Changing Supervisors
What happens to your hours when you change supervisors?
Your hours stay yours. Under California’s BBS rules, each supervisor signs an Experience Verification for the weeks they supervised, so a change adds a form; it does not erase hours. Your 104 weeks and your 52 individual weeks keep adding up across supervisors. A substitute who covers 30 days or less can have those weeks signed by your regular supervisor. A substitute who covers more than 30 consecutive days needs their own supervisory plan and their own Experience Verification. If a supervisor will not sign hours they supervised, your signed weekly logs are the record you fall back on.
Evalin Sosa, AMFT
Published · 4 min read
Do you lose hours when you change supervisors?
No. The California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) counts your hours by supervisor and setting. A change starts a new log, not a new count. Each supervisor completes Experience Verification forms for their period:
You submit your forms with your Application for Licensure.
What should you get signed before your supervisor leaves?
Here’s a checklist of everything you need signed:
- Every weekly log to date, signed by the supervisor
- The Experience Verification form for their period, completed now rather than at licensure application time
- A copy of your Supervision Agreement
The Board accepts electronic signatures on the Experience Verification forms (37A-301, 37A-675, and 37A-201). If your supervisor has already moved, they can still sign.
What if a substitute covers for 30 days or less?
Your regular supervisor can sign the verification for those weeks, including the substitute's hours. Write the substitute's name on the weekly log for those weeks.
What if a substitute covers for more than 30 days?
From day 31, the substitute is a supervisor in their own right. They need a separate supervisory plan with you. That plan becomes part of the Supervision Agreement.
They also sign a separate Experience Verification for the weeks they covered. They must qualify to supervise. Check who can supervise an associate in California before you agree.
How do you start with a new supervisor?
Follow these five steps:
- Check their license on the DCA license search.
- Confirm they qualify. See who can supervise an associate in California.
- Sign the Supervision Agreement (Form 37M-300) within 60 days of starting supervision. This applies to relationships that begin on or after January 1, 2022.
- Start a new weekly log for that supervisor and setting.
- If the supervisor is not employed by your employer, or supervising you as a volunteer, you also need a written oversight agreement in place.
Your 104-week and 52-week counts continue from where they were.
What if your supervisor will not sign your hours?
The Board only receives hours on an Experience Verification signed by the supervisor who oversaw them. If your supervisor refuses to sign, there is no workaround; it must be resolved. Remember you may never sign for your supervisor.
Recommended steps:
- Ask in writing for the signed Experience Verification. Attach the weekly logs for the period.
- Check whether their license is current on the DCA license search. A lapsed license is often the real reason a supervisor won’t sign.
- If the refusal stands, the Board takes complaints about supervisors through its Consumer Complaint form and BreEZe.
The weekly logs your supervisor signed are your evidence of the hours.
What if your supervisor becomes unavailable?
Weeks without at least one unit of supervision in a setting do not count. A gap in supervision is a gap in hours.
CALPCC's guidance expects the associate to arrange alternative supervision. So don't wait for the gap to close. For weekly supervision rules, see BBS supervision requirements.
Does a change reset the 104 weeks or the 52 individual weeks?
No. The statute counts total weeks of experience and total weeks of individual or triadic supervision. It does not count them per supervisor.
Weeks under your old supervisor and your new one add together.
Questions associates ask when supervisors change
Can I have the old and new supervisor overlap for a week?
When two supervisors work with you in the same week, each signs only for the supervision they gave you. The Board recommends recording all your experience hours under your individual or triadic supervisor. The exception is group supervision, which the group supervisor signs on a separate weekly log and Experience Verification. Either supervisor can sign for your work hours in that setting.
What changes if I change settings but keep the supervisor?
You need a new weekly log and a new Experience Verification, since both are kept per supervisor per setting. You submit the verification with your licensure application. You don’t submit weekly logs unless the Board asks.
What if my supervisor leaves the agency but keeps supervising me?
You need a written oversight agreement in place. It is required when your supervisor is not employed by your employer, or supervising you as a volunteer. Keep logging each week as usual.
Can a supervisor sign logs months after the fact?
The Board’s supervisor FAQ sets no deadline. Get them signed as you go anyway, because a supervisor who has left is harder to reach. Electronic signatures are accepted.
What if my supervisor retires before I apply?
Get the Experience Verification signed before they retire. Electronic signatures are accepted, so they can sign from anywhere.
Do I re-file anything with the Board when I change supervisors?
No. The forms go in with your licensure application. Weekly logs stay with you unless the Board asks.
Keep every week signed as you go
The easiest fix is to never let signatures pile up. SparkHours sends each week to your supervisor for an e-signature through supervisor e-signatures, so nothing waits until the day they leave. When a supervisor changes, your signed weeks are already in hand.