Task force examines licensing options and their implications

By Eda G. Goldstein, D.S.W., A.C.S.W., Chair, NYC Chapter Licensing Task Force
(April 1993)

The time to enact licensing legislation for social workers in New York State has come.

The creation of a newly reconstituted task force on licensing, which I have been asked to chair, reflects a commitment on the part of the leadership of the Chapter to take a pro-active stance with respect to legal regulation. Members of the Task Force, who represent diverse aspects of our social work community, have identified the examination of different licensing options and their implications as the group's main task, and plan to make a formal recommendation to the Chapter's Board of Directors in the fall.

Our current certification law, which was passed in 1965, represented a significant step in promoting the status and recognition of the profession. It established the criteria by which individuals are permitted to use the title, "certified social worker." There are a number of emerging factors that are contributing to the need to go beyond this title protection and to regulate the nature and scope of practice in which those who are licensed can engage. These include the following:

  1. The growth of managed care across the country is having an ever increasing impact not only with respect to what services are covered, but who is considered qualified to be a provider. Many insurance and other companies look to state licensing laws, which have been enacted in approximately 24 states, as establishing the appropriate credentials for providers. Social workers in agencies and private practice in New York State run the risk of not being included in these national networks and thus are not on an equal footing with the MSWs in other states.

  2. The effective establishment and maintenance of practice standards are of increasing concern. Any individual can practice social work irrespective of his or her education, training, and supervision. Further, many MSWs including those with little - if any - experience, go into private practice with no legal regulation at this time.

  3. The need for consumer protection is being voiced in many circles, including the State legislature. There is no legal regulation of psychotherapy, and the kinds of groups presenting themselves as psychotherapists is staggering. In fact, there is a move to present an umbrella bill that would include many different mental health practitioners under one overall licensing law. Separate licensing of social work and the three other major professional groups of psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurses seems to be an alternative and preferable approach.

  4. In many agencies, social work jobs have been lost; there is an absence of career ladders; and there are fewer qualified social work supervisors and workers. Licensing legislation may help to reverse this process.

  5. In the licensing task force's initial meeting, we identified a number of complex issues that need to be discussed. For example, there is a consensus in the task force and among other interested parties that an optimal option must reflect a commitment to preserving the unity of the profession, avoiding elitism, and supporting the concept that there is a core of practice knowledge and skills even though social workers are located in diverse settings. The issue that is unclear is whether to recommend a licensing option that would include everyone who is currently eligible for certification or instead to urge a tier approach that first recognizes everyone currently certified at the first level and then defines a second level that is more specialized.

NASW at the national level actually has put forth a model statute that reflects a tier approach, and most states that have licensing have adopted some version of this model. It addresses the need of unity on the one hand and the increasing reality of the need for special credentialing for an independent, autonomous, or clinical level on the other. Clearly, a tier approach would need to build upon the current structure of social work education rather than create special educational requirements at the MSW level.

Defining the scope of social work practice is central to any licensing proposal. The State Board of Social Work is developing such a definition and we anticipate that there will be opportunities for discussion of this formulation in many sectors of the profession. Other states have delineated different levels of practice that they have tied to a tier approach to licensing.

A third and related issue is whether to preserve the current distinction between state regulation on the one had and professional credentialing on the other. There are those who liken social work to medicine and suggest that like doctors, social workers should have a general State license, and then have possible specializations or advanced training recognized by our professional organization. It needs to be pointed out, however, that social work, unlike medicine, has not been able to clearly establish and explain its practice domain and qualifications to the public and that at the present time, managed care groups are looking to state licensing as the legitimate form of credentialing.

A fourth issue involves the status of BSWs with respect to State regulation. Our current certification does not pertain to BSWs and it is an open question whether they should be encompassed in any proposed legislation.

As in the past, collaborating among many different professional groups will be a necessary part of putting forth and passing legislation. The Chapter will continue to engage in discussions with the State and other NASW chapters, the New York State Association of Deans, the State Board for Social Work, and the Society of Clinical Social Workers. The task is exciting and challenging and I look forward to being part of this important undertaking.

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