Right Column

Pending Legislation

For further information regarding pending legislation see California's Legislative Information website, which provides the bill's language, history, status, and analysis as provided by the California State Legislature. For further information regarding approved legislation, contact the Board office at (916) 574-7830 or see Approved Legislation for legislation that has been chaptered.

You can download the current version of the Board's Statutes and Regulations Relating to the Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy, Educational Psychology, and Clinical Social Work. The Board's Statutes and Regulations contain sections of the California Business and Professions Code and the California Code of Regulations. The publication also contains miscellaneous code sections from the California Health and Safety Code and the California Welfare and Institutions Code.

BOARD SUPPORTED LEGISLATION

The following Board-supported bills are pending in the Legislature:

AB 40 (Yamada) Elder Abuse: Reporting
This bill would require mandated reporters to report suspected instances of elder or dependent adult abuse that occurred in a long-term care facility to both the local ombudsman and the local law enforcement agency.

Under current law, a mandated reporter must report suspected instances of elder or dependent adult abuse occurring in a long-term care facility to either the local ombudsman or the local law enforcement agency.  However, the law restricts local ombudsman programs from sharing reports of such abuse with local law enforcement without the consent of the subject of abuse or his or her legal representative.

By requiring mandated reporters to report to both entities, this bill protects victims by ensuring that both the local ombudsman and local law enforcement are aware of all reports of this type of criminal activity.

The Board adopted a “support” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.
Status: This is a two year bill.

AB 154 (Beall) Health Care Coverage: Mental Health Services
This bill would require a health care services plan to provide coverage for the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of a mental illness under the same terms and conditions applied to other medical conditions. Current mental health parity laws only require coverage for severe mental illness and a child’s severe emotional disturbance.

The Board adopted a “support” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 367 (Smyth) Elder Abuse: Reporting
Current law requires an agency without jurisdiction to accept and refer a report of child abuse or neglect.  However, a similar provision does not exist for elder and dependent adult abuse or neglect.  This bill would require a county adult protective services agency or a local law enforcement agency to accept and refer a report of suspected elder and dependent adult abuse even if that agency lacks the jurisdiction to investigate the report.

The Board adopted a “support” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 171 (Beall) Autism Spectrum Disorder
Due to loopholes in current law, those with autism spectrum disorders are frequently denied coverage for their disorder.  This bill would require every health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that provides hospital, medical, or surgical coverage must provide coverage for the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

The Board adopted a “support if amended” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.  The Board has asked that a minor technical clarification be made.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 181 (Portantino and Beall) Foster Youth: Mental Health Bill of Rights
This bill would create a mental health bill of rights for children in foster care and transition-age foster youth.

The Board adopted a “support if amended” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.  The Board requested minor amendments be made for clarity.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 671 (Portantino) Child Welfare Services – Education and Training Requirements
This bill would require a social work supervisor working for a county child welfare services agency to have a master’s degree in a specified field of study, or education and experience deemed equivalent.

The intent of this bill is to provide increased consumer protection for those utilizing the child welfare services system by ensuring that supervisors have appropriate education and training.

The Board adopted a “support if amended” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.  The Board requested that the bill be amended to allow a Master’s degree in all degree titles that are acceptable for licensure as a marriage and family therapist.  Additionally, the Board felt that “equivalent education and experience” allowed in lieu of a Master’s degree needed further definition, and that allowable exemptions to the law be more specifically detailed.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 675 (Hagman) Continuing Education
This bill would prohibit certain courses from being accepted as meeting continuing education requirements for licensees under the jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer Affairs.  Prohibited courses include those that advance or promote labor organizing on behalf of a union, and courses that advance or promote statutory or regulatory changes, political candidates, political advocacy, or political strategy.

The Board adopted an “oppose” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.  It is very important for the Board’s licensees to know the law regarding their profession, understand the legislative process in order to be able to advocate for patients, and be informed of recent statutory and regulatory changes that affect their profession.  It is unclear whether continuing education courses that discuss the legislative process and any changes to statutes and regulations affecting the profession would constitute “courses that advance or promote statutory or regulatory changes.”  In addition, it is unclear if the Board’s mandatory continuing education course covering law and ethics may fall into one of the prohibited course categories.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 774 (Campos) Health Facilities: Licensure
Under existing law, the licensure requirements for professional personnel in state and other government health facilities licensed by the State Department of Public Health (DPH) must not be less than the requirements for professional personnel in health facilities under private ownership.  However, the requirement for licensure in a government health facility licensed by DPH may be waived for individuals gaining experience to qualify for licensure as a marriage and family therapist or a licensed clinical social worker for up to four years from the date employment began.  DPH may extend the waiver for one year under certain circumstances.

While current law allows only DPH to grant a waiver, marriage and family therapists and clinical social workers are working in other California agencies and departments as well.  These other agencies are not currently able to grant a waiver.  This bill would require DPH and the State Department of Mental Health to grant a waiver and a waiver extension to a marriage and family therapist and a clinical social worker if certain criteria are met.

The Board opted to take no position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 958 (Berryhill, B.) Regulatory Boards: Limitations Periods
This bill would reduce the Board’s statute of limitations period for filing an accusation against a licensee.  The proposed timeframes are the first occurring of the following:

• Within one year after the Board discovers an alleged act or omission (current law gives the Board three years); or
• Within four years after the alleged act or omission occurs (current law gives the Board seven years).

The Board adopted an “oppose” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.  The bill is contrary to the Board’s mandate of public protection.  Business and Professions Code §4990.16 states that “Protection of the public shall be the highest priority of the board in exercising its licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions.  Whenever the protection of the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.”
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 993 (Wagner) Mediation and Counseling Services: Discipline and Immunity
This bill would require a complaint made against a mediator or licensed mental health professional, made against that person while he or she was providing services required by the court, must be made to the court that required the mediation or counseling services.  If the court determines that unprofessional conduct has occurred, it must refer the matter to the licensing board for disciplinary action.

The Board adopted an “oppose” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011, noting that a person acting as a licensed mental health professional would fall under jurisdiction of the Board.  The bill also removes the discretion of the licensing entity to judge, using its particular set of laws, whether their licensee should be subject to disciplinary action.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

AB 1205 (Berryhill, B.) Certified Applied Behavior Analysts

This bill requires that no person may hold him or herself out to be a behavior analyst, or an assistant behavior analyst, unless the person is licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences.

The Board opted to take no position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

SB 462 (Blakeslee) Special Education Advocates: Certification
This bill would require the Board to issue voluntary certifications to special education advocates who successfully passed a test and completed a certification program required by a special education local plan area. 

The Board adopted an “oppose” position on this legislation at its meeting on August 18, 2011.  The Board notes that this bill offers no additional public protection, as certification is voluntary.  In addition, the scope of practice of a special education advocate is not similar to the scope of practice for any of the Board’s current licensees. 
Status: This is a two-year bill. 

SB 544 (Price) Professions & Vocations: Regulatory Boards
This bill would provide healing arts boards under the Department of Consumer Affairs with additional regulatory tools and authority for investigating and prosecuting violations of the law, in an effort to reduce the average timeframe for enforcement investigations to 12 to 18 months.

The Board adopted a “support if amended” position on this legislation at its meeting on May 18, 2011.  The Board supports the intent of this bill, which is to protect consumers from potentially dangerous practitioners by improving the efficiency and increasing the accountability of healing arts boards in their investigations of enforcement matters.   However, it had several suggested amendments intended to address concerns and to increase the efficiency of the process.
Status: This is a two-year bill.

Updated: October 24, 2011