In anticipation of the numerous law changes becoming effective soon, the Board of Behavioral Sciences has prepared some outreach documents to help our licensees, applicants, and stakeholders. These documents will be posted on the BBS website soon, and we will also be using them on our social media channels in the next month.
Please share with your colleagues and with your agencies and job sites. More information will be forthcoming in December and once the laws go into effect in January.
From the Board of Behavioral Sciences:
- AB 630 – Requirement to provide notice to psychotherapy clients. This FAQ provides general information on the notice that will be required, beginning July 1, 2020, to be given to clients in both exempt and non-exempt settings. (Affects all license types.)
- SB 679 – License Portability To California (Must be licensed in another U.S. jurisdiction for at least 2 years). This FAQ provides information on qualifying for the new streamlined pathway for licensure for out-of-state applicants. (Effective January 1, 2020; Affects out-of-state LMFT, LPCC, and LCSW applicants.)
- AB 1651 – LEPs as Supervisors. This FAQ provides information about LEPs as supervisors, and contains information about the qualifications an LEP needs to serve as a supervisor. (Effective January 1, 2020; Affects LEPs and AMFTs, ASWs, and APCCs.)
- 90-Day Rule FAQ. This provides information about the new fingerprinting requirements to utilize the 90-day rule for individuals graduating on or after January 1, 2020. (Affects applicants seeking registration as an AMFT, ASW, or APCC.)
- Suicide Risk Assessment and Intervention Coursework. This document provides information about the new requirement of a minimum of 6 hours of coursework or supervised experience in suicide risk assessment and intervention effective January 1, 2021. (Affects all existing licensees and all applicants for licensure.)
We are also working on an outreach document for AB 2138 (Statutes of 2018, Denial of License/Application due to Criminal Conviction), which will be available as we get closer to that bill’s effective date of July 1, 2020.
In addition to the above outreach documents, please be aware of these additional upcoming law changes, which do not necessarily warrant an FAQ but are also important for licensees and/or applicants to keep in mind:
- From SB 786 (Board omnibus bill). Please note that effective January 1, 2020, the Board will add a new degree title that will be accepted toward LMFT licensure. The new degree title is clinical mental health counseling, and it must have an emphasis in either marriage, family, and child counseling or marriage and family therapy. The intent of this change is to add a new option for a degree title that is eligible for dual licensure as an LMFT and LPCC in California, and that will also likely be eligible for dual licensure in other states (which often use CACREP standards to set licensure and/or degree title requirements for LPCCs).
- SB 425: Required Reporting to Licensing Board. This bill requires any health care facility or other entity for which a healing arts licensee practices to make a report to the applicable licensing board within 15 days of receiving any allegations of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct against the licensee by a patient, if the patient or a patient’s representative makes the allegation in writing. A willful failure to file the report is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 per violation. Any failure to file the report is punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 per violation. (Effective January 1, 2020; Affects all license types)
- “Old” LMFT and LPCC Supervised Experience Categories (Option 2) Expires December 31, 2020. For individuals currently gaining experience toward LMFT or LPCC licensure, there is a deadline approaching at the end of 2020. Senate Bill 620 (Chapter 262, Statutes of 2015) streamlined the categories of experience hours that qualify for licensure. The legislation allowed the prior set of experience categories to remain available, but only until December 31, 2020. In order to qualify under the “old” set of categories (Option 2), an Application for Licensure and Examination must be postmarked no later than December 31, 2020. Otherwise the applicant must fully qualify under the new set of categories (Option 1).
Please contact us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!
