SB 993: Board of Behavioral Sciences: licensees: notices. - California

08/30/26 - Enrolled → SB993 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes were made between these two versions. The diff reflects a reformatting of the same enrolled bill text from an official legislative document (with signature blocks, page numbers, and formal layout) to a web-based display format on the California Legislature website. The actual statutory amendments to four Business and Professions Code sections are identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was reformatted from an official enrolled legislative document (with page headers, signature blocks for the Secretary of the Senate, Chief Clerk of the Assembly, Private Secretary of the Governor, and Governor approval line) into a web page layout with navigation elements, search tools, version history, and metadata. No changes to the substantive statutory language were made.

08/18/26 - Amended Assembly → 08/30/26 - Enrolled · 3 edits · Aug 30, 2026

MINOR

The enrolled version of SB 993 shifts the discretion to withhold licensee identifying information from the employing entity or agency to the individual licensee or registrant themselves, and moves the responsibility for maintaining a client complaint process from the licensee/registrant to the correctional facility or psychiatric hospital. This applies across all four professional categories covered by the bill (marriage and family therapists, educational psychologists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors). The remaining changes are standard enrolled-bill formatting.

REQUIREMENT

The entity authorized to exercise discretion over whether to include licensee identifying information in the client notice changed from 'the employing entity or agency' to 'the licensee or registrant' themselves. This gives individual professionals direct control over the decision rather than requiring their employer or agency to make it.

The former paragraph (B) requiring the licensee or registrant to be responsible for ensuring that a process to request and obtain identification information is in place was deleted from all four sections.

ENFORCEMENT

The obligation to maintain a process through which a client may obtain sufficient identifying information to file a complaint with the board now falls on 'the correctional facility or psychiatric hospital' rather than on the licensee or registrant. This shifts the compliance burden from individual professionals to the institutional setting.

04/08/26 - Amended Senate → 08/18/26 - Amended Assembly · 5 edits · Aug 18, 2026

MODERATE

The Assembly amended SB 993 to add two new substantive requirements for when behavioral health licensees may withhold identifying information from client notices in psychiatric hospitals and correctional settings: (1) the employing entity must explicitly authorize the individual licensee to exercise discretion, and (2) the facility itself must maintain a process for clients to obtain identifying information. The Assembly also removed the 'On and after July 1, 2025' effective date language from three of the four sections and generalized references from 'marriage and family therapist' to 'licensee or registrant' for consistency across all covered professions.

Scope change

The scope of applicability is unchanged in terms of which professions and settings are covered, but the conditions under which identifying information may be withheld were tightened by adding an employer authorization requirement and a facility-level obligation to maintain access to that information.

REQUIREMENT

A new condition requires that the employing entity or agency must explicitly authorize the individual licensee or registrant to exercise discretion in withholding identifying information. Previously, only the existence of an established process in the setting was required.

A new paragraph (B) imposes an affirmative obligation on correctional facilities and psychiatric hospitals to maintain a process through which a client can obtain sufficient identifying information to file a complaint with the board when such information is withheld from the notice.

TIMELINE

The phrase 'On and after July 1, 2025' was removed from Sections 4989.17, 4996.75, and 4999.71, eliminating the explicit effective date qualifier for when licensees must include identifying information in client notices.

SCOPE

References to 'marriage and family therapist' or 'therapist' in the digest and operative text were replaced with the broader term 'licensee or registrant,' making the language consistent across all four covered professions (MFTs, educational psychologists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors).

TECHNICAL

Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez was added as a coauthor of the bill.

03/19/26 - Amended Senate → 04/08/26 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Apr 8, 2026

MINOR

SB 993 was significantly expanded from amending only the marriage and family therapist notice provision (Section 4980.32) to also covering educational psychologists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors. A new requirement was added across all four professions making the individual licensee or registrant responsible for ensuring a complaint-filing process is in place when their employer exercises discretion to withhold identifying information from client notices. The bill now requires fiscal committee review.

Scope change

Expanded from applying only to marriage and family therapists (Section 4980.32) to also apply to educational psychologists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors, effectively covering all four professions regulated by the Board of Behavioral Sciences that provide psychotherapy or psychological services.

SCOPE

The bill now amends three additional Business and Professions Code sections (4989.17, 4996.75, and 4999.71) to extend the same client notice and safety-discretion provisions to educational psychologists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors, not just marriage and family therapists.

REQUIREMENT

A new subparagraph (B) was added in all four professional sections stating that if the employing entity exercises discretion to withhold licensee identifying information from the client notice, the individual licensee or registrant is responsible for ensuring the process for clients to request and obtain identification information is actually in place.

TECHNICAL

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' meaning the bill now requires a fiscal committee review before proceeding.

02/05/26 - Introduced → 03/19/26 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · Mar 19, 2026

MODERATE

The amended version removes the July 1, 2025 effective date for therapist identification requirements (making them immediate) and adds a new exception allowing employing entities in specific high-risk settings - acute psychiatric hospitals, correctional treatment centers, and facilities serving incarcerated individuals - to withhold therapist identification information from client notices based on individual safety concerns. The exception requires that an alternative process for obtaining complaint-filing information be established, disclosed to the client, and documented.

TIMELINE

Removed the 'On and after July 1, 2025' effective date, making the requirement to include therapist name, license number, license type, and expiration date in client notices effective immediately upon enactment.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a new exception (paragraph (2)) allowing employing entities or agencies in acute psychiatric hospitals, correctional treatment centers, and any setting providing mental health services to incarcerated individuals under local, state, or federal correctional authority to exercise discretion about including therapist identification information based on individual safety concerns.

REQUIREMENT

The safety exception is conditioned on three requirements: (1) the setting must have an established process for clients to request and obtain sufficient identification to file a complaint with the board, (2) that process must be disclosed to the client as part of the notice, and (3) a copy of the notice must be preserved in the client's records.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes', indicating the bill now has fiscal implications requiring fiscal committee review.

Board of Behavioral Sciences: licensees: notices.

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