Adele Natter & Margot Aronson, DC Legislation and Advocacy Co-Chairs
Although the DC Public Health Emergency Order expired on July 24, 2021, Mayor Bowser has kept the Public Emergency Order in effect. This leaves leeway for quick action as needed while the pandemic continues to be a fluctuating issue. (See Mayor’s Order 2021-096.) Here’s how things stand now for clinical social workers:
License Renewals
The option for paper applications ended in June, and all 19 Boards under the Dept. of Health switched over to online only renewals. This system was not only new to us, it was new to the Board of Social Work as well, and naturally there were some IT glitches. Your representatives were busy fielding questions from DC licensees and often just as quickly turning to the Board for the answers. We are very grateful to Mavis Azariah, the Board’s Health Licensing Specialist, for her patience and responsiveness to our members.
Telehealth
Social workers licensed in DC may continue to provide telehealth services to clients in DC. There has been considerable pressure at the national level to limit telehealth, particularly audio-only, as soon as the pandemic emergency has passed. Happily, the DC Department of Health does not anticipate any changes limiting telehealth practice.
At the July Board of Social Work meeting, we emphasized the view of our members who would like be sure that telemedicine, including audio-only, remains an option for psychotherapy, even after the pandemic has ended.
Reminder: Any social worker seeing client(s) in DC must be licensed in DC by mid-September. The waiver to practice in DC with a license from another jurisdiction officially ended with the end of the Public Health Emergency on July 24, 2021, but the DC Department of Health provided a 60-day extension to allow time for obtaining the DC license. The extension is over on September 23, 2021; after that date, anyone without a DC license who sees a client in DC, either in person or by telehealth (including audio-only), can be sanctioned for practicing without a license.
Supervision
Supervision may be conducted virtually until December 31, 2021. The requirement for in-person supervision, suspended until the end of this year, will be reassessed in November or December.
Board composition
The Board has a new attorney, Joanne Drozdoski. A new Executive Director will be introduced at the September 27 meeting.
CEs
CEs earned in the last renewal period could be randomly audited in October and November. Be sure to have your CE’s ready to send — preferably as a single PDF including all your CE documents — if you are audited.
CEs Public Health topics
The Department of Health requires of licensees of all 19 of its health occupation boards (e.g., Psychology, Nursing, Professional Counselors, Physical Therapists, etc) to complete CEs in Public Health topics. You can see the complete list on the GWSCSW website under DC Legislative Advocacy.
The COVID CE surprise
The notice that was emailed to all DC-licensed health professionals on August 11 requires that 2 CEs specifically focused on COVID ( eg, topics such as facts and myths about vaccinations) be completed by the end of September. Following some vigorous grumbling, a number of us have come around to the understanding that, given the severity of the pandemic at present, it makes a lot of sense for the Health Department to want its providers to be knowledgeable about the realities and public health concerns, and to be able to help others understand as well.
Once you have obtained the 2 CEs, save them in the file you are starting for the new licensing renewal period. They can probably be used to fulfill 2 of the required Public Health CEs. And in any case, be sure you have them on record, and dated by Sept 30, 2021.
CE Face- o-Face requirements
Face-to-face requirements have been lifted throughout the 2019 to 2021 licensing period, as the Board has recognized the need for safety in the face of the pandemic. The requirement automatically returns to the previous standard for the new licensing period. However, the Board plans to discuss whether to extend permission to earn CEs in recorded sessions at the September 27 Board meeting. Once their decision is confirmed, they will email all DC social workers with the updated information.
Board of Social Work Open Sessions: Meetings are typically held on the 4th 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. The Board’s website address: https://dchealth.dc.gov/service/social-work-licensing. Or just google “DC Board of Social Work.” Attendance at Board meetings is encouraged: The Board has welcomed our members’ input, as well as feedback from agencies and community organizations, regarding the effects of Board policies and how they are experienced.
Adele Natter Margot Aronson, Committee co-chairs
DC LICENSE RENEWALS
As of the first week in May, the District of Columbia Board of Social Work has 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. Be aware that there will be no paper option this year; all renewals must be made on-line.
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
The Public Health Emergency was extended by Mayor Bowser to May 20, 2021. At this writing, it is not expected to be extended again beyond that date.
The DC Licensure Waiver 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’s website as well as the GWSCSW list-serve.
Continuing Education policy changes: The requirement for live, in-person, interactive CE classes has been suspended during the current licensing period, to July 31, 2021. CE classes can be recorded or online; but in-person classes also meet the CE requirements.
