by Linda Could Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW
Apply mobility is a matter that has been on the minds of social staff for a very long time. Now, there’s a proposed interstate licensing compact that addresses these points. The draft compact has been developed with the enter of main social work organizations (together with NASW, CSWA, CSWE, and ASWB), state social work licensing boards, and different stakeholders.
What’s an interstate compact? In essence, it’s an settlement between states to “cooperatively handle shared issues,” in accordance with the Council of State Governments (CSG). There are various examples of interstate compacts, together with compacts associated to driver’s licenses, youngster placement, and psychological well being.
The CSG web site experiences that the U.S. Division of Protection (DoD) is partnering with CSG “to fund and help the event of latest interstate compacts for occupational licensure.” Social work is considered one of eight professions which have interstate compacts underneath improvement as of this writing in August 2022, together with faculty psychologists, academics, and others. Nursing, counseling, and 7 different professions have already got interstate compacts in place.
Within the case of an interstate compact license for social staff, a social employee would be capable of obtain a license in a single state, and that license can be acknowledged by different states who’re members of the compact. The draft social work compact begins out with a Objective part, adopted by definitions, state participation necessities, regulated social employee participation necessities, acquiring a brand new house state license primarily based on an interstate compact license (for individuals who transfer from one member state to a different), navy households, antagonistic actions, and different sections.
Key Factors of the Interstate Licensing Compact for Social Staff
The Council of State Governments (CSG) is holding weekly on-line overview classes to coach social staff and different stakeholders in regards to the draft interstate compact for social staff, which is in Section 1 of three phases of improvement. The draft is offered for public overview and remark previous to finalization of the compact language.
I attended the overview session on August 1, 2022, introduced by Matt Shafer and Keith Buckhout of CSG. This webinar supplied a wealth of details about the draft interstate compact for social staff.
Listed below are eight key factors in regards to the social work interstate licensing compact that I took away from this overview session.
- The interstate compact would facilitate mobility of regulated (licensed) social staff by authorizing the social employee who holds an interstate compact license in a member state (the “house state”) to apply social work in all member states (“distant states”).
- State participation within the compact can be voluntary/optionally available. A social employee with an interstate compact license would solely be approved to apply within the states which have opted in to the compact.
- When practising telehealth providers, the social employee’s scope of apply can be decided by the legal guidelines of the state by which the consumer is situated when receiving providers. In different phrases, if you’re situated in Pennsylvania and offering telehealth to a consumer who’s situated in Kentucky on the time of service, you’re practising in Kentucky and should abide by Kentucky licensing legal guidelines and laws.
- Renewal necessities for the interstate compact license, similar to persevering with schooling, can be decided by the legal guidelines/laws of the social employee’s house state.
- Acquiring a social work license when shifting from one member state to a different member state can be simplified.
- A distant member state can take “antagonistic motion” towards a licensed social employee with an interstate compact license, however solely the social employee’s house state can revoke the license.
- For a state to affix the compact, that state’s legislature should cross the compact statute and enact it into state regulation.
- The compact will go into impact as soon as seven (7) states have joined the compact by enacting it into regulation.
Take Motion
For extra details about the interstate licensing compact for social staff, see the Council of State Governments Social Work Compact web page. To take part within the subsequent steps of the compact’s improvement:
Linda Could Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW, is the founder, writer, and editor of The New Social Employee.
