When we concluded part 1 of our blog on this same topic, we said it might be worthwhile to watch out for further developments as Senate Bill 731 (SB-731) unfolds.  It confers the right to a private, non-profit association like the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) to issue certificates for massage therapists.  In SB-731, CAMTC is referred to as the Massage Therapy Organization or MTO.

So what’s the difference between a state-issued certificate and a CAMTC-issued certificate?  The answer given by CAMTC is that under state certification, a body or agency which is part of the California government will issue certificates; under the new SB-731, a non-governmental and non-profit organization like CAMTC issues certificates, and those certificates will be deemed valid by the government of California.

Other highlights of SB-731:

1.  The fee for obtaining this CAMTC certificate has not yet been determined.

2.  The CAMTC certificate, once obtained, will have to be renewed every two years.

3.  Individuals or organizations who serve on the CAMTC are:  two representatives from any association that has at least 1,000 California members for the last three years.  So far, only the  American Massage Therapy Association, California Chapter, (AMTA-CA) and the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP) meet the criteria; they have already appointed their representatives.  The CAMTC is also thinking of adding representatives from “the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties, the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the Community College Chancellor’s office and any incorporated association of private postsecondary schools that collectively have graduated at least 1,000 massage students in each of the last 3 years. Currently, there are representatives of the CA Association of Private-postsecondary Schools (CAPPS), the Career College Association (CCA), and the CA Massage School Association (CAMSA).”

4.  On whether it is necessary to obtain the National Certification Exam to be eligible for CAMTC certification, no decision has been made as to what tests are required for eligibility although the aim of SB-731 and the CAMTC is to be as “inclusive as possible”.  No tests are required for the practitioner category.

5.    The CAMTC will issue certificates for two groups:  massage practitioner (minimum of 250 hours training/education at an approved school required) and massage therapist (minimum of 500 hours of training/education at an approved school required).  There are, of course, other requirements one of which is fingerprinting.  When asked why fingerprinting is required, the CAMTC said that SB-731 would not have been approved if this wasn’t stipulated as a requirement.  The argument is that other professions, like teaching, require applicants to be fingerprinted.  The good news?  It is done only once.

An interesting issue:  what California massage schools will the CAMTC approve for certification purposes?  The government body that approves schools no longer exists because of the sunset clause.  So as far as we’re aware, there are no approved schools yet.  This is just one of many issues that the CAMTC is working on.

For those of you who want to read SB-731 in its entirety (approved in September 2008 by the Governor of California and went into effect September 2009), go to:  http://www.camtc.org/Docs/SB731.pdf.