Legislative Branch Director:  Judy Gallant | judy.gallant@verizon.net
DC Chairs: Adele Natter | anatter@verizon.net

DC LICENSE RENEWALS

In the first week in May, the District of Columbia Board of Social Work opened the renewal process for DC licensees due by July 31, 2021.  All current licensees should have received an email with detailed instructions, sent by Mavis Azariah, the Board’s Health Licensing Specialist, in late April.  This year all renewals must be made on-line;  there will be no paper option this year. 

If you have not received the informative email, please let Ms. Azariah know.  And, if your information (name, mailing address, email address, phone number, etc.) has changed since your last renewal, please send your new contact information to her at mavis.azariah@dc.gov.   For name changes, you will need to include a copy of the name change document/s (marriage certificate, divorce decree, etc.).

PANDEMIC-RELATED POLICIES

As of May 1, 2021, the Public Health Emergency (Mayor’s Orders 2020-045 and 2020-046) was extended by Mayor Bowser indefinitely:  “… and shall continue to be in effect through the duration of the public emergency or public health emergency, or until this Order is repealed, modified, or superceded."

The DC Licensure Waiver (allowing social workers licensed elsewhere to continue services to current clients located in DC) was extended to May 20, 2021 and was recently amended so that the waiver is in effect 60 days beyond the end date of the Public Health Emergency.  But any clinical social workers working for continuity of care in DC under the waiver, who plan to continue working in DC, should apply for licensure in DC now.

Telehealth Policy: Clinical social workers can practice using audio, visual, and telephone, as long as they practice within ethical and HIPAA standards of care. This policy will likely be in place for some time after the end of the public health emergency, or perhaps made permanent. Watch for an announcement on the Board of Social Work website as well as the GWSCSW list-serve.

Continuing Education Policy: The requirement for live, in-person, interactive CE classes was suspended during the current licensing period, to July 31, 2021.  CE classes that are recorded, online, or in-person all meet the CE requirements.

  

CE REQUIREMENTS for license renewal due July 31, 2021

40 hours of approved CE units per licensing cycle are required and must include:

• 6 hours of Ethics
• 2 hours of LGBTQ training
• 4 hours in Public Health Priorities

Public Health Priorities

The required Public Health Priorities CEs must relate to one or more of the following key public health priorities:

1. Responsible opioid prescribing and effective pain management;
2. Nutrition and obesity prevention;
3. Identifying and reporting abuse (child and adult), neglect (child and adult), human trafficking, and domestic violence;
4. Sexual health (including taking sexual history, discussing sexual experiences with patients, sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV/AIDS), HPV vaccines, connections to cancer, latent tuberculosis, safe sex, and birth control);
5. Ethics and appropriate patient interactions (i.e. boundaries, patient privacy, and communications including telehealth);
6. Smoking, vaping, and tobacco (including dangers, smoking cessation, and non-smoke tobacco products);
7. Preparing your patients for an emergency and handling vulnerable populations in an emergency;
8. Identifying impairment (physical or mental) in patients and providers (including complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act);
9. Vaccinations (including legal requirements and appropriate exemptions); and, 
10. Implicit bias, cultural competence and Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in health and health care.

On your license renewal, you will indicate which Public Health Priority is covered by the CE.

*Ethics CEs can be used to satisfy both the general Ethics requirement and the Public Health Priorities when the topic fits one of the 10 categories listed above (which are pretty broad).  

*LBGTQ CEs are separate and may not be used to satisfy another requirement. 

*HIV CEs are no longer required.

More detailed information and cites can be found on the DC Social Work Board website.

DC BOARD OF SOCIAL WORK - https://dchealth.dc.gov/service/social-work-licensing

Location:   899 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington DC 20002

Office Hours:   Monday to Friday 8:15 am to 4:45 pm  

Phone: (877) 672-2174    Fax: (202) 724-8677    TTY: 711  

Board of Social Work Open Sessions:   Meetings are typically the 4^th Monday of each month, beginning at 10 AM.  A detailed agenda, the virtual meeting link, and the minutes from the last meeting are all on the website several days before the meeting.