1277
. (a) No license shall be issued by the state department unless
it finds that the premises, the management, the bylaws, rules and
regulations, the equipment, the staffing, both professional and
nonprofessional, and the standards of care and services are adequate
and appropriate, and that the health facility is operated in the
manner required by this chapter and by the rules and regulations
adopted hereunder.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of Part 2 (commencing with
Section 5600) of Division 5 of, or Division 7 (commencing with
Section 7100) of, the Welfare and Institutions Code or any other law
to the contrary, except Sections 2072 and 2073 of the Business and
Professions Code, the licensure requirements for professional
personnel, including, but not limited to, physicians and surgeons,
dentists, podiatrists, psychologists, marriage and family therapists,
pharmacists, registered nurses, clinical social workers, and
professional clinical counselors in the state and other governmental
health facilities licensed by the state department shall not be less
than for those professional personnel in health facilities under
private ownership.
(2) Persons employed as psychologists and clinical social workers,
while continuing in their employment in the same class as of January
1, 1979, in the same state or other governmental health facility
licensed by the state department, including those persons on
authorized leave, but not including intermittent personnel, shall be
exempt from the requirements of paragraph (1).
(3) The requirements of paragraph (1) may be waived by the state
department solely for persons in the professions of psychology,
marriage and family therapy, clinical social work, or professional
clinical counseling who are gaining qualifying experience for
licensure in such profession in this state. A waiver granted pursuant
to this paragraph shall not exceed three years from the date the
employment commences in this state in the case of psychologists, or
four years from commencement of the employment in this state in the
case of marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, and
professional clinical counselors, at which time licensure shall have
been obtained or the employment shall be terminated, except that an
extension of a waiver of licensure for marriage and family
therapists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical
counselors may be granted for one additional year, based on
extenuating circumstances determined by the state department pursuant
to subdivision (e). For persons employed as psychologists, clinical
social workers, marriage and family therapists, or professional
clinical counselors less than full time, an extension of a waiver of
licensure may be granted for additional years proportional to the
extent of part-time employment, as long as the person is employed
without interruption in service, but in no case shall the waiver of
licensure exceed six years in the case of clinical social workers,
marriage and family therapists, or professional clinical counselors,
or five years in the case of psychologists.
(4) The durational limitation upon waivers pursuant to paragraph
(3) shall not apply to any of the following:
(A) Active candidates for a doctoral degree in social work, social
welfare, or social science, who are enrolled at an accredited
university, college, or professional school, but these limitations
shall apply following completion of this training.
(B) Active candidates for a doctoral degree in marriage and family
therapy who are enrolled at a school, college, or university,
specified in subdivision (b) of Section 4980.36 of, or subdivision
(b) of Section 4980.37 of, the Business and Professions Code, but the
limitations shall apply following completion of the training.
(C) Active candidates for a doctoral degree in professional
clinical counseling who are enrolled at a school, college, or
university, specified in subdivision (b) of Section 4999.32 of, or
subdivision (b) of Section 4999.33 of, the Business and Professions
Code, but the limitations shall apply following the completion of the
training.
(5) A waiver pursuant to paragraph (3) shall be granted only to
the extent necessary to qualify for licensure, except that personnel
recruited for employment from outside this state and whose experience
is sufficient to gain admission to a licensing examination shall
nevertheless have one year from the date of their employment in
California to become licensed, at which time licensure shall have
been obtained or the employment shall be terminated, provided that
the employee shall take the licensure examination at the earliest
possible date after the date of his or her employment, and if the
employee does not pass the examination at that time, he or she shall
have a second opportunity to pass the next possible examination,
subject to the one-year limit for marriage and family therapists,
clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors, and
subject to a two-year limit for psychologists.
(c) A special permit shall be issued by the state department when
it finds that the staff, both professional and nonprofessional, and
the standards of care and services are adequate and appropriate, and
that the special services unit is operated in the manner required in
this chapter and by the rules and regulations adopted hereunder.
(d) The state department shall apply the same standards to state
and other governmental health facilities that it licenses as it
applies to health facilities in private ownership, including
standards specifying the level of training and supervision of all
unlicensed practitioners. Except for psychologists, the department
may grant an extension of a waiver of licensure for personnel
recruited from outside this state for one additional year, based upon
extenuating circumstances as determined by the department pursuant
to subdivision (e).
(e) The department shall grant a request for an extension of a
waiver based on extenuating circumstances, pursuant to subdivision
(b) or (d), if any of the following circumstances exist:
(1) The person requesting the extension has experienced a recent
catastrophic event which may impair the person's ability to qualify
for and pass the license examination. Those events may include, but
are not limited to, significant hardship caused by a natural
disaster, serious and prolonged illness of the person, serious and
prolonged illness or death of a child, spouse, or parent, or other
stressful circumstances.
(2) The person requesting the extension has difficulty speaking or
writing the English language, or other cultural and ethnic factors
exist which substantially impair the person's ability to qualify for
and pass the license examination.
(3) The person requesting the extension has experienced other
personal hardship which the department, in its discretion, determines
to warrant the extension.