By: Robert Schachter, DSW, LMSW

(October 2008)

*Please click here for an update as of October 7, 2008

At a meeting of 300 social workers last March, Nancy Miller, Executive Director of VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, asked everyone present to raise their hands if they had read the social work licensing statute.  Very few people in the audience raised their hands.  This was a chilling realization. 

Since 2004, social work is a licensed profession in New York State, and with that comes legal recognition of social work practice.  It also means significant legal responsibilities for all of us.  Nevertheless, too few within the profession may have taken the time to directly study the law and all that follows from this.

Ironically, studying the law may not be sufficiently helpful.  There is no escaping the need to be very familiar with the licensing law, but knowing the law as well as possible still leaves wide gray areas. (To access the social work licensing statute, regulations and material on the SED website, go to: www.op.nysed.gov.)

Consider these recent experiences that have affected hundreds of social workers who have been seeking the LCSW.  The first set of experiences relates to LMSWs who went into private practice before obtaining the LCSW.  The second set relates to what is presumably an even larger group, who have been trying to obtain the LCSW in what the law refers to as “facility settings.”

Whether Private Practice is Permissible

Over the past few months word started to spread that LMSWs would not qualify for the clinical license because they went into private practice to obtain the three years of supervised experience. The State Education Department’s Office of the Professions pointed out that LMSWs are not permitted by law to engage in clinical work while in private practice and that they cannot employ their own supervisors. 

Yet, material from the State Education Department prior to June, 2008 indicated that LMSWs could be in private practice and hire their own supervisor, leading them to qualify for the LCSW.  SED changed its material in June.

NASW has maintained the position that only LCSWs should engage in clinical work in private practice, reflecting nationally recognized standards.  Nevertheless, after careful review of the licensing statute, the regulations and the information provided by SED until June, NASW concluded that LMSWs have had good reason to believe that they were legally permitted to entering into private practice as a path to obtain the LCSW.  While we did not change our original position, the principle of fairness and being able to trust the information provided was considered to be a matter of concern, regardless of the particular stance of the organization.

NASW has taken the position that if the State Education Department is going to rule out being in private practice as an avenue to obtaining the LCSW, it should develop new rules that are published in draft form, that public comment be sought prior to being finalized, and be applicable only at the date that the rules take effect. 

Obtaining the LCSW in Facility Based Settings

There are also serious issues regarding where an LMSW can obtain experience for the LCSW in what is referred to in the social work law as “facility” settings.  Facility settings basically means agencies and institutions where most social workers are employed.

Over the past year social workers have been learning that even when they have appropriate supervision, meet the requirements for the necessary work experience, and pass the licensing exam for the LCSW, they may still be rejected because their setting is not recognized by the State Education Department as a setting for clinical social work practice. 

That SED was looking at whether facility settings are appropriate for clinical practice was a surprise to many, including the leadership of NASW-NYC.  Given that the qualifications for the LCSW are very similar to what has been in effect for many years for the “P” and the “R” for insurance reimbursement prior to the licensing law, it was anticipated that a wide range of facility based settings would be likely places to obtain the experience for the LCSW. 

At a meeting recently with SED’s leadership, it was reported that creating a license required them to change how they looked at settings for LCSW practice.  They said that for any licensed profession, practice in a setting must somehow be authorized in law.  As a result, they have looked to whether a facility or a program within a facility has a certificate of operation that authorizes clinical practice.  Based on information from social workers across a range of settings, it appears that such certificates of operation are found within mental health programs, and there, only certain types of programs, such as clinics. 

At the same time, NASW-NYC has learned of social workers being approved for the LCSW in some child welfare settings, in a legal setting, as well as in some health settings, none of which would necessarily be understood to be mental health programs.  The inconsistency seems to reflect that the State is willing to look more broadly than at mental health settings alone, but it is not yet clear to us what criteria is being used.  We are in the process of trying to obtain this clarification.

NASW-NYC’s position is that supervised experience for the LCSW should be obtainable in the broadest array of settings, that the quality of clinical practice and the preparation for independent practice as an LCSW is not necessarily dependent on setting.  If the State requires that programs be somehow authorized as appropriate settings, then that needs to be undertaken in a way that reflects NASW’s position.  It may take agencies and the State government to work together to figure this out.  If it doesn’t, I believe we will see social workers leaving the field and agencies having a more difficult time than at present recruiting and retaining qualified staff.  This is already a problem, and it will be come worse. 

Assuming that there is a fair resolution on how settings are determined, there is still the problem of social workers already having been denied their applications for the LCSW because their settings were deemed unacceptable.  If SED does reconsider how settings are considered, then, in fairness, anyone who has been denied their LCSW because of setting will need to be given a new review of their application.

I do not want to be an alarmist, but I believe that the future of the social work workforce is dependent on how these problems get worked out.  The solution will require every stake holder playing their part, including the State Education Department working with the State departments that oversee all human services, and all of these departments being clear about what is needed.  NASW’s role is to work toward this. We are fully engaged in this process.

I don’t want to be an alarmist, but this is a most alarming situation.

NASW-NYC has a Licensing Specialist on staff, Louise Lasson, LCSW.  For more information on these or related issues, she can be reached at lasson@naswnyc.org or at (212) 668-0050, ext. 221.

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