Obtaining a professional license, particularly in behavioral sciences, demands a lot of commitment, hard work, money, and time. However, when the board notifies you of an impending or ongoing investigation, suddenly, your most significant life investment, reputation, and source of income in the form of a behavioral sciences license is threatened.

Even a minor mistake, when reported to the behavioral sciences board and substantiated, can trigger an investigation, resulting in disciplinary action. When you are a licensee who faces allegations of violating the board’s regulation or ethical practices, the Oakland License Attorney can help you defend against the claim and retain your permit.

How the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) Works

BBS is the agency that licenses, regulates, and disciplines behavioral sciences license holders. The agency has the authority to receive complaints from the public or other therapists and investigate and enforce regulations where there is proof of criminal or administrative breaches. You should know that the board does not investigate all claims. It only focuses on those that can be substantiated.

The board substantiates a complaint by determining whether there are grounds for the licensee to face an administrative proceeding and possible disciplinary action. Usually, when the board members receive a complaint, they evaluate it to establish whether there is a basis for further investigation. 

When there is proof that you, a therapist, have made a mistake, violated the law, or demonstrated incompetence, it is filed with the Attorney General’s office for the administrative process to start. After reviewing your file, the AG can take disciplinary action, file a claim, and serve you with the petition. You will then be notified that you face an administrative hearing and must defend yourself. When served with the notice, your first call should be to an experienced behavioral sciences professional license lawyer to evaluate your case and craft suitable defenses.

Alternatively, instead of taking the complaint to the AG, BBS can take disciplinary action, such as issuing you a warning letter, license revocation, or suspension.

You must respond within fifteen days once notified of a complaint against you. If you do not file the response promptly, the AG can write to the BBS asking them to take disciplinary action, which includes license cancellation or suspension. Therefore, ensure you have a competent attorney who understands these strict timelines and the administrative hearing. That way, they will respond to the petition on time and give you a chance to fight the allegations and save your career and source of livelihood. An experienced attorney can help resolve the case without necessarily going to trial, making it necessary to hire a competent and experienced one early in the case.

Professionals Who Belong to the Behavioral Sciences Field

Several professionals fall under the behavioral sciences category and are licensed and regulated by the BBS. These experts include:

Marriage Therapists

Many people enter into marriages to live happily after that, but this is not always true. Unfortunately, modern marriages or families face many conflicts, which they opt to resolve with the help of a third party instead of doing it privately. The common issues that face the modern family include depression, alcohol and controlled substance abuse, marital challenges, behavioral issues in children, and domestic violence. Most of these problems require the intervention of a professional, which is why relationships or marriage counselors exist.

As a family therapist, you are responsible for analyzing your clients' behavior, identifying the source of their relationship problems, and finding ways to resolve them. Imparting positive behavior changes in children or spouses can be challenging, and many are likely to be unhappy with your approach or the therapy outcome. They do not understand that you have little or no control over their attitude, which could lead to a complaint against you to the BBS.

When you face a complaint, do not think the board is on your side for a moment. They strive to protect the consumers of your services and are likely to investigate the issue further and take disciplinary action.

Clinical Social Worker

Another career in the behavioral sciences field is clinical social work. As a licensee, your responsibility is to help people deal with many troubles that face society today, including addiction, mental illnesses, child or senior citizen abuse, poverty, and spousal abuse. This demanding profession requires an extraordinary calling because you must listen to people's challenges, identify their daily problems, and provide the necessary tools to help resolve or overcome these challenges.

As a social worker, you visit various organizations, such as hospitals, elderly or children’s homes, and offices, to find troubled people. You interact with multiple people, and some will not be happy with your techniques or ways of addressing their problems, and this could push them to file a complaint against your license with the BBS. Your patients, the government, or colleagues can accuse you of unethical conduct, leading to an investigation and possible punishment. However, false or minor complaints should not be the reason you stop helping society and earning an income. An experienced lawyer can help protect your clinical social worker license and reputation.

Educational Psychologists (EP)

Children face many challenges in school that affect their academic performances, emotions, and social behavior. As a licensed educational psychologist, your responsibility is to partner with students, teachers, and parents to establish the source of the emotional, social, or economic problems affecting children for emotional, academic, and social success. 

With your knowledge as a certified EP, you monitor student progress and conduct detailed psychological reviews to identify student problems and find treatments and strategies to help resolve the issues. Where traumatic events are involved, like the loss of a learner in school, you must perform group therapy or counseling to help the students and teachers deal with the death.  However, your general responsibility is to identify learners' strengths and weaknesses and help them succeed.

Some parents, guardians, teachers, or caregivers will not be happy with your approaches or results in your line of duty, which could lead to complaints and threaten your license.

Expert Clinical Counselors

Last but not least, a career that falls under behavioral sciences is that of a professional or expert clinical counselor. It is the latest and most rapidly growing profession in the behavioral sciences field because of the increasing cases of behavioral, mental, and emotional conditions in adults. Your job involves visiting clients in healthcare facilities, offices, or homes. Besides, you work with people of all kinds, including military personnel, families, and individuals or veterans. While performing your duties, you will face many allegations, including crimes and violations of BBS regulations. Even when the claim concerns a minor issue, you risk disciplinary action if you do not take it seriously, threatening your career and source of income. Thankfully, you can avoid the adverse consequences of the administrative proceeding by hiring a competent lawyer to defend your license.

