March 2023 Chapter Update |
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Happy Social Work Month! Thank you for your membership with NASW. Take a look at our upcoming chapter events in March 2023. Read more about our Social Work Month Award Winners, events, Legislative Updates and Action Alerts, and more. The Chapter continues to seek volunteers to serve on Committees. Click here for more information about opportunities, or send an email to [email protected].
Jeremy Arp, MSW, ACSW
Executive Director, NASW-WA
(he/him)
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2023 Social Work Month Celebration
Each March, NASW-WA honors the accomplishments of social workers and community members during our Social Work Month Celebration. This year's virtual Social Work Month celebration will be hosted on Friday, March 31, 2023 at 6:00 PM Pacific Time.
This year's Social Work Month theme is "Social Work Breaks Barriers." The Chapter reviewed award nominations and selected the award winners who have demonstrated contributions to social work in Washington and exemplified social work values. Many thanks for all who took time submit award nominations.
We are pleased to announce our 2023 NASW-WA Chapter Award Winners:
Lifetime Achievement Award: Edwina "Eddie" Uehara, MSW, PhD
Social Worker of the Year: Charles Loeffler, MSW
Social Work Educator of the Year: Lori Sirs, DSW, LICSW
Outstanding Student: Zelda Oppenheim
Outstanding Recent Graduate: Rayanna Tensley, MSW
Taylene Watson President's Award: Hien-Thao Phan, MSW, LICSW
Public Citizen of the Year: Sherronda Jamerson, MA, SUDP
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Social Work Month Proclamation and Materials
Governor Inslee issued a proclamation recognizing the hard work that social workers do to make Washington a better place!
Join us in celebrating social workers during the month of March and beyond! Read the proclamation at https://bit.ly/3ZcwlWS
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Call for Nominations: Board and Committees
The NASW-WA Chapter seeks members to serve on our Chapter Board:
Eastern WA Regional Representative
Western WA Regional Representative
MSW Student Representative
BSW Student Representative
VP of Budget and Finance
Membership Engagement Committee
Chapter Ethics Committee
Legislative Action Committee
and more!
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Hybrid NASW-WA Policy Conference: Thank You!
Our 2023 NASW-WA Policy Conference was held Monday, February 20, 2023. The Legislative Action Committee (LAC) worked to make this year's opportunity available to those that could make it in-person as well as those that could only attend online. The hybrid (virtual and in-person) opportunity for students and professionals outlined the legislative process and ways to get involved in advocacy.
Many thanks to those that could attend, and special thanks to the LAC volunteers! The LAC will incorporate feedback from our evaluations to inform planning efforts for next year's opportunity!
If you would like to review the Policy Conference materials, they are available on our Voter Voice website. This includes videos that the LAC prepared to support efforts to educate social work professionals and students.
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Legislative Updates
The LAC continues advocacy work during the legislative session. This year, the committee prioritized Social Work Professional Issues, Mental Health/SUD, and Social and Economic Justice. Please see the action alerts below regarding bills related to social work licensure changes.
NASW-WA supports HB 1724 - increasing the trained behavioral health workforce. HB 1724 proposes enhancing Washington’s behavioral health workforce by aligning social work experience hours required for professional licensure with national standards and other behavioral health professions in Washington (and includes the provisions from HB 1021 which decrease the experience hours requirements for associate social work licensees working towards full licensure). The bill creates a much needed program to help associate behavioral health licensees secure clinical supervision – and a stipend program to cover out-of-pocket costs incurred by associate licensees completing supervised experience requirements.
These changes will reduce significant barriers of time and offset expenses for applicants for full licensure. The legislation will help facilitate aspiring professionals to secure clinical supervision from a qualified supervisor. The bill eliminates the requirement that probationary licensees practice in a behavioral health agency only. These provisions will enhance Washington's behavioral health needs. Click here to ask your elected officials to move this bill forward and vote yes on HB 1724.
NASW-WA supports HB 1021 - aligning social worker licensing requirements. HB 1021 will align the experience requirements for all three behavioral health professions (social workers, counselors, and marriage and family therapists) licensed under RCW 18.225 at 3,000 hours — the prevalent requirement across the country. The bill proposes a decrease from 130 hours to 100 hours of total supervision, with 70 hours of supervision from an LICSW. The other 30 hours may be with an equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner.
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Update: Social Work Licensure Compact
The following was released by NASW on Monday, February 27, 2023 regarding the development of the Social Work Licensure Compact. Although it may be too late to implement the Compact in Washington during this legislative session, the Washington Chapter continues to monitor the Compact's development. Our hope is that Washington will work to participate as a Compact state so social workers can participate in multi-state authorization to practice. Note that the model Compact legislation was released on Monday, February 27th after stakeholder work and draft reviews. Read more about NASW's efforts with the development of the Compact here.
Feb 27, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) welcomes the release today of the Social Work Interstate Compact Model Bill, which will expand opportunities for social workers to provide services in multiple states.
The Department of Defense in 2021, as part of an initiative to promote license portability for military spouses, recognized the social work profession as an component of health care and community services and funded an initiative to establish model legislation for multistate social work licensing.
“Our nation is contending with a shortage of mental health providers and an interstate compact will allow for practice mobility and remove barriers preventing social workers from providing care in multiple states, especially in areas that are underserved, geographically isolated, or lack specialty care,” NASW CEO Anthony Estreet, PhD, MBA, MSW, LCSW-C, said. “The compact will also improve the tedious, time-consuming and expensive process of social workers having to gain licensure in each state where they want to practice.”
Seven states must enact the Model Social Work Compact Bill before the Compact Commission is established. The Commission will serve as an administrative body overseeing the Interstate Compact for Social Workers. The Council of State Governments (CSG) oversaw the development of the legislation.
“NASW has been at the table, working tirelessly for over two years, to ensure that the interstate compact design and bill provisions meet the needs of social workers today and into the future," said Sarah Butts, the NASW's director of public policy.
“NASW negotiated the best compact model bill possible at this time”, Estreet said. “We will soon have a compact and much improved practice mobility for social workers."
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Seattle/King County Clinic – Seeking Social Workers!
The next Seattle/King County Clinic will be held April 27 – 30, 2023 and will offer dental, vision and medical care. Between 2014 and 2022, 23,000 volunteers helped to provide more than $20M in care to 24,000 patients. The organizers once again are seeking social workers and health insurance navigators.
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Call for Presenters
Are you interested in presenting a workshop for NASW-WA? We have an open call for presenters (live, virtual, or recorded).
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP!
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