About Us | Chapters | Advertising | Join
The deadline to introduce new legislation for this year's session was February 18, 2022. CAMFT will review legislation and establish positions on bills. A few bills have been identified as priorities and are listed below:
MFTs and Associates in Clinics – SB 966 (Limon) - CAMFT was asked to co-sponsor SB 966 by the California Primary Clinic Association (CPCA) representing Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHC). This bill continues CAMFT's efforts in 2012 with AB 1785, which allowed MFTs to participate FQHCs and RHCs by removing a Medi-Cal administrative barrier preventing MFTs from moving into these sites as initially envisioned in 2012.
Current Medi-Cal policy requires FQHCs and RHCs to file a new "scope of services" when adding a new provider, like MFTs. This bill removes this administrative requirement for MFTs.
During COVID, a Federal waiver for Medi-Cal allowed FQHCs and RHCs to employ Associate MFTs and Associate Social Workers. This bill extends this COVID policy and will enable associates to continue working in the FQHCs and RHCs.
Remote Supervision – AB 1758 (Aguiar-Curry) - This bill will allow for the remote supervision of pre-licensees, without regard to the setting, by defining supervision as "face-to-face contact" to mean in-person contact or contact via two-way, real-time videoconferencing, or some combination of these."
This measure is urgency legislation which means it will go into effect immediately if signed by the Governor.
The bill also includes a sunset of 2026 that allows for a re-evaluation of the supervision policy. CAMFT supports this bill.
Behavioral Health Provider Credentialing with Health Plans AB 2581 (Salas) - This bill would help to improve the behavioral health providers' credential time frame by requiring health plans to complete their administrative credentialing process within 45 days.
Provider Credentialing is the process health plans use to verify a provider's license, malpractice insurance, and other related items before inclusion on the health plan's network. CAMFT supports this bill.
CAMFT is working with the National Association of Social Workers- CA Chapter, California Psychological Association, and the California Association of Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors on a stakeholder budget proposal for $500 million to support the behavioral health licensed provider pipeline.
The funding is in three segments:
On March 3, 2022, the Governor announced a "Care Court" initiative that requires every County to have a civil court for individuals suffering from severe psychiatric disorders. The Care Court will provide comprehensive care and help people get into housing. Funding for this proposal is $1.3 billion in the Governor's January budget proposal for homelessness.
The details for the Care Courts have not been fully fleshed out, and it will require approval by the Legislature. CAMFT will continue to monitor and engage on this proposal to help ensure the appropriateness of such a Court, as well as that MFTs are included.
Board of Behavioral Sciences
The next Board of Behavioral Sciences meeting is scheduled for May 5th and 6th. The meeting agenda and notice can be found here. It is anticipated that this meeting will be conducted in-person. Please stay tuned for additional details.
Return to Newsletter