SB 146

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law, the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of professional clinical counselors by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Existing law also governs the regulation of clinical counselor trainees and clinical counselor interns. A violation of the act is punishable as a crime. This bill would make changes to various provisions concerning the practice of professional clinical counselors, clinical counselor trainees, and clinical counselor interns, including, but not limited to, provisions relating to education and training and licensure fees. The bill would authorize the formation of professional clinical counselor corporations for purposes of rendering professional services, subject to specified requirements. The bill would make conforming changes to the Moscone-Knox Professional Corporation Act and would authorize professional clinical counselors to be shareholders, officers, directors, or professional employees of other professional corporations, as specified. The bill would provide that a violation of these provisions constitutes a violation of the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act, the violation of which is punishable as a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. Existing law imposes specified fees on applicants for licensure as professional clinical counselors and registration as clinical counselor interns, including examination fees. This bill would impose additional fees on these applicants, licensees, and registrants for the rescoring of examinations of a license or for replacement or issuance of a certificate or letter of good standing. Existing law requires certain licensees to complete training in human sexuality and authorizes the board to adopt education and training for licensees related to chemical dependency and the assessment and treatment of AIDS. This bill would extend the application of these provisions to professional clinical counselors. Existing law requires a health care practitioner to communicate to a patient his or her name, license type, and highest level of academic degree in writing or in a prominent display in an area visible to patients in his or her office. Existing law exempts from these requirements certain health care practitioners. This bill would exempt professional clinical counselors from those requirements. Existing law requires the board to provide on the Internet information regarding the status of every license issued by the board. This bill would require the board to disclose information on licensed professional clinical counselors. Existing law requires insurers that provide liability insurance to certain licensees, and state or local governmental agencies that self insure those licensees, to report to the board certain settlement or arbitration awards. Existing law requires certain licensees to report to the board certain settlements, judgments, or arbitration awards. The failure of a licensee to report this information constitutes a crime subject to specified fines. This bill would extend the application of these provisions to professional clinical counselors. By expanding a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes a peer review process for certain healing arts licensees and requires peer review bodies to review licensee conduct under specified circumstances. The willful failure of a peer review body to make specified reports is punishable as a crime. This bill would apply these provisions to professional clinical counselors and set forth the criteria for the establishment of a peer review body, as specified. Because the willful failure of such a peer review body to make specified reports would be punishable as a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides that there shall be no monetary liability on the part of, and no cause of action for damages shall arise against, certain professional societies or its members for any act performed within the scope of the functions of that professional society or peer review or for the operation of a referral service, as specified. This bill would extend the application of these provisions to a professional society consisting of professional clinical counselors and members of that society. Existing law provides a cause of action against a psychotherapist, as defined, for injury caused by sexual contact with the psychotherapist. This bill would extend the application of that cause of action to professional clinical counselors and registered clinical counselor interns or trainees, and their patients. Existing law requests that the California State University, the University of California, and the California Community Colleges develop standards and guidelines for curriculum in gerontology, nursing, social work, psychology, marriage and family therapy, and rehabilitation therapies. This bill would add to that requested curriculum professional clinical counseling. Existing law makes admissible in a criminal proceeding the testimony of a witness who has previously undergone hypnosis for the purpose of recalling events that are the subject of the witness's testimony, if specified conditions are met, including that the hypnosis was performed by a licensed physician and surgeon, psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, or a licensed marriage and family therapist experienced in the use of hypnosis. This bill would make admissible the testimony from a witness who has undergone hypnosis by a professional clinical counselor. Existing law provides that a patient has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication between a patient and his or her psychotherapist, as defined. This bill would extend the patient-psychotherapist privilege to confidential communications made between a patient and his or her professional clinical counselor, a registered clinical counselor intern or trainee, or a professional clinical counselor corporation. The bill would make a technical change to provisions that apply to associate clinical social workers. Existing law provides that the proceedings and records of organized committees of healing arts professions or of a peer review body are not subject to discovery, except as specified. This bill would provide that the proceedings and records of committees or peer review bodies of professional clinical counselors are not subject to discovery, except as specified. Existing law authorizes the family law division of the superior court to contract with eligible providers of supervised visitation and exchange services, education, and group counseling to provide services. This bill would authorize the family law division to contract with professional clinical counselors for those services. Existing law sets forth the provisions that govern the provision of mental health treatment or counseling services and residential shelter services by professional persons, as defined. This bill would extend the application of those provisions to professional clinical counselors and clinical counselor interns. Existing law prohibits the licensure requirements of healing arts personnel in the state and other governmental health facilities licensed by the state from being any less than those of professional personnel in health facilities under private ownership, subject to specified waiver provisions. This bill would extend the application of those provisions to professional clinical counselors who work in those facilities. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene Act) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of its provisions a crime. Existing law requires a health care service plan that provides, operates, or contracts for telephone medical advice services to ensure that the staff providing those services are properly licensed, as specified. This bill would require a health care service plan that provides telephone medical advice services to ensure that any professional clinical counselors providing those services are licensed. Because a willful violation of these provisions would be punishable as a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires a health care service plan to provide to an enrollee or prospective enrollee, upon request, a list of contracting providers within the enrollee's or prospective enrollee's general geographic area. This bill would require a health care service plan to make that information available with regard to contracting providers who are professional clinical counselors. Because a willful violation of these provisions would be punishable as a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, a health care service plan may not prohibit an enrollee from selecting certain healing art licensees for mental health services. Existing law also sets forth provisions that apply to health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies that are written or issued for delivery outside of California and where benefits are provided within the scope of practice of certain healing arts licensees. This bill would add professional clinical counselors to the list of healing arts licensees in those provisions and would make similar changes to provisions that apply to insurance carriers. Because a willful violation of these provisions under the Knox-Keene Act would be punishable as a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law sets forth provisions governing patient records and the responsibilities and duties of health care providers, as defined, with regard to those records, and as applied to other healing arts licensees when practicing at institutions for the developmentally disabled or mental hospitals. This bill would apply the provisions that govern patient records to professional clinical counselors and clinical counselor interns. Existing law requires a person who provides mental health services in local mental health facilities to be licensed. Existing law allows that licensure requirement to be waived in local facilities for psychologists, clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists who are gaining the experience required for licensure. This bill would apply those waiver provisions to the profession of clinical counseling. Under the Child Abuse Neglect and Reporting Act, certain persons are mandated reporters, as defined. Failure of a mandated reporter to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor. This bill would make professional clinical counselors, clinical counselor interns, and clinical counselor trainees mandated reporters. By expanding a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law generally regulates the provision of community mental health services for the mentally disordered in every county. Existing law authorizes the establishment of regional, secure facilities, which are designed for the commitment and ongoing treatment of seriously emotionally disturbed minors who have been adjudged wards of the juvenile court. Among other things, existing law sets forth staffing requirements for the opening of one of these regional facilities, including requiring that the staff include a pediatrician, dentist, and marriage and family therapist, on an as-needed basis. This bill would revise the staffing requirements for a regional facility to include a marriage and family therapist or professional clinical counselor, or both, on an as-needed basis. The bill would also authorize the position of director of local mental health services to be a professional clinical counselor and would make other conforming changes to the certification review provisions. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 4999.120 of the Business and Professions Code, proposed by SB 704, to be operative only if SB 704 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 4514 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, proposed by SB 368, to be operative only if SB 368 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last. This bill would make other conforming changes and enact related provisions. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.