BBS’s Disciplinary Guidelines

The role of BBS is to screen behavioral science permit applicants and monitor existing licensees to safeguard the general public. They aim to maintain high standards of ethics and expertise in the field.

You make substantial sacrifices and investments to obtain a license. So, any threat to the license can be devastating, so it is usually scary to receive a notice informing you of an investigation into your professional conduct. You risk a damaged reputation, license cancellation, or revocation. Therefore, you should take any allegation against your permit seriously because it could jeopardize your career.

The common accusations you will face as a licensed therapist include:

  • On-the-job alcohol or drug abuse
  • You are violating client relationships by engaging in sexual misconduct with current or former clients. Under the circumstances, arguing that you had consent or permission is not a defense against the allegations.
  • Sexual conduct with a child
  • Professional incompetence
  • Gross negligence
  • Allegations of conflict of interest
  • Refusal to disclose service fees in advance
  • Misleading advertisement
  • Failure to maintain therapist-client confidentiality
  • Paying or receiving payment for referrals
  • You suffer from a mental or physical condition or substance dependency that impairs your capacity to provide safe and quality services
  • You already face separate disciplinary action by another state or federal licensing board
  • You have a criminal history substantially associated with your profession
  • You are denying patients appropriate access to the medical reports
  • Fraud accusations, especially those regarding referrals
  • Hiring or partnering with unlicensed assistants
  • Failure to sufficiently supervise assistants
  • Refusal to keep appropriate and honest medical reports
  • Intentionally or recklessly causing bodily or mental harm

Several allegations can hang your license on the balance. Understanding some instances threatening your career and lawyering early enough to protect your interests is good. 

Possible Disciplinary Measures

The disciplinary guidelines provided by BBS allow you to contest the allegations, have the case dropped, or seek a lenient punishment.

First, the board can opt to issue a public warning or reprimand. When the warning goes public, you could lose existing and prospective clients or job opportunities. The reprimand is usually specific but can sometimes focus on California's overall Business and Profession Code.

If the actions leading to the complaint did not cause harm to the client or the public, the board members can issue a citation and a fine, even though these are not provided for in the disciplinary guidelines.

When the administrative hearing judge suspends or cancels your license, your lawyer can present mitigating factors to convince the board to stay the revocation and send you to probation. If your license is on probation, you can practice, but under strict restrictions from the board.

A more severe disciplinary action you could face is license suspension, even if it is temporary. You can only offer services as a behavioral sciences expert once the suspension is lifted. Even though after the lapse of the license withdrawal period, the board will reinstate your license, you will not have an income, and your reputation will take a hit.

Lastly, the board can opt to revoke or cancel your license. This is the harshest disciplinary measure because the chances of receiving a reinstatement are slim. A revocation means you should try out another field or begin another career.

Luckily, with the assistance of an attorney, even when you face maximum punishment, the attorney can present mitigating circumstances for minimum disciplinary measures.

Typically, general unprofessional conduct attracts at least sixty days of suspension and a probationary term of thirty-six months. Sexual misconduct involving a patient is punishable by 120 days of license withdrawal and 84 months of probation. For the board to reinstate your license, you must pass a psychology and licensure test.

When the problem is substance or drug abuse, the board can impose random drug testing and a mandatory state-approved drug treatment program.

Your discipline depends on your case circumstances, meaning you will face different actions for the same allegations. Conditions that the board imposes depending on the violation type are:

  • Drug testing
  • Monitoring the billing system
  • Supervised practice sessions
  • Taking a psychological test

Any disciplinary action will hurt your career and livelihood. Therefore, hire an attorney early in the case so that they can find grounds to have the complaint dismissed. However, if a dismissal is impossible, the attorney can negotiate a lenient disciplinary measure that protects your reputation and allows you to continue practicing.

Denial of Behavioral License Application

A professional license defense lawyer is beneficial not only when you are under investigation by the board, but you will also require legal representation, even during the license application, because the process is not straightforward. The board rejects many applications during screening, which is a big blow considering the resources and time you have invested in your education and training. Applying for a behavioral sciences license alone is not enough to guarantee licensing. The board will run background checks on your record, and if you have been previously charged or convicted for a crime related to the profession, your application will likely be declined.

Additionally, your application will be automatically rejected if you conceal your criminal record during application or fail to disclose sufficient information about your violation to the board.

Thankfully, with the help of an attorney, you can expunge the record before submitting the application to lower the chances of a rejection. 

Find the Right Professional License Defense Attorney Near Me

Your behavioral sciences license is your most valuable asset. Any threat, like a suspension or cancellation, can be devastating. Other times, the board can reject your application or deny you a renewal, jeopardizing your profession and income. Luckily, you can contest the allegations in the administrative hearing. At Oakland License Attorney, we understand licensing statutes in behavioral science and can help you obtain a license or defend one. Call us today at 341-234-0408 for a free consultation.