Asm. Cecilia Aguiar-Curry

This measure would designate the portion of U.S. Route 101 in the County of San Luis Obispo, from postmile 19.812 to postmile 15.579, as the Katcho Achadjian Memorial Highway. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

This measure would proclaim the month of October 2022 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

(1) Existing law establishes the Board of Behavioral Sciences within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and requires the board to regulate various registrants and licensees under the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act, and the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act. A violation of any of those acts is a misdemeanor. Under those acts, applicants for licensure are required to comply with specified educational and experience requirements, including, but not limited to, hours of supervised experience and direct supervisor contact. Existing law defines "one hour of direct supervisor contact" for purposes of those acts to mean one hour of face-to-face contact between the supervisor and the supervisee or supervisees, as specified. Existing law authorizes a supervisee working in certain exempt settings to obtain the required weekly direct supervisor contact via 2-way, real-time videoconferencing. This bill, instead, would define "face-to-face contact" for purposes of the definition of "one hour of direct supervisor contact" to mean in-person contact, contact via 2-way, real-time videoconferencing, or some combination of these. The bill would make the supervisor responsible for ensuring compliance with federal and state laws relating to confidentiality of patient health information. The bill would require a supervisor within 60 days of the commencement of supervision to conduct a meeting with the supervisee during which the supervisor is required to assess the appropriateness of allowing the supervisee to receive supervision via 2-way, real-time videoconferencing, as specified, and to document the results of that assessment. The bill would prohibit the supervisor from utilizing supervision via 2-way, real-time videoconferencing if their assessment finds it is inappropriate. Because the bill would expand the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2026. (2) 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. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would reaffirm the Legislature's commitment to upholding the human rights of immigrants, commend the courage and determination of immigrant community leaders, and celebrate the 26th annual Immigrant Day of Action.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law requires that counties administer public social services, including Medi-Cal. Existing law also authorizes a county to collaborate with a community-based organization to maintain up-to-date contact information in order to assist with timely submission of annual reaffirmation forms, among others. This bill, commencing January 1, 2023, would require the department to create the Community Health Navigator Program to make direct grants to qualified community-based organizations, as defined, to conduct targeted outreach, enrollment, retention, and access activities for Medi-Cal-eligible individuals and families. The bill would specify the basis for issuing a grant, including specified factors in the applicant's service area. The bill would authorize the department to contract with one or more private foundations to assist the department with administering the grant application and allocation process. The bill would require the department to contract with specified providers to furnish training and technical assistance to grant recipients. The bill would also require the department to coordinate and partner with Covered California and counties that elect to participate, on an approach for outreach, enrollment, retention, and access activities for marketing to eligible individuals, including facilitation of quarterly meetings on enrollment and access barriers and solutions, among other requirements. The bill would become operative only upon an express appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purposes of the bill.