BBS Updates

Jan 2, 2012 by CSCSW

Practicum Requirement: As a result of legislation signed last year, beginning January 1, 2012 all trainees gaining counseling hours of experience must be enrolled in a practicum course, unless the period of lapsed enrollment in practicum is less than 90 calendar days and that period is immediately proceeded and immediately followed by enrollment in a practicum course. This is an unintended consequence of Senate Bill 363 and the Board is working to resolve this issue with urgency legislation to require only those trainees subject to the new curriculum requirements (Senate Bill 33 , Statutes of 2009) to meet this practicum requirement. New curriculum requirements apply to the following applicants: students beginning graduate study after August 1, 2012; students that begin graduate study before August 1, 2012 but fail to complete that study before December 31, 2018; and, students that begin graduate study before August 1, 2012 and graduate from a program that meets the new curriculum requirements. The Board will continue to provide updates on legislation to address this issue, however, until corrective legislation is signed into law and becomes effective no trainee will be permitted to gain counseling hours of experience unless he or she meets the requirements in Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 4980.42. Please refer to the Board’s Web site for the full text of BPC section 4980.42.

Maximum Number of Supervised Registrants: Effective January 1, 2012, an eligible supervisor of a marriage and family therapy intern (MFT intern), an associate clinical social worker (ASW), or a professional clinical counselor intern (PCC Intern) in a private practice setting may supervisor or employ, at any one time, no more than a total of three individuals registered as an MFT intern, ASW, or PCC Intern. A marriage and family therapy corporation, a licensed clinical social worker’s corporation, or a professional clinical counselor corporation may employ, at any one time, no more than a total of three individuals registered as an MFT intern, ASW, or PCC Intern for each employee or shareholder who has satisfied the requirements stipulated in law. Any of the previously mentioned corporations may not employ, at any one time, more than a total of 15 individuals registered as an MFT intern, ASW, or PCC Intern. In no event shall any supervisor supervise, at any one time, more than a total of three individuals registered as either an MFT intern, ASW, or PCC Intern (SB 943, Chapter 350, Statutes of 2011).

LMFT Applicants: Experience Requirements: For hours gained towards LMFT licensure on January 1, 2012 or after, an applicant cannot gain more than 500 hours of client centered advocacy. Please refer to the FAQs on Client-Centered Advocacy for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Applicants located on the Board’s Web site (http://www.bbs.ca.gov/app-reg/mft_requirement.shtml).

Effective July 1, 2012, the Board of Behavioral Sciences is required to deny an application for licensure and to suspend the license/certificate/registration of any applicant or licensee who has outstanding tax obligations due to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) or the State Board of Equalization (BOE) and appears on either the FTB or BOE’s certified lists of top 500 tax delinquencies over $100,000 (AB 1424, Chapter 455, Statutes of 2011). Please refer to the Board’s Web site for more information (http://www.bbs.ca.gov/).

New Degree Title: Effective January 1, 2012, LMFT license or registration applicants may possess a master’s of doctor’s degree in “couple and family therapy.”