California Behavioral Sciences License Defense Attorney
Protecting your Behavioral Sciences License from BBS Accusations
Unlock Legal represents Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists and Associates, Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Associates, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors and Associates, and Licensed Educational Psychologists who have an issue with their licensing board.
- Was your application to the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) rejected (or you’re worried it will be)?
- Are you under investigation?
- Do you have a pending criminal matter or a criminal conviction?
Whatever your concern, Unlock Legal can help you. We are the experts in defending professionals and protecting their licenses. If your license is in jeopardy for any reason, contact us immediately for a consultation.
Unlock Legal accepts HPSO insurance.
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About The Behavioral Science Licensing Board
If you are one of the following in California, you need to be licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences:
- Marriage and Family Therapists: The professionals you’d typically find working with therapy, whether it’s one on one, couples work or helping out whole families deal with relationship issues and mental health concerns.
- Licensed Clinical Social Workers: Social workers who do the clinical stuff which is to say, they do the assessments, make the diagnoses and put together treatment plans for mental and emotional disorders.
- Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors: Counselors can be either personal or group therapy, a whole range of mental health services to individuals and groups.
- Licensed Educational Psychologists: Psychologists who end up working in the education system to deal with the day to day learning and behavioral issues that come up in the classroom.
The California BBS is all about keeping an eye out for public safety and so is responsible for sorting out the licenses of behavioural science professionals – so that means they’re not only looking at who gets to practice but also monitoring and punishing those who don’t meet up to standards
They aim to ensure that service providers follow professional standards for safe and competent mental health services. Accordingly, the Board does the following:
- Provides standards for licensing of mental health professionals
- Administers written examinations for each category of mental health professional
- Drafts and communicates professional standards for mental health professionals to follow
- Enforces the rules and regulations by taking disciplinary action against mental health professionals who do not follow the rules
License Applications, Denials and Statement of Issues
Applying for your license is exciting because it is one of the last hurdles before you can begin your career. For many the application process with the BBS is straightforward and simple. However, for some, past criminal convictions or other issues can lock them up. The attorneys at Unlock Legal will complete and file your application on your behalf to make sure that you have the best chance of having it granted.
If you have submitted your application and it has been denied, you are not locked out of your career. A denial of your application is called a Statement of Issues. We will defend you to the BBS with the intention that you are granted your license free and clear. If you must be on probation, we will negotiate the best possible terms and conditions. A part of your defense may be cleaning up any past criminal issues to show your rehabilitation to the licensing body.
Investigation
If someone files a complaint against you with the BBS, the BBS may instigate an investigation against you. The attorneys at Unlock Legal will request a copy of the complaint, assist you in preparation of any statement, prepare you for the investigation interview, and represent you at the interview with the investigator. It is important to have experienced counsel with you at an investigation interview to assist you in answering any questions appropriately, and advising you when not to speak. With the right advice and counsel an investigation may end at the interview stage. If not, your licensing body may choose to file a formal complaint against you called an Accusation.
Accusations
An Accusation is a formal complaint drafted by the Attorney General’s office. It alleges various causes of action against you which may stem from conviction of a crime, and/or allegations of other bad acts like substance abuse, or deviation from the standard of care. You have only 15 days to send a Notice of Defense once you have been served with an Accusation. If you miss the deadline a default order may be rendered against you resulting in the revocation of your license.
It is imperative that you hire experienced counsel to represent you if an Accusation has been filed against you. Time is of the essence, and your career and livelihood is at stake.
Board of Behavioral Science Enforcement Actions
As a mental health professional, you may be contacted by the Board and informed that you are being investigated for potentially violating professional standards. You should take this communication very seriously because your livelihood can be on the line. Any type of disciplinary action is a weighty matter because it can impact your professional reputation. Current and prospective patients can view disciplinary actions because they are in the public record.
The Board often acts against mental health professionals for the following reasons:
- Engaging in sexual relations with a patient
- Violating confidentiality
- Being convicted of a crime
- Making a false or inaccurate statement in an advertisement
- Gross negligence or incompetence in the performance of marriage and family therapy
- Administering dangerous controlled substances in their practice that injure patients
- Recklessly causing emotional harm to a client
- Fraudulently obtaining a license or a renewal
- Failing to disclose the fee before treating the patient
- Failure to meet continuing education requirements
- Continuing education was not accepted by the board
- Accused of continuing education fraud
Potential Board Punishments
The Board has a large degree of power, and they can impose a wide variety of punishments if they conclude that a licensee broke the rules, including:
- Suspension or revocation of a license
- Requiring the licensee to undergo psychotherapy
- Ordering the licensee to practice supervised by the Board
- Ordering drug testing
- Requiring psychological or psychiatric evaluation
- Mandating additional continuing education
There is a long list of sanctions that the Board can impose, and they may seek more than one of them in a proceeding against you.
What the Board does not have is unlimited power. You have the right to defend yourself and be heard if you are facing possible sanctions. If you find out that you are being investigated, you need to contact an experienced attorney immediately. In some cases, you may be able to head off legal actions by engaging with the Board. In other cases, you may need to vigorously defend yourself from charges because your reputation and livelihood are at stake.
