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November/December Currents Issue, 2004
Message From the President
Licensure
Its Advantages – Its Dilemmas
Work To Be Done
Paul Kurzman, PhD
NASW is proud of having played the lead role (with 1199/SEIU) in securing full licensure for the social work profession. It was a hard, several decade-long struggle, but one we always felt was very much worth pursuing.
We described the core provisions of the new statute in the September and
October issues of CURRENTS [“Getting a Handle on the LCSW’
and “Social Workers Gain Full Licensure in NY”].
Now that the law has gone into effect, and we are practicing as LMSWs
and LCSWs, our achievements are increasingly tangible and clear. But we
also know that we may wish to further strengthen and improve the legislation
that was enacted. Therefore, let me speak about some of the major strengths
of the new law, some of its deficits, and how we will address the latter
at the New York City Chapter.
Licensure for All – Indicator of a Profession
While some forces in the profession wanted to advocate licensure only
for clinical social work practitioners, we at NASW felt strongly that
all MSWs should be licensed. After all, this is a unified profession committed
to many roles and functions. They include community organization, planning
and research, as well as clinical social work practice, and the provision
of psychotherapy.
Providing two licensure options, the LMSW and the LCSW, secures this reality
as a matter of law. And no one should mistake the LMSW as being secondary
to the LCSW; they are simply different options for practitioners who choose
to perform different functions.
Mandatory CE Was Not Required
While NASW preferred that the new law provide for mandatory continuing
education as a requirement for triennial re-registration, this was not
acceptable to the lawmakers and, therefore, may need to be accomplished
in new legislation, if this should continue to be our preference.
New Child Abuse Reporting Requirement Instituted
The requirement that all licensees [unless exempted] complete a two-hour
course on proper protocols to follow when suspecting the presence of child
abuse or neglect brings our profession in line with all similar licensed
professions in New York State, and it is widely perceived as being a small
extra expectation of us all in order to ensure the safety of our most
precious resource — our children. Moreover, we achieved in law a
clear statement of the scope of practice of LMSWs and LCSWs that is in
keeping with the core principles of our profession.
Grand—Parenting Provisions Address Equity
We also are grateful for the generous grand–parenting provisions
included in the law. While there always is the risk that such opportunities
may be too great or too broad, fairness and equity dictate, for example,
that MSWs who were qualified for the three-year insurance credential [the
“P”], but had not previously seen a reason to secure it, have
an opportunity to become a LCSW, without examination, Similarly, experienced
social workers, with five or more years of successful post-MSW practice,
at the time the law went into effect, will be able to become LMSWs during
the coming year in recognition of their education and practice experience.
When these two one-year “windows of opportunity” close next
fall, we believe a principle of equity will have been fulfilled.
Social Workers Possess Unique Autonomy
Perhaps the most important provision of the new law has received little
comment or recognition, but it was not won without a struggle. While marriage
& family therapists, mental health counselors, creative arts therapists
and psychoanalysts won licensure too, under a separate statute, they will
not be allowed to provide mental health care on a continuous basis to
any client who has a “serious mental illness” – quite
expansively defined – without first securing a medical evaluation
and consultation from a physician. Hence, such licensees will not enjoy
the practice independence and the autonomy as providers that we have helped
to secure in the law for our profession.
Further Clarifications Needed
But there is still work to be done. As noted in “Licensing Update”
on the cover page of the September CURRENTS, NASW will need to further
explore with State authorities their definition of a client contact hour
to ensure that there will be sufficient flexibility to reflect the realities
of present practice.
We also want to achieve clarification from the State Education Department
with respect to what will constitute clinical social work experience “in
diagnosis, psychotherapy and assessment-based treatment planning”
to ensure that supervisors and administrators will have uniform guidelines
to follow when authenticating the experience of their supervisees.
Creating a Chapter Task Force
In order to accomplish these outcomes, I am creating a Licensing Implementation
Task Force at the Chapter to raise these questions; secure needed clarifications
and interpretations of the current law and regulations; recommend any
modifications in the statute they deem needed; and, monitor the State
Education Department’s implementation of the law and its grand—parenting
provisions. The Task Force will reflect social workers from different
service delivery areas, allowing us to get a good sense of how licensing
is being experienced throughout the City.
I will announce the Task Force members and chairperson in the next issue
and hope you will freely share with them your observations, concerns and
suggestions. We are embarking on an important new venture together.