, thus
it may be a while before the BBS can receive applications—possibly
even near the end of the grand-parenting period or after.
Grand-parenting was to have taken place between January 1, 2011 and June
30, 2011, but it may be necessary for there to be additional legislation
to extend the grand-parenting time-frame.
BBS Sponsored Legislation—SB 363—Trainee Hours
Outside of the Practicum Assignment
The BBS has sponsored legislation to place a limit of 45 days on the
number of days a trainee may gain hours of experience outside of his/her
practicum assignment. We will oppose this legislation because the
restriction is not warranted, is pulled from thin air, is disruptive to
the needs of clients and agencies where trainees work, places a hardship
on trainees, and is not based upon any identified problems. CAMFT
will oppose this legislation.
The problem began with the changes brought about by SB 33 (2009), the
required hours of experience to be gained in practicum increased from
150 to 225 (of which 75 may be in client centered advocacy). A
provision was added to this section of law [Business and Professions
Code section 4980.36(d)(1)(B)(iii)] that states “A student must be
enrolled in a practicum course while counseling clients.” Of
course, this section of law is solely related to the educational
requirements for an aspiring LMFT. It is our belief that this
change was inadvertent. Our logic for it being inadvertent is that
there is another section of law that is related to experience and not
education [Business and Professions Code section 4980.42] that has been
in existence since 1995 that says that hours may be gained outside of
the practicum requirement, as long as certain conditions are met.
This section says that “. . .Trainees may gain hours outside of
the required practicum. . .all hours of experience gained as a trainee
shall be coordinated between the school and the site where the hours are
being accrued. The school shall approve each site and shall have a
written agreement with each site that details each party’s
responsibilities, including the methods by which supervision shall be
provided. The agreement shall provide for regular progress reports
and evaluations of the student’s performance at the site. .
.”
It is our belief that if the requirement that all hours of experience
as a trainee would have to be gained solely in practicum and such a
change had been intentional, this section would have been removed from
law. It was not. Had the intent been to further limit the
hours a trainee may gain, the total hours that one can gain as a trainee
(1,300 hours), would likewise have been curtailed by SB 33. These
hours remain as they have been since 1995. As indicated above,
such hours come under the jurisdiction and responsibility of the
school. Finally, none of the legislative analyses of SB 33 express
any intent to restrict trainee hours solely to those gained as a part of
the practicum course.
We believe the law should be changed to assure that trainees can gain
hours of experience outside of their practicum assignments without a 45
day limitation as long as there is sufficient oversight by their schools
for the services they are providing.
LPCC Supervision of MFT Interns and Trainees
While not yet in SB 363, the BBS states that the bill will be
amended to include provisions to allow LPCCs who will be licensed in
California for two years to supervise MFT Interns and Trainees.
AAMFT-CA, however, has demanded that any LPCCs who supervise MFT Interns
and Trainees must have had both substantial education within their
degree programs and significant hours of experience in marriage and
family therapy. We support the ability of LPCCs to be able to
supervise MFT Interns and Trainees without this additional
limitation. Often, supervisors are difficult to find and expanding
the pool of supervisors would be beneficial for interns and trainees.
Further, the Supervisor Responsibility Statement that a supervisor signs
under penalty of perjury prior to providing supervision documents that
those who supervise aspiring MFTs are not only knowledgeable about
providing supervision and the MFT licensing law and regulations, it also
specifies that supervisors must be knowledgeable about marriage and
family therapy. We believe this statement attested to by the supervisor
is sufficient to assure that the supervisor has the knowledge and
ability to provide supervision to an aspiring MFT. We suspect
there will be many who acquire the LPCC license, especially those who
will be grand-parented, who may have moved from other states where they
have acquired rich experience in working with couples, families, and
children, but have not had specific education while in graduate degree
programs and specific hours of experience while attempting to get
licensed, and thus would be incapable of providing supervision to MFT
interns or trainees. Currently LCSWs, licensed psychologists, and
physicians certified in psychiatry are not required to have had
education within their degree programs and hours of experience in
marriage and family therapy. This problem becomes especially
problematic when hours are being gained in agency settings where
supervisors provide supervision across disciplines. We do not want
to see MFT interns terminated because the agency’s supervisor is
an LPCC who has not had the concentration in marriage and family therapy
and thus interns are terminated if it becomes too costly to provide the
necessary supervision. The LPCC would be able to supervise PCC
interns and CSW associates.
Further, we see a richness of experience when MFT interns and
trainees are supervised by various disciplines. Additionally, we
are not aware of problems that have arisen when MFTs are supervised by
persons from other disciplines.
Limitation on Client Centered Advocacy Hours
Also, while not yet in SB 363, the BBS states that they will amend the
bill to include a limitation on hours of experience for client centered
advocacy. Given the large number of hours of experience that are
being claimed for client centered advocacy since the implementation of
SB 33, the BBS will seek legislation to limit the hours of client
centered advocacy. Client centered advocacy is defined as
including, but not limited to, “researching, identifying, and
accessing resources, or other activities, related to obtaining or
providing services and supports for clients or groups of clients
receiving psychotherapy or counseling services.” As proposed
at this time, no more than 500 hours will be permitted for a combination
of client centered advocacy hours and administering and evaluating
psychological tests, writing clinical reports, and doing process or
progress notes.
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California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists |
7901 Raytheon Road, San Diego, CA 92111-1606
Phone: (858) 292-2638 | Fax: (858) 292-2666
©Copyright 2012 California Association
of Marriage and Family Therapists
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