40 hours of approved CE units per licensing cycle are required and must include:
The required Public Health Priorities CEUs must relate to one or more of the following key public health priorities:
Ethics CEUs can be used to satisfy the Public Health Priorities when the topic fits one of the 10 categories listed above (which are pretty broad). On your license renewal you will indicate which Public Health Priority is covered by the CEU.
LBGTQ CEUs are separate and may not be used to satisfy another requirement.
There is no longer a requirement for HIV CEUs.
More detailed information and cites can be found on the DC Social Work Board website.
DC BOARD OF SOCIAL WORK OPEN SESSIONS
Thank you to everyone for your attention and questions about the DC Board of Social Work, its policies, and policy changes during the pandemic. Quite a few of our members have attended Board meetings and advocated on issues of interest. The Board has taken notice of your interest and advocacy and has become more responsive and cognizant of the effects of policies and policy changes ‘on the ground.'
Remember: DC Board of Social Work Open Session meetings are, typically, the 4th 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. Proposed agenda items must be submitted to Ms. Azariah at least a week before the meeting. We have observed that robust attendance by the public is welcomed and, clearly, valued by the Board. NEXT DC BOARD MEETING is scheduled for Monday, June 28, 10:00 am
AND A SHOUT-OUT FOR DC ON THE HILL …
On January 3 of this year, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced bill HR 51 to the House, with 216 co-sponsors in support of DC Statehood. The bill passed on April 22, with a bipartisan 216 to 208 vote!
The House bill is now in the Senate. The Senate version, S 51, introduced by Senator Tom Carper of Delaware on January 26, has 45 cosponsors. The numbers of cosponsors on each bill represent a huge (and obviously effective) effort on the part of District residents to educate our families and friends and colleagues in states across the nation about the importance of this issue. Kudos!
And now, the rights of DC residents to have a voice in the selection of those who make the laws we must obey - and an end to the rights of Congressional members from around the country to nullify and amend our local laws at whim - is in the hands of the Senate.
Adele Natter, LICSW, Co-Chairs the GWSCSW Legislation & Advocacy Committee for DC.. Adele has been an active participant on the Committee for the past four years; she represented GWSCSW on a Board of Social Work sub-committee, which included NASW and CSWA representatives. Adele maintains a private practice focused on helping individuals with anger and emotional regulation issues. She is also a Clinical Instructor in the Psychiatry Residency Program of the George Washington University Medical School. She holds a BA in Psychology from UCLA and received her MSW from the University of Maryland.
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Several issues of concern for DC social workers were on the agenda at the January DC Board of Social Work open session meeting, which was attended by more than a dozen social workers representing the interests of GWSCSW and other agencies.
First, the stats and some administrative data:
One issue that generated a lot of discussion was the possible creation of a Supervised Practice Form. The problem is that many agencies hire new BSWs and MSWs, with the understanding that they will sit for and pass the licensing exam. In some cases, pandemic conditions have severely limited test-taking opportunities. In others, candidates do not pass the exam, and are then practicing without a license. Representatives of several agencies affirmed their desire to be in compliance with the regulations and also to support and mentor their social workers to pass the licensing exam and demonstrate their competency.
The Supervised Practice Form would authorize the practice of social work for a limited period of up to 180 days, under supervision, before the scheduled exam. The supervisor would be responsible for submitting the Supervised Practice Form, which could be done only one time. The Board’s verification page would indicate failure on the exam, and the worker would have to reapply to take the exam and, in the meantime, cease practicing social work.
A program to certify community health workers (CHW) is being considered in the DC Department of Health and DC Department of Behavioral Health, to include frontline workers on outreach teams, in hospital wrap around services, and in informal social support roles. Such a program would be based on a national definition and hopefully lead to standardized training and tools, and enhance the standing of individuals from the community who provide much needed support services.
As currently envisioned, this certification would be voluntary; regulatory standards and oversight were not mentioned.
A final note: Any DC licensee who did not receive the Board’s January 4th email should first double-check to see your correct email address used for official Board business (your CE submissions, for example) before alerting Mavis Azariah.
Margot Aronson & Adele Natter
By the time this newsletter is in your hands (or your inbox), a number of decisions will have been made, ranging from the direction of the country for the next four years to a certain change in policy clarified by the DC Board of Social Work.
