Elder and dependent adult abuse.

(1) Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of psychologists, professional clinical counselors, clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists. Existing law requires a person applying for licensure in these professions to have completed specified coursework or training in child abuse assessment and reporting from certain types of institutions. This bill would encourage the Board of Psychology and the Board of Behavioral Sciences to include in that training elder and dependent adult abuse assessment and reporting, and would also apply that training and coursework requirement to professional clinical counselors. (2) Existing law, with respect to psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, and licensed professional clinical counselors, requires a licensee to complete, as a condition of licensure and relicensure, specified coursework in aging. This bill, on and after January 1, 2012, would expand the required coursework to additionally cover elder and dependent adult abuse assessment and reporting. (3) Existing law, with respect to marriage and family therapists, requires an applicant for licensure or registration to possess a doctoral or master's degree in various disciplines, including marriage, family, and child counseling, relative to applicants who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and complete that study on or before December 31, 2018. This bill would authorize the requisite coursework related to developmental issues and life events to include coursework in abuse and neglect of older and dependent adults. (4) Existing law requires an applicant for licensure as a marriage and family therapist under (3) to complete a minimum of 10 contact hours of coursework in aging and long-term care, which may include the biological, social, and psychological aspects of aging. This bill, on and after January 1, 2012, would require the coursework to include instruction on the assessment and reporting of elder and dependent adult abuse and neglect and associated treatment. (5) Existing law requires an applicant for licensure as a marriage and family counselor, prior to applying for a licensure examination, to complete certain hours of experience. This bill would encourage those hours of experience to include working with elders and dependent adults. (6) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 4980.43 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 1489, to be operative if SB 1489 and this bill become effective on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is enacted last.