Speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and hearing aid dispensers.

Existing law, the Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers Licensure Act, until January 1, 2027, establishes the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of speech-language pathologists, speech-language pathology aides, speech-language pathology assistants, audiologists, dispensing audiologists, and hearing aid dispensers. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, authorizes the board to appoint a person designated as the executive officer to perform duties delegated by the board and vested in them in the act. Existing law makes a violation of the act a misdemeanor. This bill would extend the operation of the board and authorization to appoint an executive officer until January 1, 2031. Existing law specifies that a person holds themselves out to the public as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist by using specified titles. This bill would specify a person also holds themselves out to the public as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist by using a business name with those titles. Existing law requires a supervising speech-language pathologist or supervising audiologist to submit to the board a description of the proposed professional responsibilities of an applicant who is issued a temporary license as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist, as applicable, working under their supervision. This bill would delete that requirement. Existing law requires a speech-language pathologist or audiologist supervising speech-language pathology or audiology aides to register with the board the name of each aide working under their supervision. This bill would prohibit a speech-language pathology or audiology aide from advertising or representing that they hold a license as a speech-language pathologist, speech-language pathology assistant, or audiologist. The bill would prohibit a speech-language pathology or audiology aide, a professional experience license holder, or a speech-language pathology assistant from being the sole proprietor of, or managing or independently operating, a business that engages in the practice of speech-language pathology or audiology. Existing law grants to the board the full authority to investigate and evaluate each applicant applying for a license to practice speech-language pathology or audiology, to determine the admission of the applicant to the examination, or to issue a license. Existing law requires the board to perform all examination functions, to determine the subject matter and scope of the examinations, and to keep recordings of any oral examination for at least 2 years. This bill would delete those provisions and would instead require an applicant to pass an examination approved by the board, which may be conducted by the board or by an organization specified by the board. Existing law requires the board to issue, suspend, and revoke licenses and approvals to practice speech-language pathology and audiology. This bill would also require the board to issue, suspend, and revoke registrations, and would make various provisions in the act applicable to registrants, including requiring registrants to pay a fee not to exceed $25 for issuance of a registration status. Existing law establishes requirements for licensure as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist, including possession of at least a master's degree in speech-language pathology or audiology from an educational institution approved by the board or qualifications deemed equivalent by the board. This bill would expand the list of degrees that would satisfy that requirement to include at least a master's degree in communication disorders, communication sciences and disorders, communicative disorders, or speech, language, or hearing sciences. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, deems a person who holds one of specified clinical competence certificates issued by certain entities to have met certain educational and experience requirements for licensure as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist, as specified. This bill would extend the operation of that provision until January 1, 2031. Existing law establishes continuing education requirements for licensees and requires continuing professional development services to be obtained from accredited institutions of higher learning or organizations approved as continuing education providers, as specified. This bill would revise the list of authorized continuing education providers to include organizations approved as continuing education providers by the California Academy of Audiology, the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association, or the American Medical Association, and continuing professional development services obtained by a federal, state, or local governmental entity. This bill would require the board, upon payment of a $75 fee, to issue a retired license to a licensed speech-language pathologist, speech-language pathology assistant, audiologist, hearing aid dispenser, or dispensing audiologist who holds a license that is current and active or a license that is inactive, and the license is not suspended, revoked, surrendered, or subject to disciplinary action, as specified, subject to satisfaction of specified requirements. Existing law authorizes the board to suspend, revoke, or impose terms and conditions upon the license of any licensee for specified acts, including violating or attempting to violate any provisions of the act. This bill would make those provisions applicable to registrants. Existing law authorizes a person whose license has been revoked or suspended, or who has been placed on probation, to petition the board for reinstatement or modification of penalty, as specified. This bill would make those provisions applicable to a person whose license has been surrendered, as specified. Existing law requires the board to adopt regulations, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, and the Advisory Commission on Special Education, that set forth standards and requirements for the adequate supervision of speech-language pathology