The California Board of Behavioral Sciences voted on Aug. 22 to begin the regulatory process that would allow the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB) national examination to serve as the clinical exam for marriage and family therapist licensure in California starting Jan. 1, 2027.

Board Chair Wendy Strack said the regulatory packet would allow the board and stakeholders “sufficient time to transition” while allowing the board-administered LMFT clinical exam to remain in place through Dec. 31, 2026. The board voted to submit the regulatory text to the Department of Consumer Affairs and, if no adverse comments are received, to initiate formal rulemaking; Justin Huff seconded the motion and it carried.

Why it matters: California is the last state that requires a state-specific LMFT clinical exam, and supporters said adopting AMFTRB’s national test would improve license portability for California MFTs, reduce administrative burdens and better align California with national practice trends. Opponents and some board members urged caution, asking the national exam vendor to provide disaggregated pass-rate data, evidence about measurement equivalency and a plan to increase testing capacity for California candidates.

Board and stakeholder debate
Board staff presented staff analysis and said AMFTRB completed a recent job task analysis that included California practitioners and that AMFTRB and its test administrator (Prometric) are exploring expanded testing frequency and capacity. Steve Sodergren, the board’s executive officer, said sharing the board’s current item bank with AMFTRB could help ensure future national exams reflect California practice and help increase testing access.

Lois Bergen, executive director of AMFTRB (on the phone), told the board AMFTRB is ready to meet with California stakeholders to align content and accessibility and that a new exam informed by the job task analysis could be available in 2026.

Board members and public commenters pressed for four things before a full implementation: (1) public release of disaggregated pass-rate data, (2) independent analyses for differential item/test functioning (bias testing), (3) assurances about testing frequency and capacity in California, and (4) clearer timelines and milestones during the regulatory process. Commissioner Justin Huff said he and others had raised transparency concerns previously and wanted better vendor responsiveness; board members asked staff to schedule a focused follow‑up discussion at a later meeting.

Public comment and stakeholder positions
Public speakers included test‑taker advocates, university faculty and professional associations. Ben Caldwell (public commenter) argued examinees have a “basic right to know what they’re going to be tested on” and said changes to the exam format were not pretested for measurement equivalency. Kathy Atkins of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) and other association representatives urged the board to move forward while continuing to press AMFTRB for data and transparency. Paul Rill and other test observers urged stronger measurement rigor from the vendor.

Board action and next steps
The board approved staff’s motion to submit the proposed regulatory text and to authorize the executive officer to take steps necessary to begin rulemaking if DCA review turns up no adverse comments. The motion authorizes staff to make non‑substantive edits and to set a hearing if requested. Members emphasized this vote starts a multi-step regulatory process and does not itself adopt the national exam; regulatory language, implementation details and vendor commitments will come back to the board in subsequent meetings.

Quotes
“Adopting the AMFTRB national exam could increase license portability and reduce administrative barriers while still offering strong consumer protection,” Steve Sodergren, executive officer, said during the presentation.

“AMFTRB is ready to work with California to align content and address accessibility,” Lois Bergen, executive director of AMFTRB, told the board by phone.

“What we still need is more transparency on pass rates and bias analyses,” Justin Huff, board member, said during deliberations.

Ending
Board staff will prepare the rulemaking packet for DCA review and report back to the board at future meetings, including a focused discussion planned for November to review outstanding questions and any data AMFTRB supplies.