Text reads “2023 Lobby Days Legislative Update. SB 766 (Eggman) Title Protection for Social Workers; SB 407 (Wiener) Foster Care: Resource Families; SB 11 (Menjivar) California State University: Mental Health Counseling”
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Legislative Lobby Days! As a result of your hard work and advocacy, all three Lobby Day bills passed out of their respective policy Committees and are now in the Senate Appropriations Committee. There is still a long way to go, but we are off and running!
Here is a quick summary of the Lobby Day bills:
SB 766 (Eggman) Title Protection for Social Workers: This bill will require anyone using the title “social worker” to possess a social work degree from a school accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).
Status: SB 766 passed out of the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee on April 24 on a vote of 13-0.
SB 407 (Wiener) Foster Care: Resource Families: This bill will reduce placement instability and increase affirming care for LGBTQ+ youth with greater consideration and evaluation of needs during the resource family approval process.
Status: SB 407 passed out of two policy Committees. On April 17, it passed out of the Senate Human Resources Committee on a 3-0 vote with two members not voting. On April 25, it passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on an 8-2 vote with one member not voting.
SB 11 (Menjivar) California State University: Mental Health Counseling: This bill will require the CSU to decrease the ratio of students to mental health counselors to address increased student needs and work to create a pipeline for CSU students to become mental health professionals.
Status: SB 11 passed out of the Senate Health Committee on April 26 on a 10-0 with 2 members not voting.