Available now
California Child Abuse Assessment and Reporting
7-hour self-study CE course
Clear questions, no tricks. Scout points out the key concepts so you can pass and get back to your clients.
CE hours
7
Format
Self-study (reading)
Post-test
15 questions, 70% to pass
Price
$19
About this course
For California associates, trainees, and applicants. The BBS requires a one-time course of at least 7 hours in child abuse assessment and reporting for LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC licensure applicants (per the BBS, before associate registration for LMFT and LPCC, and before licensure for LCSW) and for LEPs at first license renewal (BPC 4990.26.2; 16 CCR 1807.2). The course must be completed within 5 years before the BBS receives your application. This course covers every topic the law lists.
Part A (assessment, response, and treatment) covers the clinical foundation. Part B teaches California law (CANRA) and meets the BBS requirement. Statutes read October 2026. It is not legal advice.
Written for AMFTs, APCCs, ACSWs, MFT and clinical counselor trainees, LCSW applicants, LEPs, out-of-state applicants, and anyone whose earlier course is more than 5 years old. Topics:
- Physical and behavioral indicators of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse, and how to tell neglect from poverty
- Responding to a disclosure: open, non-leading questions, and why you are not the forensic interviewer
- Crisis counseling, caring for the child after a report, and community resources
- Sensitivity to previously abused children and adults
- California law: CANRA and the BBS requirement
- Treatment: TF-CBT and PCIT, with a “Critical appraisal: both sides” look at the treatment evidence and at mandatory reporting
- Who is a mandated reporter (including ACSWs, associates, and trainees), reasonable suspicion, and why the duty is yours personally
- CANRA’s definitions, including the 2023 change to general neglect
- How and where to report, the 36-hour written report, confidentiality, immunity, and the consequences of failing to report
- The BBS requirement itself: who, when, the 5-year window, and the exemption
Ten sections in two parts, with worked cases, FAQs, quick-reference tables, and key points. Color and Print Friendly PDFs. $19.
CE credit is awarded after you complete the reading, pass the post-test at 70% or higher, and complete the evaluation.
Learning objectives
A sample of what you will be able to do after completing this course:
- Describe the scale of child maltreatment investigations in the US and the clinician's clinical and legal responsibilities.
- Identify physical and behavioral indicators of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse, and distinguish neglect from poverty.
- Distinguish clinical assessment from forensic interviewing and respond to disclosures with open, non-leading questions.
- Apply crisis counseling steps after a disclosure, care for a child's needs after a report, and identify community resources.
- Apply survivor-sensitive practices with previously abused children and adults.
- Summarize the evidence for TF-CBT and PCIT and the debates about mandatory reporting, applying the same standards to both.
- Identify mandated reporters under PC 11165.7, including associates and trainees, and apply the reasonable suspicion standard of PC 11166.
- Classify scenarios under CANRA's definitions, including the 2023 change to general neglect.
- State the reporting timeline, receiving agencies, reporter confidentiality, immunity, and the consequences of failure to report.
- Explain who must complete the BBS child abuse assessment and reporting training, when, and from whom.
Who this course is for
Target audience: California BBS applicants, registrants, and trainees (AMFT, APCC, ACSW, MFT and clinical counselor trainees), LCSW, LMFT, and LPCC licensure applicants, LEPs before first renewal, and California licensees who want a CANRA refresher.
Course schedule
Self-study. Self-paced reading with a post-test. No fixed calendar dates. Allow about 7 hours of CE time.
Provider approval period for John Oliver Ycaro, CAMFT CEPA Provider #10072759: June 15, 2026 through June 1, 2027 (renew as required to keep offering CE).
Instructor
John Oliver Ycaro, LPCC (also the course developer and CE provider). About 10 years of clinical experience in community mental health and private practice. Expertise relevant to this course: outpatient clinical work with individuals, couples, and families in community mental health and private practice.
Under CAMFT CEPA rules, the named instructor meets instructor qualifications by current related licensure and a related master’s degree (and related practice experience). A current CV is kept in the provider’s CE records.
How it works
- Enroll through the secure Payhip checkout. You get the course right away.
- Read the self-study text at your own pace.
- Take the online post-test (70% to pass; retakes free) and confirm you did the work yourself.
- Complete a short course evaluation (required for CE credit).
- Receive your certificate by email within 1 business day after you pass and complete the evaluation.
Completion records are kept for at least 4 years.
Price
$19
Pay securely on Payhip. CE credit is awarded after you complete the reading, pass the post-test at 70% or higher, and complete the evaluation.
CE information
Course meets the qualifications for 7 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
John Oliver Ycaro is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs. John Oliver Ycaro maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.
- CAMFT Provider #: 10072759
- Instructor: John Oliver Ycaro, LPCC
- Format: Self-study (reading), with an online post-test
- CE hours: 7
- Passing score: 70%
- Certificate: Emailed within 1 business day after you pass the post-test and complete the evaluation, as a PDF you can print or save
- Cost: $19
California: meets the one-time BBS child abuse assessment and reporting requirement (BPC 4990.26.2; 16 CCR 1807.2) when completed within 5 years before the BBS receives your application. This course is for California licensure and the BBS requirement only.
Provider mailing address: 200 San Mateo Ave, Los Gatos, CA 95030
Policies
Refunds / cancellation
You can get a full refund within 3 days of purchase as long as you haven't started the post-test. After you start the post-test, or after 3 days, we’re not able to offer a refund.
Accommodations
If you need a disability accommodation (for example a screen-reader-friendly file, larger print, or extra time on the post-test), email oliverycaro@losgatosmentalhealthclinic.com. We respond within 5 business days. There is no charge for accommodations.
Grievances
If you have a concern about the course, email oliverycaro@losgatosmentalhealthclinic.com. You will get a written response within 14 days. If it is not resolved, you can contact CAMFT at cepa@camft.org.
Activities not for CE credit
CE credit is awarded after you complete the reading, pass the post-test at 70% or higher, and complete the evaluation.
About the instructor and provider
John Oliver Ycaro, LPCC, is in private practice in California and has about 10 years of experience in community mental health and private practice.
Disclosure: John Oliver Ycaro is the instructor, course developer, and CE provider and earns income from course sales.