Healing arts: marriage and family therapists: clinical social workers: coursework.

Existing law provides for the licensure or registration and regulation of marriage and family therapists and interns by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Under existing law, until January 1, 2019, an applicant for a marriage and family therapist licensure or registration who began graduate study before August 1, 2012, and completes that study on or before December 31, 2018, is required to complete prescribed coursework or training to be eligible to sit for a licensing examination. Under existing law, the prescribed coursework and training require, among other things, that a master's or doctor's degree qualifying for licensure include specific instruction in alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency. This bill would specify that coursework requirement may be satisfied if taken in fulfillment of other educational requirements for licensure or in a separate course, and that the applicant may satisfy the requirement by successfully completing the coursework from a master's or doctoral degree program at an accredited or approved institution or with a board-accepted provider of continuing education, as specified. The prescribed coursework and training also require that a master's or doctor's degree qualifying for licensure include coursework in spousal or partner abuse assessment, detection, and intervention, as specified. Existing law provides that those requirements may be satisfied if taken in fulfillment of other educational requirements for licensure or in a separate course, and may be satisfied by a specified certification from the chief academic officer of the educational institution from which the applicant graduated. This bill would specify that the applicant may meet this requirement by successfully completing this coursework from a master's or doctoral degree program at an accredited or approved institution or from a board-accepted provider of continuing education, as described. This bill would delete provisions that permit the board to accept as satisfaction of those coursework requirements certification from the chief academic officer of the educational institution. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of clinical social workers by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Under existing law, an applicant for a clinical social worker license is required to furnish to the board evidence that he or she has, among other things, completed instruction and training in spousal or partner abuse assessment, detection, and intervention strategies, as specified, which may be satisfied by a specified certification from the chief academic officer of the educational institution from which the applicant graduated. This bill would delete provisions that permit the board to accept as satisfaction of those coursework requirements certification from the chief academic officer of the educational institution.