assistants, including minimum continuing professional development requirements. This bill would prohibit coursework from a master's degree that would qualify an applicant for licensure as a speech-language pathologist from being used, as specified, to satisfy those continuing professional development requirements. Existing law establishes educational requirements for applicants for approval as a speech-language pathology assistant, and specifies that a person who has successfully graduated from a board-approved bachelor's degree program in speech-language pathology or communication disorders is deemed to have satisfied those requirements. This bill would expand the list of degrees that would satisfy those requirements to include a bachelor's degree in communication disorders, speech-language and hearing sciences, communication sciences and disorders, or communicative disorders. Existing law prohibits provisions regulating hearing aid dispensers from being construed to limit the use of a speech aide or other personnel employed by a public school working under the supervision of a speech-language pathologist. This bill would specify that construction applies so long as the speech aide or other personnel is not performing the responsibilities, duties, and functions of a speech-language pathology assistant. This bill would prohibit a person who is not registered as a speech-language pathology assistant from using the title "SLP assistant" or the letters "SLPA," and would prohibit a speech-language pathology assistant from advertising or otherwise representing that they hold a license as a speech-language pathologist. Existing law authorizes hearing aids to be sold by catalog or direct mail, subject to satisfaction of specified requirements. The bill would authorize hearing aids to be sold online. Existing law makes it unlawful for an individual to engage in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids without a license, except as specified. This bill would specify that some of those provisions apply to hearing aid dispensers instead of licensees, and would change some of those provisions so they apply to an address or addresses instead of a place of business. Relative to the regulation of hearing aid dispensers, existing law requires a licensee to apply for and procure a duplicate license if the licensee maintains more than one place of business, as specified. Existing law authorizes a hearing aid dispenser to engage on a temporary basis in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids at the primary or branch location of another licensee's business without obtaining a duplicate license if certain requirements are satisfied. This bill would instead require a hearing aid dispenser engaged in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids at more than one place of business to apply for and procure a branch office license, as specified. The bill would define "temporary basis" for purposes of the provisions described above. Existing law imposes certain restrictions and requirements on licensed hearing aid dispensers related to the scope of their duties, including prohibiting a licensed hearing aid dispenser from selling a hearing aid to a person 16 years of age or younger, except as specified, and exempts from those restrictions and requirements a licensed dispensing audiologist, as specified. This bill would expand the list of restrictions and requirements applicable to licensed hearing aid dispensers that licensed dispensing audiologists are exempt from to include, among other things, provisions prohibiting a licensed hearing aid dispenser from making or seeking referrals for testing, fitting, or dispensing of hearing aids in connection with the conduction of hearing screenings, as specified. Existing law establishes a fee of $100 for an initial temporary license, and a fee of $100 for renewal of a temporary license for hearing aid dispensers. This bill would instead establish that fee for an initial temporary or trainee licensee, and a fee of $100 for renewal of a trainee license. The bill would revise and recast certain provisions related to temporary licenses. The bill would also change some provisions related to hearing aid dispensers so they apply to an address or addresses instead of a place of business. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of dispensing audiologists by the board. This bill would revise and recast certain of those provisions and would require a dispensing audiologist to submit documentation to the board that they have satisfied specified continuing education requirements. The bill would provide that a dispensing audiologist license expires on its assigned renewal date, unless licensee applies to the board for renewal, as specified, and would establish requirements for the renewal of an expired license. The bill would specify that a suspended dispensing audiologist license is subject to expiration and shall be renewed, as provided, but renewal does not entitle the holder of the license to engaging in the fitting or selling of hearing aids until it is reinstated. The bill would specify that a license that has been revoked is subject to expiration and shall not be renewed, and would establish requirements for reinstatement. Existing law prohibits a licensed audiologist from selling hearing aids to a person 16 years of age or younger, except if specified conditions are satisfied. This bill would delete that provision. Existing law defines certain terms for the purposes of the Act, including, among others, "hearing aid dispenser" to mean a person engaged in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids to an individual with impaired hearing. The bill would make other definitional, technical, and conforming changes, including defining "hearing aid dispenser" as a person who is issued a permanent license pursuant to these provisions, revising the definitions of "license" and "licensee." By imposing additional requirements and prohibitions on persons subject to the act, a violation of which is a crime, the bill would expand the scope of a crime thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. 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.