Margot Aronson

Most of this issue’s DC legislation & advocacy report will focus on the DC Board of Social Work, as you will see below. However, social workers should be aware of two important concerns recently raised by DC Council committee chairs.

Council member Vincent Gray chairs the Council’s Committee on Health. He raised the issue of access to care at his last Committee meeting of 2018. It is not, he noted, that there is a shortage of health/mental health providers in the District as a whole, but that the shortage of providers in Wards 7 and 8 is extremely serious.

Many of the District’s most vulnerable residents live in these wards, and obtaining appointments and crossing the city to a practice in a different ward may mean several buses and more time than can be spared from work or family.

Council member David Grosso chairs the Committee on Education. He recently took part in a public panel presentation at the University of the District of Columbia Law School, focused on the effects of trauma on DC school children. In the handout package was a fact sheet defining trauma, with examples of traumatic events, signs of trauma in children ages 6 to 12, and the connection between trauma and academic performance. The following statistic may help us understand the depth of difficulty facing the schools: “…Nearly 50 percent of DC children and youth have experienced two or more adverse childhood experiences, or traumas.”

The Call to Action following the powerful panel discussion included steps we can all take, pushing for legislation "to make sure all public schools have trauma sensitive training" to provide mental health assessments for all students, with development of a mental health plan for any child whose assessment requires intervention or treatment, "to hold a citywide summit to present plans to address the causes of childhood trauma in DC."

These issues are ready-made for clinical social workers!

DC Board of Social Work Update

As I write, there are changes in the air. Over the past few months, GWSCSW members Cheryl Aguilar and Tamara Pincus have raised the issue of LGSWs being supervised in private practice settings to gain work experience to apply to their LICSW application. This has long been considered a violation of social work regulations in DC, as it has been in many states around the country (and emphatically so in Maryland). Apparently, however, the prohibition in DC has not been understood by all DC social workers, perhaps in large measure because the regulations as written are not particularly clear.

Maryland’s Board of Social Work recently made major revisions to its regulations, and now permits LGSWs in supervised private practice with some very specific limitations spelled out. Other states have moved in this direction as well.

At the same time, the DC Board, STILL lacking an LICSW as well as a BSW member, has been working to clarify and simplify regulations. So this fall, when LGSWs asked about the rules, they were told clearly and simply that LGSWs in private practice are not permitted. It was indeed clear and simple, but the result was that some social workers who had mistakenly believed the practice was acceptable already became outraged that there had been no notification of what they saw as a brand new policy.

What has happened, thanks to outspoken advocacy, organizing, negotiations, listening, and working toward solving the problem is a social work story to make us hopeful.

First, Cheryl and Tamara gained permission to present the issue at the November DC Board of Social Work open session. Our GWSCSW DC L&A committee member Adele Natter, who attends Board sessions with me, reported to the list-serve on that meeting: “Making the case for LGSWs working toward LICSW licensure in private practices, they communicated passionately about access to mental health services and about the stakes for clients, new social workers, supervisors and private practitioners. Afterwards, the Board went into closed session, and it was readily apparent that the fact that interested members of our organization and the public came to speak to the Board made a significant impact and would not be ignored.

Adele and I have found the Board to be thoughtful and in general, very collaborative. But it is crucial to remember that the Board’s mandate is TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. That is a complex task, because at the same time, we social workers expect them to advance the profession. (Also bear in mind that they are unpaid volunteers, who don’t even get a free lunch or coffee on the day they serve, not to mention what they have to review, in between the monthly sessions.)

Next, Cheryl and the DC LGSWs in Private Practice Advocacy Committee (not a GWSCSW committee; not all are members of our Society) developed and circulated a petition for signatures. She spent time reviewing the issue with those of us with knowledge of the Board history, gaining a deeper understanding of the long held reasoning behind the prohibition.

A Step Forward at the January 2019 Meeting

On January 29th, the Board’s agenda provided time for six representatives of the committee to each make a brief presentation. Cheryl presented the petition, with more than 100 signatures. Then Board Chair Velva Spriggs, LICSW, offered an informal look at a policy the Board is now working on: clear guidance as to when and how LGSWs might be permitted to earn supervised hours toward the LICSW in a private practice setting. The document was in draft form; there must still be determinations of whether the size of a practice makes a difference, and whether a supervisor must be on the premises, and a variety of other such details.

This guidance document will not have a public comment period (a process that would take a very long time), but the Board welcomed comments sent by email. And by the time this newsletter is in your hands, the policy may be settled. Stay tuned!

CEU and License Renewal Notes

The current 2-year licensing cycle began on August 1, 2017, and will end on July 31, 2019 for all DC licensees. For this renewal period, the 40 hours of Continuing Education Units must include 6 hours of Ethics (face-to-face) and 2 hours of LGBTQ training (can be on-line). Only 12 hours of the total 40 can be online.

HIV training WILL NOT BE required for this or subsequent cycles. However, at some future renewal cycle, the Director of the Department of Health has plans to require ALL health professional licensees - not just social workers - to complete 4 hours of training in public health issues relevant to the District of Columbia. The topics to be covered by this training requirement have not yet been identified; details will be announced before the start of the 2-year cycle for which they will be required.

Present DC regulations require that all CEU training be provided by a Social Worker, a School of Social Work, an ASWB or NASW-approved CEU provider, or have a Social Worker participating in the planning of the presentation.

And here’s an FYI: The best place to check on the most current license and supervision expectations and requirements is the Board’s website (https://dchealth.dc.gov/service/social-work-licensing). If you have a question, call the Board: Mavis Azariah Armattoe, 202/442/4782, or email . When there’s confusion, sometimes Adele Natter and I can help clarify; we represent GWSCSW and CSWA at the Board’s monthly open session. The meeting is 10 AM on the 4th Monday of each month; please join us!

Margot Aronson, LICSW, chairs the GWSCSW L&A committee for DC. A past GWSCSW president, she has also served as newsletter editor and director of Legislation & Advocacy. Margot currently advocates on mental health and LCSW practice issues for us all at the national level as the Clinical Social Work Association Deputy Director for Policy and Practice.