SB 1134: Substance use disorder counselors: Allied Behavioral Health Board.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities by the State Department of Health Care Services and authorizes the department to enforce those provisions. Existing law also requires the department to require that an individual providing counseling services within a program be certified by a certifying organization approved by the department. Existing law authorizes the department to charge a fee to all programs for licensure or certification by the department, and establishes the Residential and Outpatient Program Licensing Fund to hold these fees.

This bill would create the Allied Behavioral Health Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and would transfer the responsibility to oversee those certifying organizations from the State Department of Health Care Services to the board. The bill would require the board to establish regulations and standards for the licensure of substance use disorder counselors, as specified.

This bill would require an applicant for a substance use disorder counselor license to have documented to a certifying organization that they have obtained a masters degree in alcohol and drug counseling or a related counseling masters degree, as specified, and to pass specified examinations. The bill would require the board to review the criminal history of the applicant, as specified. The bill would prohibit a person from using the title of Licensed Alcohol Drug Counselor unless the person has applied for and obtained a license from the board, and would make a violation of that provision punishable by an administrative penalty not to exceed $1,000.

The bill would require the board to establish fees for licensure, as specified, and would revert all unencumbered funds appropriated from fees in the Residential and Outpatient Program Licensing Fund to the State Department of Health Care Services for the purpose of certification oversight of substance use disorder counselors to that fund. The bill would make its provisions operative upon the appropriation by the Legislature of sufficient funds allocated to the state from a specified settlement agreement, consistent with the requirements of the settlement agreement.