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Senate Bill 707 (DeSaulnier) -- Counselors Licensing and Certification Law

Message from Renée Zito, Director of ADP

Senate Bill (SB) 707, authored by Senator Mark DeSaulnier and sponsored by the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP), will create a new alcohol and other drug (AOD) counselor certification and licensing system. The measure will recognize past accomplishments and create opportunities for future professional development.

I want to thank all of the organizations and representatives from the field who have provided comments and shared their concerns with us. Your participation and commitment helped to produce a meaningful bill that will result in the highest level of safety and quality to the people we serve. The current version of the bill, dated June 23, 2009, includes many of your suggested amendments.

The major provisions of SB 707 include the following:

• Title - Establishes the AOD Counselor Certification and Licensing Act, effective January 1, 2012.
• Criminal Background Check (CBC) - Grants authority for ADP to conduct CBCs on all registered, certified, and licensed AOD counselors.
• Unprofessional Conduct – Grants ADP the authority to define unprofessional conduct, resulting in a single standard of professional conduct.
• Credit for Prior Certification (“grandparenting”) - Allows AOD counselors certified in the current system, on or before December 31, 2011, to be issued a certificate upon satisfactory submission of an application, payment of fees, and passing a CBC.
• Certified AOD Counselor – Establishes the certified AOD counselor (CAODC) to practice AOD counseling in programs licensed or certified by ADP.
• Clinical Supervision – Establishes the Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Counselor – Clinical Supervisor (CAODC-CS) to provide required clinical supervision for Registrants.
• Licensed Alcohol and Other Drug Counselor (LAODC) – Establishes the LAODC and authorizes licensed AOD counselors to practice outside of programs licensed or certified by ADP.
• Advisory Committee - Requires ADP to establish an advisory committee to make recommendations to the department concerning curriculum, criminal background checks, unprofessional conduct and such other matters as ADP may refer to the committee.
• Fund - Establishes the AOD Counselor License Fund for the deposit of fees and expenditure of funds for the purposes of the AOD Counselor Certification and Licensing Act.

Additional information is provided within the following linked documents:

• Summary of SB 707, is a detailed list of provisions for your information.
• Frequently Asked Questions and Answers to SB 707 (DeSaulnier)(As Amended June 23, 2009)

Senator DeSaulnier and ADP will continue to work with you and other stakeholders to identify and address concerns so that the bill is ready to move from the Senate Appropriations Committee to the Senate Floor in January 2010. To facilitate dialog, we have scheduled the following meetings to discuss specific provisions of the bill:

• Criminal Background Checks: Monday, October 26, 2009 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
• Counselor Testing: Wednesday, November 17, 2009 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
• Counselor Education and Experience Requirements: Monday, November 30, 2009 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
• AOD Counselor Scope of Practice: Monday, December 7, 2009 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.




In person:	Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs 1700 K Street Sacramento, California 95811
By telephone:	Conference Call number (800) 333-3333

Please submit your concerns and proposed amendments to ADP at least 5 days prior to the relevant meeting. We hope these sessions will allow participants to hear the broad array of perspectives on the issues and how the proposed amendments would impact the AOD treatment community. If you are unable to attend in person or by telephone, or if a topic has already passed, or you have suggested amendment on a different issue, we still want to hear from you. Please contact Tina Chiginsky, Deputy Director, Office of Legislative and External Affairs, Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs at (916) 322-1654, or by email at: tchiginsky@adp.ca.gov.

I encourage you to continue to follow the bill as it moves through the legislative process and to share your thoughts on the bill. You may access and subscribe to SB 707 at www.leginfo.ca.gov. Thank you for your ongoing interest in this effort.

RENÉE ZITO
Director
The Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs