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CAMTC Certification

As of September 2009 California massage therapists are able to become voluntarily certified through the newly established California Massage Therapy Council. The CAMTC is a non-profit organization approved by the state to issue certifications and will generally allow greater mobility for practitioners across the state. We will, however, not be "state certified" as has generally been said. We will be CAMTC certified. What are your thoughts about the new regulation? Do you plan on becoming certified?

I would like to thank Keith Eric Grant for clarifying the point that we are not becoming "state certified." I think that many of us, myself included, initially believed that to be the case.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stephanie T. on July 7, 2009 at 1:51pm

I do! I just wish there was more information out there about where things are right now, what exam will be chosen as the state exam, etc...

I live in LA and work in Beverly Hills, so passaing a state exam is a lot less expensive for me. But as I'm waiting impatiently for the state to do it's thing, I'm probably going to have to pay for 2 to 3 licences just to be able to practice in both places. It's hard when you're starting out and not making very much money to dish out $1000-$1500 for a paper that doesn't even reflect your skills or knowledge... just the fact that you had the means to pay for it!

Permalink Reply by Connie Doyle on July 8, 2009 at 10:31pm

Yes, I plan to become state certified.

Permalink Reply by Margaret Sexton on July 9, 2009 at 3:13pm

If I can be the first one in line to get certified, I will be.

Permalink Reply by Charles on July 9, 2009 at 6:03pm

Most definitely. I'm not too sure about voluntary state licensing. From my understanding the State licensure takes precedence over all other jurisdictions. But if you only want to work in a specific locality you don't have to be state licensed. I think that can get messy.

Still no word on what exactly this massage board (have they selected them yet...sorry...I just relocated back here from Michigan) has in line for exams, grandfathering, etc? Well at least Cali is a little ahead of Michigan...there's at least a date when this legislature is going to take effect.

Permalink Reply by Nickie Scott on July 9, 2009 at 11:39pm

The massage board has been chosen and right now they are being funded by some members of the board and donations from AMBP. The California Counsel of Schools met last month and most of the board members were there and quite a few school owners and massage therapists showed up for the meeting in Sherman Oaks, CA. The board will not be accepting applications until this fall. The law is a voluntary law that will expire around the year 2014 when the Sunshine law is up for expiration also. The state will have to look at the law again and decide whether it will be made mandatory, keep as it is, or scraped altogether. The state of California is notorious for taking its time in reconsidering laws that have lapsed, witnessed by the fact that the BPPVE has now been extinct for a year and probably won't be back in existence until the beginning of 2010. As far as the exam goes it will probably be modeled much like the national exam for the 500 hour level of certification. The board will probably have to hire a consultant to make up the 250 hour level exam which will take some time to complete. What will happen when the law lapses with state certificate legitimacy will be a tough question for therapists because the cities and counties will once again be looking at regulating massage if no state law exists to prevent this from happening. Personally as an instructor and owner of a massage school in the state I will be exempt from the law so I don't plan to give the state any more of my money. I was apposed to the regulation on the grounds that massage therapists have not been proven a danger to the public and regulation is only justified by law for professions that do endanger the public. We need only to look to physical therapists to see where we are headed with regulation. Physical therapists had a lot of autonomy and time to spend with their clients before they decided to become regulated. Physical therapists now have to pay more money for schooling and licensing, spend less time with their clients, are less effective and cost more to the client. Do we want to end up this way? We have been around for thousands of years helping people and animals and have not needed to be supervised by the government. The only time I have been asked for a certificate is when a government agency wants to see it. My clients never ask. While the law helps therapists become legal state wide and avoid the pitfalls of having to get licensed in each locality we would be better served by having no regulation at all. The regulations are really meant to try to block out prostitution or make it easier on law enforcement efforts against prostitution.

Permalink Reply by Nickie Scott on July 10, 2009 at 6:17pm

A voluntary law seems a little funny but it is the best that could be done it seems. The AMTA has been pushing for regulations for many years in California and failed many times. What is helpful to massage therapists though is that you will be exempt from local regulation for the most part. The localities will still be able to require you to get a business license, and stay within the approved zoning areas but they will no longer be able to require that you have a shower or bath available for your clients which will be helpful to establishment owners who operate on a low budget. This link might be helpful for California therapists to follow until the state massage board has it's website up and running.

Permalink Reply by Tony Poland, CMT on July 11, 2009 at 7:33pm

Nickie, as a practitioner and educator, I share your concern. But for now, at least, it looks like this new certification may serve to simplify the process of setting up a practice, especially in large metro areas such as LA/BH/SM/WH... To be within the letter of the law I would have to purchase licenses from 4 local municipalities annually, which is simply not financially feasible for a small to medium size practice.

