Healing arts.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of healing arts professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. (1) Existing law requires a Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) fee of $6 to be assessed annually, at the time of license renewal, on specified licensees to pay the reasonable costs associated with operating and maintaining CURES for the purpose of regulating those licensees. The bill would, beginning July 1, 2017, except as specified, exempt licensees issued a license placed in a retired or inactive status from the CURES fee requirement. (2) Existing law establishes the Task Force on Culturally and Linguistically Competent Physicians and Dentists. Existing law requires the task force to develop recommendations for a continuing education program that includes language proficiency standards of foreign language to be acquired to meet linguistic competency, identify the key cultural elements necessary to meet cultural competency by physicians, dentists, and their offices and assess the need for voluntary certification standards and examinations for cultural and linguistic competency. This bill would delete those provisions. (3) The Dental Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of dentists by the Dental Board of California. Existing law requires each applicant to, among other things, successfully complete the Part I and Part II written examinations of the National Board Dental Examination of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations. This bill would instead require the applicant to successfully complete the written examination of the National Board Dental Examination of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations. (4) The Medical Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California. Existing law requires the board to keep a copy of a complaint it receives regarding the poor quality of care rendered by a licensee for 10 years from the date the board receives the complaint, as provided. This bill would delete that requirement. Existing law creates the Bureau of Medical Statistics within the board. Under existing law, the purpose of the bureau is to provide the board with statistical information necessary to carry out their functions of licensing, medical education, medical quality, and enforcement. This bill would abolish that bureau. (5) Under existing law, the California Board of Podiatric Medicine is responsible for the certification and regulation of the practice of podiatric medicine. Existing law requires the board to annually elect one of its members to act as president and vice president. This bill would instead require the board to elect from its members a president, a vice president, and a secretary. (6) Under existing law, any person who violates any of the provisions governing prescription lenses is subject to a specified fine per violation. Existing law requires the fines from licensed physicians and surgeons and registered dispensing opticians to be available upon appropriation to the Medical Board of California for the purposes of administration and enforcement. Existing law requires the fines from licensed optometrists to be deposited into the Optometry Fund and to be available upon appropriation to the State Board of Optometry for the purposes of administration and enforcement. Beginning January 1, 2016, existing law makes the State Board of Optometry responsible for the registration and regulation of registered dispensing opticians. This bill would instead require fines from registered dispensing opticians to be deposited in the Dispensing Opticians Fund and to be available upon appropriation to the State Board of Optometry. (7) The Board of Behavioral Sciences is responsible for administering, among others, the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act, and the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act. (A) Existing law, the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, provides for the regulation of the practice of marriage and family therapy by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. A violation of the act is a crime. Existing law requires the licensure of marriage and family therapists and the registration of marriage and family therapist interns. Under existing law, an "intern" is defined as an unlicensed person who has earned his or her master's or doctoral degree qualifying him or her for licensure and is registered with the board. Existing law prohibits the abbreviation "MFTI" from being used in an advertisement unless the title "marriage and family therapist registered intern" appears in the advertisement. Existing law, the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act, provides for the regulation of the practice of professional clinical counseling by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Existing law requires the licensure of professional clinical counselors and the registration of professional clinical counselor interns. Under existing law, an "intern" is defined as an unlicensed person who meets specified requirements for registration and is registered with the board. This bill, commencing January 1, 2018, would provide that certain specified titles using the term "intern" or any reference to the term "intern" in those acts shall be deemed to be a reference to an "associate," as specified. Because this bill would change the definition of a crime in the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (B) The Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act generally requires specified applicants for licensure and registration to meet certain educational degree requirements, including having obtained that degree from a school, college, or university that, among other things, is accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. This bill would authorize that accreditation to be by a regional or national institutional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. Existing law requires these applicants to meet specified educational requirements, including a minimum of two semester units of instruction in the diagnosis, assessment, prognosis, and treatment of mental disorders, including severe mental disorders, evidence-based practices, psychological testing, psychopharmacology, and promising mental health practices that are evaluated in peer-reviewed literature. Existing law requires these specified educational requirements to include at least one semester unit or 15 hours of instruction in psychological testing and at least one semester unit or 15 hours of instruction in psychopharmacology. This bill would recast that instruction in psychological testing and psychopharmacology as a separate educational requirement. Under the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, a specified doctoral or master's degree approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education as of June 30, 2007, is considered by the Board of Behavioral Sciences to meet the specified licensure and registration requirements if the degree is conferred on or before July 1, 2010. As an alternative, existing law requires the Board of Behavioral Sciences to accept those doctoral or master's degrees as equivalent degrees if those degrees are conferred by educational institutions accredited by specified associations. This bill would delete those provisions. (C) Under the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, an applicant for licensure is required to complete experience related to the practice of marriage and family therapy under the supervision of a supervisor. Existing law requires an applicant seeking licensure as a professional clinical counselor or a marriage and family therapist to possess a degree that contains a practicum coursework requirement that may be satisfied by conducting face-to-face counseling. Existing law requires applicants, trainees who are unlicensed persons enrolled in an educational program to qualify for licensure, and interns who are unlicensed persons who have completed an educational program and is registered with the board to be at all times under the supervision of a supervisor. Existing law requires interns and trainees to only gain supervised experience as an employee or volunteer and prohibits experience from being gained as an independent contractor. Similarly, the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act requires clinical counselor trainees, interns, and applicants to perform services only as an employee or as a volunteer. The Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act prohibits gaining mental health experience by interns or trainees as an independent contractor. The Clinical Social Worker Practice Act requires applicants to complete supervised experience related to the practice of clinical social work. This bill would prohibit these persons from being employed as independent contractors and from gaining experience for work performed as an independent contractor reported on a specified tax form. The bill would specify that the face-to-face counseling requirement of the practicum coursework be face-to-face counseling of individuals, couples, families, or groups. (D) Existing law, the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act, requires applicants for licensure as a clinical social worker to pass a clinical examination. Existing regulatory law requires the clinical examination to be the Association of Social Work Boards Clinical Examination. Existing law authorizes a fee for the clinical examination in the amount of $100. This bill would specify that the fee only applies to a board-administered clinical examination. (E) The Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act defines the term "accredited" for the purposes of the act to mean a school, college, or university accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or its equivalent regional accrediting association. The act requires each educational institution preparing applicants to qualify for licensure to notify each of its students in writing that its degree program is designed to meet specified examination eligibility or registration requirements and to certify to the Board of Behavioral Sciences that it has provided that notice. The act requires the Board of Behavioral Sciences to accept education gained while residing outside of California if the education is substantially equivalent, as specified. This bill would re-define "accredited" to mean a school, college, or university accredited by a regional or national institutional accrediting agency that is recognized by the United States Department of Education. The bill would additionally require an applicant for registration or licensure to submit to the Board of Behavioral Sciences a certification from the applicant's educational institution specifying that the curriculum and coursework complies with those examination eligibility or registration requirements. The bill would instead require the board to accept education gained from an out-of-state school if the education is substantially similar. (8) This bill would additionally delete various obsolete provisions, make conforming changes, and make other nonsubstantive changes. (9) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1632 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2331, that would become operative only if AB 2331 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is chaptered last. (10) 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.