For those of us living and/or working in the District of Columbia, the election will also have brought about some relevant changes in the Council, the school board, and neighborhood commissions: will the newly elected folks help our DC government address inequities which limit access of minority communities to health and mental health treatment?
Having seen the Covid-19 statistics, we LICSWs will want to learn what we can about the specific social determinants of health/mental health in DC, and to do what we can to be sure that inequities are being addressed.
At the DC Board of Social Work
The issue before the Board in October and November has to do with the months between an MSW’s graduation and the opportunity to sit for the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) national examination for the Licensed Graduate Social Worker license. Without a license, the MSW may not practice under the LGSW scope of practice, and, if reported to the Board for doing so, is likely to face a reprimand and a steep fine.
Several area agencies have asked for consideration of a “supervised practice form” that would make it possible for the new graduates, during the waiting period and under LICSW supervision, to begin to get a feel for the career they have chosen.
The Board will have to determine how such a supervised practice would be monitored and tracked, and what responsibilities the agencies that participate would have. The Board also will need to have conversations with the test developer, ASWB, before developing such a form.
Among the questions being considered are:
Two final Board items:
The Board is still short one member, who must be a Licensed Social Work Associate (Bachelor’s level), live in DC, and not be a DC government employee. Please encourage any eligible colleagues to apply.
There will be no Open Session meeting of the DC Board of Social Work in December.
Margot Aronson, LICSW, co-chairs the GWSCSW Legislation and Advocacy Committee for DC along with Adele Natter, LICSW. 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.
Margot Aronson
DC Board of Social Work Update
*Mayor Bowser has extended the Emergency Order through October 9, 2020. The administrative licensure waiver for teleservices will continue at least until then.
* Of the total 5016 active DC licensees, we have 3523 LICSWs; 46 LISWs, 1383 LGSWs; and 64 LSWAs.
*The Board expects to have the Department of Health's go-ahead to notify licensees of modifications in social work policies and regulations by email blast in September 2020.
The Department of Health Interprofessional Workgroup
Board Chair Velva Spriggs, LISW, represents social work on the Interprofessional Workgroup newly established by the DC Department of Health. The Workgroup - chairs of the health professional boards - has begun meeting to address mutual issues of concern with a multidisciplinary approach. Initially the Workgroup is considering: standards of care, best practices, how to maintain uniformity, reimbursement issues, how to deal with remote sites of care, and fees, so that there will be uniformity on the boards. The Workgroup will also be considering the issue of license portability and/or reciprocity across state lines. A complicating factor is that not all states are in favor of what is being dubbed a “global” approach.
HR 51: One Step Closer?
Statehood requires approval by a simple majority vote of each House of Congress and the President’s signature. This is the simplest and most constitutional way to make the people of the District of Columbia full citizens of the United States of America.
On June 24, the Rules Committee of the House of Representatives, after several hours of heated opposition on one side and supportive fact-filled responses on the other, voted to advance the bill to a full House vote.
Remember that DC has no voice on the House floor, with the exception of Del Eleanor Holmes Norton; our support at the hearing came from Reps of states around the country, plus one other voice, that of Virgin Islands Del Stacey Plaskett. Rep Louis Gohmert of Texas said he was prepared to offer a bill excusing DC residents from paying taxes so that we would stop our fussing about “taxation without representation.” Del Plaskett then made dramatically clear how very damaging this would be to DC as she described the deplorable treatment of the VI and other territories (who do not pay federal taxes) at the hands of the US Congress.
On the 26th of June, the House voted in favor of DC statehood. The first step!
Adele Natter
Many people have expressed interest in how the DC Board of Social Work would change license requirements during the current pandemic. The Board met remotely on Monday, April 27, and discussed changes to its policies. The temporarily-revised policies are now posted on the website of the DC Board, in the Policy Guides and Statements section. Licensees are encouraged to check the website now for important details which may affect your practice. Keep an eye out for additional updates, particularly as DC’s State of Emergency regulations change.
Telehealth policy:
Social workers can practice using audio, visual, and telephone, as long as they practice within ethical and HIPAA standards of care. This policy will be in place until 12/31/2020, at which time it will be reconsidered.
Licensure Waivers during Covid-19:
Practitioners who are licensed in good standing in other jurisdictions may continue to serve clients who are in the District during Emergency conditions.
LGSWs in Private Practice:
LGSWs working toward advanced licensure may not practice independently, but can practice in another’s agency or private practice. An LGSW must be supervised by an LICSW.