I am very curious just how the zoning issues will be worked out. Will "special use permits" still be required to open your own office? Will practitioners be legal to work from their homes? So many questions that will hopefully be answered in the coming months.

Best wishes to all!
Tony Poland, MsT
Sports Massage Therapist / Educator
Co-Captain of the Sports Medicine Team, AIDS/LifeCycle Ride

Permalink Reply by Keith Eric Grant on July 14, 2009 at 8:42pm

A few comments. First, I'd blogged a bit on several section of the new law on the Massage Politics Sheet.

The terms "state certification" is erroneous, and, in fact, forbidden by the bill itself. It is certification by the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC), which, while set up by state law, is a private nonprofit under review by the legislature. You will be certified, should you wish, by the CAMTC, not by the state. Nor can you claimed to be licensed. Licensing is a mandatory requirement which can only be done via a state board or state agency.

In the future, you can only call yourself a certified massage practitioner/therapist (or use CMT, CMP, ...) if you are certified by the CAMTC. You cannot call yourself licensed. You cannot imply that you are certified or licensed by the state. You can still use a proprietary designation like NCTMB. Without the certification you can still call yourself a massage therapist or massage practitioner. The latter are generic terms and considered to be descriptive commercial speech.

The bill (SB 731) did not define what the practice of massage is (i.e. there is no scope of practice definition). The bill exempts anyone certified from individual licensing by local agencies (cities or counties), however they define massage.

You still have to obtain a city business license or work in a licensed facility. If you are a sole proprietor or work in a business only using certified practitioners/therapists, then the local agency is required to zone the business as they zone other personal service and professional businesses. In other words, no targeted zoning of massage.

You do not, at least by state law, have to become certified. You can work under a local agency license. On the other hand a local agency can only allow certified persons to practice massage (local option). Some cities might eventually take this route.

One of the "challenges" the CAMTC faces is the term "approved school" in the bill. It looks like schools approved by the BPPVE before it sunsetted in July 2007 will be considered as "approved" as will schools accredited by one of several agencies designated by the Department of Education. New schools, started since July 2007, are currently in limbo. There is a bill AB48, which is passed this year, will again approve private postsecondary schools. This is not just a massage school issue but an issue for all private postsecondary schools.

The bill provides for both a 250 hour tier (practitioner) and a 500 hour tier (therapist). The only particular difference is that no new 250 hour certificates will be issued after the end of 2015, unless this is changed when the law is extended, since it also sunsets then. No additional competence outcomes are guaranteed via the second tier nor are any additional rights granted. Once issued, a 250 hour certificate can be renewed as long as it is never allowed to expire.

Neither of the tiers requires passage of an exam if the hour requirements are met.The 500 hour tier stipulates that it can be entered by passage of an exam alone. The CAMTC has been doing some creative tinkering with the term "exam", trying to make this NCBTMB certification or adding a 2-year work history for the MBLEx. Conceivably, this could open up the CAMTC implementation to legal challenge on this point, but that's another issue.

Permalink Reply by Keith Eric Grant on July 15, 2009 at 2:26pm

Added a new post on SB 731 on The Massage Politics Sheet today: SB 731 -- Is the CAMTC Board Overstepping?.

Permalink Reply by Noel Norwick on July 18, 2009 at 5:48pm

FYI CAMTC Updates regarding the new upcoming state wide massage practitioner certificates are available at http://www.camtc.org/faq.htm
Currently
1. Applications will be accepted starting August 1st. (it's not yet determined where or how to do this)
2. The fee for a two year certificate starting September 1, 2009 will be $150.
3. There will be additional fees for finger printing and background check that are estimated to be less than $80.

Permalink Reply by Keith Eric Grant on August 1, 2009 at 2:12am

Neil Camero said:

I just noticed applications are being accepted. Reading the instructions now. I'm excited.

http://www.camtc.org/Applications/

It was pointed out on an email discussion list that the forms are in error in saying that they are for California state certification. The actually certification is by a nonprofit (CAMTC) established by the state but the bill was explicit that it is not "state certification". Beverly May, on the CAMTC board, responded that this will be corrected.

Permalink Reply by Connie Doyle on August 13, 2009 at 1:46pm

Although I am excited about the new certification, my local license is up for renewal this month. I cannot risk a gap in my license status, nor do I want to pay double fees. The good news is, I have a year to see how things pan out. :-)

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