Certification Bill Delayed Until January 2006 |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Apr 05 2007 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Certification Bill Delayed Until January 2006
Excerpt from FREEDOM May-June 2005
CAADAC recently requested that Assembly Bill 1141 be pulled from committee by its author, Mervyn Dymally. This voluntary action by the association has been made as a gesture of good will so that the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs can be given an appropriate time interval for working through implementation issues for its recently approved certification regulations.
“Given the timing involved, it was imperative that we had legislation in the cycle in the event that the regulations were not approved,” explained CAADAC President, Warren Daniels. “We still believe our legislation would have created a much stronger certification requirement, but we have to now participate in the reality of what the department has produced.”
The Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs has vowed to continue to work on the issue of standards and enforceability with groups such as CAADAC as the process unfolds. “Had we continued with the legislation, we would have been perceived as very obstructionist,” said Daniels. “At this point we have to hold off on re-introducing until January when we can better evaluate what the specific shortcomings of the regulations are.”
Assemblyman Dymally remains committed to the issue and is reserving a spot for the legislation in the second half of the two-year session. “I don’t want anyone to get the impression that CAADAC is turning its back on the incredibly low standards the department has put forward through regulation,” said Daniels. “We are now at a unique point in the history of this entire process. Either CAADAC’s predictions that the lack of real standards and the inability of the regulations to cover the entire workforce will prove inadequate in protecting consumers or the new regulations will actually serve to reduce the number of people harmed in state licensed and certified facilities. Either way it is a move forward. If the regulations fail, there will be a clear need for the legislation we drafted and if they don’t fail, the problems we recognize will be corrected which was our goal to begin with,” said Daniels.
A contributing factor in making the decision to back off of the certification legislation was the need to address the needs of clients being treated outside of regulated facilities. “We have a real dichotomy now in terms of standards,” explained Daniels. “While everyone has spent the last four years focusing on licensed and certified facilities with a social model emphasis, the more urgent need of scientifically identifying the multiple levels of service delivery has lost focus, and consumer protection in the completely unsupervised and unregulated environment of private practice has continued to go unaddressed.”
CAADAC is actively pursuing amendments to current legislation that would lay the groundwork for including private practitioners under the licensing authority of the Department of Consumer Affairs. “At one of the last meetings on counselor certification, we got a verbal agreement form the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs to support the need for an occupational analysis for the profession which is a necessary precursor to licensure,” said Daniels. “We intend to take them up on their pledge as soon as possible.”
In order to fund this provision, CAADAC is exploring the possibility of including the occupational analysis within legislation or if necessary a new proposition to continue funding for Proposition 36. “If Proposition 36 is to continue and to keep expanding, there has to be some inclusion for work force development,” said Daniels. “We can’t just keep expanding a system with no realistic approach for developing the talent that is needed to make it successful.”
“CAADAC pursuit of legislation to insure consumer protection in both the private and public sectors will continue. CAADAC must educate the bureaucracy on the need for higher standards so individuals are properly equipped to treat addiction,” said Daniels.
- Warren Daniels
Certification Bill Delayed Until January 2006
Excerpt from FREEDOM May-June 2005
CAADAC recently requested that Assembly Bill 1141 be pulled from committee by its author, Mervyn Dymally. This voluntary action by the association has been made as a gesture of good will so that the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs can be given an appropriate time interval for working through implementation issues for its recently approved certification regulations.
“Given the timing involved, it was imperative that we had legislation in the cycle in the event that the regulations were not approved,” explained CAADAC President, Warren Daniels. “We still believe our legislation would have created a much stronger certification requirement, but we have to now participate in the reality of what the department has produced.”
The Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs has vowed to continue to work on the issue of standards and enforceability with groups such as CAADAC as the process unfolds. “Had we continued with the legislation, we would have been perceived as very obstructionist,” said Daniels. “At this point we have to hold off on re-introducing until January when we can better evaluate what the specific shortcomings of the regulations are.”
Assemblyman Dymally remains committed to the issue and is reserving a spot for the legislation in the second half of the two-year session. “I don’t want anyone to get the impression that CAADAC is turning its back on the incredibly low standards the department has put forward through regulation,” said Daniels. “We are now at a unique point in the history of this entire process. Either CAADAC’s predictions that the lack of real standards and the inability of the regulations to cover the entire workforce will prove inadequate in protecting consumers or the new regulations will actually serve to reduce the number of people harmed in state licensed and certified facilities. Either way it is a move forward. If the regulations fail, there will be a clear need for the legislation we drafted and if they don’t fail, the problems we recognize will be corrected which was our goal to begin with,” said Daniels.
A contributing factor in making the decision to back off of the certification legislation was the need to address the needs of clients being treated outside of regulated facilities. “We have a real dichotomy now in terms of standards,” explained Daniels. “While everyone has spent the last four years focusing on licensed and certified facilities with a social model emphasis, the more urgent need of scientifically identifying the multiple levels of service delivery has lost focus, and consumer protection in the completely unsupervised and unregulated environment of private practice has continued to go unaddressed.”
CAADAC is actively pursuing amendments to current legislation that would lay the groundwork for including private practitioners under the licensing authority of the Department of Consumer Affairs. “At one of the last meetings on counselor certification, we got a verbal agreement form the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs to support the need for an occupational analysis for the profession which is a necessary precursor to licensure,” said Daniels. “We intend to take them up on their pledge as soon as possible.”
In order to fund this provision, CAADAC is exploring the possibility of including the occupational analysis within legislation or if necessary a new proposition to continue funding for Proposition 36. “If Proposition 36 is to continue and to keep expanding, there has to be some inclusion for work force development,” said Daniels. “We can’t just keep expanding a system with no realistic approach for developing the talent that is needed to make it successful.”
“CAADAC pursuit of legislation to insure consumer protection in both the private and public sectors will continue. CAADAC must educate the bureaucracy on the need for higher standards so individuals are properly equipped to treat addiction,” said Daniels.
- Warren Daniels
Last changed: Apr 06 2007 at 5:42 AM
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