CE Requirements for current License Renewal period:
For the current licensure period (ending July 31, 2021), the Board will accept online training, including pre-recorded offerings. Specific requirements for CE hours of ethics, LGBTQ, and public health issue trainings remain, but none need to be face-to-face.
The next meeting of the DC Board will be June 22nd.
Adele Natter, LICSW, Co-Chairs the GWSCSW Legislation & Advocacy Committee for DC with Margot Aronson, LICSW. Adele has been an active participant on the Committee for the past four years; she represented GWSCSW on a Board of Social Work sub-committee, which included NASW and CSWA representatives. Adele maintains a private practice focused on helping individuals with anger and emotional regulation issues. She is also a Clinical Instructor in the Psychiatry Residency Program of the George Washington University Medical School. She holds a BA in Psychology from UCLA and received her MSW from the University of Maryland.
The Board of Social Work meets the fourth Monday of every month. These meetings begin with Open Session (open to the public) at 10AM and proceed into Executive Session (closed to the public).
At the DC Social Work Board meeting of January 27, the Board discussed future CE topics that the Health Department will require of all Boards. The question of whether an LGBTQ CE requirement and a sexual health CE requirement could be met by a single course was raised. The topic was tabled for discussion at a future Board meeting. During this license cycle, social workers will need to devote four (4) CEs relevant to public health topics posted on the Board’s website. (See “Policy Statement Identifying Public Health Issues for Continuing Education” in the Policy Guides and Statements section of the website.) At the November meeting, the Board stated its commitment to using a liberal interpretation of the requirements.
Before the January meeting ended, a hearing was held regarding a Notice of Intent to deny a licensee’s reinstatement application. Because the licensee did not appear, the District’s attorneys made the case that she did not meet her burden of proof in presenting her case for reinstatement. Your GWSCSW representative was not privy to the Board’s subsequent discussion. However, this case was further evidence of the importance of showing up in order to be heard. Over the past 18 months, we have seen how effective that can be, with the formation of policies around LGSW’s in private practice. In that case, a number of GWSCSW members and others attended meetings of the Board and really educated the Board about many aspects of this issue.
The next meeting of the DC Board of Social Work is scheduled for March 23, 2020.
Adele Natter, LICSW, Co-Chairs the GWSCSW Legislation & Advocacy Committee for DC with Margot Aronson, LICSW. Adele has been an active participant on the Committee for the past four years; she represented GWSCSW on a Board of Social Work sub-committee, which included NASW and CSWA representatives.
New Policy from the DC Board of Social Work
As we go to press, we have not seen the Board’s revised policy on LGSWs working under supervision in an established private practice. However, it will be posted on the Board’s website by the time you read this report, in the section on Policy Guides and Statements. Background Information about the issue can be found in the September issue of News & Views.
Because the impetus for this change came from a request from practitioners, the Board followed the procedures for developing policy guidance. They welcomed input from those of us attending the Open Sessions, and consulted with the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) for information about similar issues faced by other Social Work boards before making their decision - a process meant to be responsive to an identified need.
A broader, more in-depth Board review of DC social work regulations has been in progress for some time. Once that review takes shape, regulatory changes proposed by the Board will follow the more formal – and more familiar – process, which includes a 60-day period for public comment and specified vetting procedures before becoming law.
A Change in CE Requirements
Another item you’ll want to check on the Board’s website is CE requirements for the new licensure period. Again, we don’t have the details as we go to press, but are aware that the Director of the DC Health Department has ordered that all health licensees are to devote 10% of their CEs to public health issues. The list of approved public health topics is to be announced in November, so we do not yet know if our required 4 public health CEs can include the LGBTQ CEs already mandated by the DC Council.
An Appointment and a Vacancy
Finally, from the Board: Aisha Nixon has been appointed Executive Director for the DC Boards of Allied and Behavioral Health; she had been serving as Interim ED. The Board still lacks a bachelor level member – a Licensed Social Work Associate – to bring it to its full complement of five members.
One Last Note
We learned this weekend that CE is the appropriate abbreviation for continuing education. CEU, on the other hand, refers to Continuing Education Unit, a unit of credit equal to 10 hours of participation in an educational course or approved activity. CEU is regularly used, incorrectly, in place of CE, and the world has not stopped turning ... so this is just an FYI! Thought you might want to know.
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.
