BBS Update

November/December 2007

By Mary Riemersma, Executive Director

The BBS met at the end of August 2007, and following are some of the actions taken by the Board during its meeting that have not been addressed elsewhere in The Therapist.

Re-Clarifying Regulatory Action
Due to more stringent review of proposed regulations by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), the BBS believed it was necessary to clarify actions previously taken to pursue a number of regulatory changes. The Board took action once again affecting regulations addressing abandonment of applications, fees, licensed educational psychologist issues, continuing education providers, continuing education self-study, supervisor requirements and qualifications for MFTs and CSWs. All of these issues have been previously reported on in The Therapist and will now move forward for the OAL's approval. These issues will also be addressed in more detail once they are officially accepted by OAL.

Strategic Planning
The BBS focused on the implementation of its recently revised strategic plan and how to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of the Board. The Board has not engaged in a process to evaluate its effectiveness in the past.

Examination Issues
A report was provided for the Board on the performance of the Board's examinations. Dr. Norman Hertz, previously with the California Office of Examination Resources and now in independent practice, provided the report. He provided an overview as to how the exams are developed and evaluated. In so many words, he indicated that the examinations are performing in a statistically sound manner. Regardless of the fact that the exams are performing consistent with sound testing standards, the BBS has engaged the services of Dr. Hertz to better understand what is causing the fluctuations in applicant performance from one administration of the examination to the next. Case in point is one series of examinations will show over eighty percent of applicants passing the exam and the next will be near fifty percent. These fluctuations have, up to this time, been unexplainable by the testing experts. CAMFT has encouraged the BBS to look into these fluctuations.

The Executive Officer reported on the transition from Thomson Prometrics to PSI, the new contractor administering the examinations. While the transition has not been without unanticipated glitches, these are being corrected soon after discovery, and transition is happening with relative ease. Applicants who have experienced transitional problems are being accommodated by the BBS so that they are not disadvantaged. The BBS provided examination statistics for the January to June 2007 administration of the regular MFT and ASW written examinations. They gave results showing pass rates for those who had taken the examination up to 12 times. During this period, overall 57 percent passed the exam. Seventy-two percent of first time takers passed the exam; the pass rate drops to 41 percent for those taking the exam a second time, 18 percent the third time, 20 percent the fourth time, and 14 percent the fifth time. Interestingly, from the sixth through the twelfth taking of the examination, only four persons passed out of 79 takers.

The examination results, for the same period of time, for the MFT written clinical vignette examination had an overall pass rate of 51 percent. Sixty-one percent of first time takers passed the exam; the pass rate drops to 47 percent for those taking the exam a second time, 37 percent the third time, 33 percent the fourth time, 22 percent the fifth time, and 25 percent the fifth time (representing only one taker out of four).

Pass rates are similar for clinical social workers. The results for the same period for the CSW regular written examination shows overall 46 percent passing, with 62 percent passing when taking the exam for the first time, 34 percent the second time, 24 percent the third time, 20 percent the fourth time, 28 percent the fifth time, 13 percent the sixth time, and nine percent the seventh time.

Pass rates for the clinical social work written clinical vignette examination show an overall pass rate for the same period of 38 percent. Forty percent of first time takers passed the exam; the pass rate drops to 41 percent for those taking the exam a second time, 28 percent the third time, 24 percent the fourth time, 35 percent the fifth time, 50 percent the sixth time (however, only two such persons took the exam), and 100 percent the seventh time (again, only one person took the exam).

More complete details on examination results by school and for greater history of these results, visit the BBS website at www. bbs.ca.gov.

Proof of Employment to be Required by BBS
The Board took action to pursue legislation in 2008 to mandate, through legislation, that applicants for the MFT license provide proof that they have been employees or volunteers (not independent contractors) while gaining hours of experience. Currently the BBS has the statutory authority and does require CSW applicants to provide such proof. Proof of employment is important to ensure that pre-licensed persons are not engaging in independent practice.

MFT Educational Requirements to Change
A report was provided on the work of the BBS MFT Education Committee. The Committee is working on proposed changes to the educational requirements for MFTs. They have planned two additional Committee Meetings to continue to get public input and refine the proposal. Legislation to bring about the proposed changes will occur in 2008 and will likely affect those who begin graduate study at some time in the future, possibly about January 1, 2011. Providing ample lead time will allow an opportunity for schools to become prepared for the new requirements and will avoid disadvantaging those in the pipeline. Among the proposed changes, the number of required units of study will likely increase to 60 semester/90 quarter units. Educational programs will be afforded greater latitude in determining educational content by the fact that the unit specific requirements for each course will, by and large, be removed. The educational content will also better prepare MFTs for work in the public sector and community settings. It will also likely expand the requirements of the practicum, even increasing the number of required hours of practicum. Educational institutions and other interested parties should plan to attend the BBS MFT Education Committee Meetings to have input into the development of the legislation. Details for upcoming meetings are on the BBS website, www.bbs.ca.gov.