Marriage and family therapists.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of marriage and family therapists by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Existing law specifies the education required for licensure, which includes, for specified applicants, a requirement for a practicum that involves direct client contact and hours of experience relating to client-centered advocacy, as defined. Existing law authorizes trainees to perform activities and services in certain work settings provided that these constitute part of the trainee's supervised course of study and the person is designated as a trainee. Existing law also authorizes trainees to gain hours of experience outside the required practicum under certain conditions, but requires trainees who gain experience outside the required practicum to be enrolled in a practicum in order to counsel clients, except that trainees may counsel clients while not enrolled in a practicum if the period of lapsed enrollment is less than 90 calendar days, and if that period is immediately preceded and immediately followed by enrollment in a practicum course. Existing law specifies requirements of the degree program that an applicant must complete to be eligible for licensure. This bill would revise these provisions to allow trainees who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and complete that study on or before December 31, 2018, to gain experience and counsel clients outside of a practicum. The bill, with respect to certain trainees, including trainees who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and do not complete that study on or before December 31, 2018, would allow those trainees to gain experience and counsel clients outside of a practicum provided that the period of lapse is immediately preceded by enrollment in a practicum course and immediately followed by enrollment in a practicum course or completion of the degree program. Some of these provisions would operate retroactively from January 1, 2012, and the bill would state the intent of the Legislature in that regard. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.