Board staff reports reserves, licensing activity, exam administration and enforcement metrics

At the Aug. 22 meeting, Executive Officer Steve Sodergren delivered the board—s regular executive officer report covering budget, staffing, licensing volumes, examination activity and enforcement metrics.

Budget and reserves

Sodergren reported an authorized fiscal-year 2024–25 budget of $14,061,000. The board began the fiscal year with a reserve of $16,240,000 and projected an ending reserve of roughly $25,100,000 — about a 19.1-month reserve — after anticipated expenditures. Revenue collections were reported at about $22.6 million to date and projected to end the year at about $23.6 million. Projected total expenditures were roughly $14.7 million; staff noted the board would address reserves in a future fee-setting process.

Staffing and operations

Staffing updates included several promotions and hires across licensing, enforcement and administrative units; the board reported three current vacancies. Sodergren reported the board issued 3,995 registrations and licenses in the quarter, bringing the total registrant/licensee population to roughly 851,854 (a 2% growth for the period) and 270 supervisor certifications added, bringing supervisors to about 15,125.

Application and exam processing

Application volumes rose about 35% owing to graduation season. Processing times improved for most categories: AMFT registrations averaged about 15 business days, LPCCs about 7 business days, LCSW applications averaged 58 days, and LMFT applications averaged 69 days. The board administered about 6,367 exams in the fourth quarter (a 6.6% increase over the prior quarter); staff reported changes to how exam statistics will be posted (annual rather than semi-annual) and work with OPES to improve reporting.

Enforcement and outreach

Enforcement metrics reported: the board received 686 consumer complaints and 257 criminal convictions in the quarter; staff closed 680 cases and referred 37 to the Attorney General—s office. Average days to complete formal discipline were 464; average days for cases at the Attorney General—s office were 342; average days to complete an in-house investigation were 55. The CA Consumer Information Center handled 3,378 calls on behalf of board staff; board staff reported receiving about 30,000 emails during the quarter. Outreach included 52 events so far in the fiscal year.

Systems and operations notes

Sodergren updated the board on the Breeze registration system and validation concerns in data migration; staff stressed data validation would be completed before full rollout of online registration for additional registration types. He also noted contract renewals for examination vendors and changes to ASWB exam administration that allow scheduled breaks without taking from candidate time.

Why it matters

The report provides baseline fiscal and operational context for regulatory priorities discussed during the meeting, including rulemakings and legislative proposals. The board flagged several ongoing operational efforts — Breeze rollout, vendor contracts, enhanced exam reporting — that bear on workload and timelines for proposed regulatory and legislative changes.

Provenance

- topicintro: transcript block starting at 494.495, evidence_excerpt: "Move this over. Good morning. So we'll run through this..." (s:494.495)

- topfinish: transcript block starting at 1401.9349, evidence_excerpt: "...we will have to get that. No. Thank you so much." (s:1401.9349)

Speakers

- Steve Sodergren, Executive Officer, Board of Behavioral Sciences (presenter). first_reference: {"timecode":"00:08:14"}

Clarifying details (selected)

- Authorized budget FY24–25: $14,061,000 (staff reported). - Beginning reserve: $16,240,000; projected end-of-year reserve: ~$25,100,000 (about 19.1 months). - Revenue collected YTD: ~$22.6 million; projected year-end revenue: ~$23.6 million. - Licensing: 3,995 registrations/licenses issued in the quarter; total licensee/registrant population reported at ~851,854. - Examinations: ~6,367 exams administered in Q4 (6.6% increase); exam reporting to move to annual increments. - Enforcement: 686 consumer complaints received; 680 cases closed; 37 referrals to Attorney General; average days to complete formal discipline: 464; internal average investigation days: 55.

Searchable_tags: ["budget","reserves","Breeze","exams","enforcement","staffing"]

Meeting_context: {"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":1,"duration_minutes":40,"items_count":1},"implementation_risk":"low","history":[{"date":"2025-08-22","note":"Quarterly EO report given to board."}]}