Petition for Reinstatement of License or Reduction of Penalties
If you have lost your license you are not locked out of the career of your choice. After a certain amount of time you are eligible to ask the BBS to grant your license again. In addition, you can generally request that the terms and conditions of probation be modified or terminated early. The legal team at Unlock Legal has filed petitions for reinstatement for many clients who made one mistake, and who have paid the price. We love to demonstrate mitigating circumstances and rehabilitation to the BBS to get our Behavioral Sciences Board licensees back in the office as soon as possible!
Call a Behavioral Science License Defense Attorney
When you sought out your Behavioral Sciences license you were following your passion. It is our passion to keep you doing what you want to do with your career and your life. Unlock Legal will work with you to defend yourself and your license if it is ever challenged by the Board. Call us today at (949) 997-1482 or contact us online to speak with a professional license defense attorney and begin the process of protecting your business and reputation.
Frequently Asked Questions About BBS License Defense
A Board of Behavioural Sciences (BBS) License Defence Attorney is sort of a specialist who only deals with people who are in trouble with the California Board of Behavioural Sciences and is looking down the barrel of disciplinary actions, investigations or actually having their license revoked. These sorts of lawyers are the ones who step in and help these professionals navigate the complicated world of the licensing board.
At the end of the day, the main aim of a BBS License Defence Attorney is to keep their client’s professional license safe – and that is huge because that’s essentially how these people get to keep doing what they do. Your license is your hard-earned education, years of training, plus all the work you’ve dedicated to your career. And if it gets threatened? You need someone who knows exactly what they are doing and will do whatever it takes to keep it.
Our licensed defense attorneys at Unlock Legal don’t just sit back and let the chips fall – instead, we take proactive steps to defend your license and work towards a favorable outcome, using all the available tools at our disposal. We’ll get to work right away to help you in the following key ways:
- Deep dive into complaints and get the facts right: We’ll get a copy of the complaint filed against you, thoroughly review the allegations and pull together all the evidence we can to build a solid defense.
- Guide you on your rights and options every step of the way: We’ll make sure you know exactly where you stand and what you can expect as we go through this process, so you can make informed decisions that are best for you and your career.
- Represent you in all official proceedings: We’ll be right there with you in negotiations and hearings, making sure your voice is heard and your interests are represented – whether that’s in front of the Board or in other formal settings.
- Uncover new information and issue subpoenas when necessary: We’ll go out and get the information and documentation we need to make a strong case for you, even that means requesting records and evidence that support your position.
- Work to minimize the damage: If you’re facing a tough situation with the Board, we’ll use every trick in the book to try to mitigate the penalties and prevent your license from being revoked as a last resort. That could mean negotiating a better outcome or showing the Board just how much you’ve grown and learned from the experience.
- Fight an unfavorable ruling all the way to the end: If the Board does happen to rule against you, don’t worry – we can still challenge that decision through the appeal process and work towards getting it overturned.
That’s how we handle every aspect of your defense at Unlock Legal, so you can stay focused on doing your job and growing your practice while we protect your livelihood – and your reputation.
One of the most common misconceptions out there, and one that can leave professionals vulnerable. The truth is, the BBS can and will take action against you for all sorts of issues, not just super serious stuff like a felony. We’re talking about everything from ethics violations to unprofessional conduct – even simple infractions that might seem minor at first glance.
Now, while it’s true that a criminal conviction can certainly get your attention from the BBS, that’s not all they’re after. Here are some other things that the BBS might investigate and take disciplinary action against:
- Ethical breaches like crossing boundaries or getting into conflicts of interest
- Practicing outside the scope of your license – which can be a pretty big deal
- Documentation issues or record-keeping violations
- Not keeping up with continuing education requirements
- Unprofessional conduct that doesn’t necessarily rise to the level of a crime
Even if you think the issue at hand is relatively minor, it can still end up causing a lot of harm if not handled properly. The BBS takes their job very seriously and is primarily concerned with consumer protection. So, we advise taking any Board communication very seriously and getting in touch with an experienced attorney right away – no matter how small the issue may seem.
Facing an investigation or disciplinary action from the BBS can be a nightmare – especially when you don’t know the rules. A BBS License Defense Attorney, on the other hand, understands all the intricacies of the law and the procedures governing behavioural science licenses in the state. That specialized knowledge can make all the difference in the outcome of your case.
General attorneys just won’t be as familiar with:
- The unique timelines and procedures that govern BBS proceedings – and how to respond to an Accusation before it’s too late
- The specific laws and regulations that apply to your profession
- What the Board prioritizes when it comes to enforcement and how to present the strongest case possible to them
- The subtle art of demonstrating rehabilitation to the Board
- The art of negotiating probation terms or pursuing reinstatement
At Unlock Legal, we’ve honed our skills in professional license defense and know exactly how to navigate the system to protect your license. When your career and livelihood are on the line, you simply can’t afford to go up against the BBS without an attorney who has handled these very situations many times before and knows how to get the results you need.
Your license is too precious to leave in the wrong hands, so don’t wait and contact Unlock Legal today at (949) 997-1482 to get the best possible representation and protect your professional future.