DC Board of Social Work update
The effort of the DC Board of Social Work to develop policy to enable LGSWs to work in private practice settings in order to gain their supervised work experience for the LICSW application is nearing its final shape; the Board is planning to vote on a final policy statement at the September Board meeting. Creating such a policy has required considerable work on the part of the Board: although LGSW training and supervision in agencies is monitored by the Department of Behavioral Health, at present there is no comparable system in place for monitoring LGSW training and supervision in private practice. In fact, just this spring the ASWB (Association of Social Work Boards) established a task force to consider issues in supervision, in light of a variety of questions and concerns raised by Boards across the country.
GWSCSW members anxious to have the new policy in place have diligently attended the Open Session of Board meetings over the past 8 months. They presented a carefully crafted petition for the Board to review, presented information based on their clinical experience, and gradually earned a role as a sought-after resource. For its part, the Board maintained transparency and decorum as they deliberated (not always an easy feat); they followed through with research when needed; and where in the early sessions patience at times wore thin on one side or the other, the July meeting was collegial, collaborative, and mutually respectful, as well as very productive.
The Board will not be meeting in August; the next meeting will be Sept 23, with the Open Session beginning, as usual, at 10 AM. Hopefully the policy statement will be ready for a final vote.
Wanda Wheeler, LICSW, joins the DC Board
At the July meeting, Board Chair Velva Spriggs, LISW, introduced Wanda Wheeler, LICSW, who joins Danielle Nelson, LGSW, and Selerya Moore, Consumer Member, on the Board. A warm welcome to Ms. Wheeler!
The Board is still lacking its LSWA member.
Of the 5,386 licensed DC social workers, 3,718 are LICSWs; 1,533 are LGSWs, 56 are LISWs, and 79 are LSWAs.
House of Representatives Hearing on DC Statehood Bill
Please take note that a House of Representatives hearing on H.R.51, Washington DC Admission Act for DC Statehood, will take place on Thursday, September 19, 2019 at 10 AM in the in Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2154. Will you be there?
Statehood requires approval by a simple majority vote of each House of Congress and the President’s signature. It is the simplest and most constitutional way to make the people of the District of Columbia full citizens of the United States of America. Maybe not in this Congress… but every step counts!
Following up on the good news announced in Judy Gallant’s article in the March newsletter, that Adele Natter, LICSW, has agreed to be co-chair of the GWSCSW’s DC Legislation and Advocacy Committee, a more formal introduction to the experience she brings to the position is in order.
Adele has been active with our committee for several years, with a special focus on DC Board of Social Work issues. In private practice since 1998, she is also a Clinical Instructor at the George Washington Medical School’s Psychiatry Residency Program, and supervises graduate social workers working toward advanced licensure. Her previous career has primarily been in mental health clinics and in trauma work.
In addition to her BA in Psychology from UCLA and her MSW from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Adele holds certifications from the Washington School of Psychiatry in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy and in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), and has had post-graduate training in psychodynamic psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
Here’s a hearty welcome to Adele, and a thank-you for stepping forward to take a leadership role.
And Good News at the April DC Board of Social Work meeting
At the Open Session of the meeting on April 22, Interim Executive Director Aisha Nixon announced that candidates for the long-vacant Board positions - LICSW and LSWA - are in the final process of being vetted, and hopefully will begin their tenures in time for the June meeting. Ms. Nixon also reported on our latest District of Columbia social work licensee numbers: 5,312 total, with 3,686 LICSWs, 56 LISWs, 1,492 LGSWs, and 78 LSWAs.
Board Chair Velva Spriggs, LISW, explained that discussion of the Board’s policy on LGSWs working in a private practice setting has been tabled temporarily, while the Board researches supervision issues. She and Board members Danielle Nelson, LGSW, and Selerya Moore spoke of their attendance at a recent meeting of ASWB (Association of Social Work Boards). They shared their enthusiasm about getting to know their counterparts from around the country and Canada, and spoke of the variety of issues faced in other jurisdictions. Happily, ASWB is establishing a Task Force to consider the numerous concerns about supervision; we expect this will be very helpful as our DC Board makes final policy decisions on LGSW private practice issues. ASWB will also be developing a curriculum guide to clarify regulations for college and graduate school social work educators.
Will the DC Board accept your CEUs?
Social Work licensees are responsible for making sure that their CEUs will be accepted by their jurisdiction’s Board. Unfortunately, it has become clear that many of our social workers, and a number of organizations, were unaware of the regulation change in 2017, whereby the Board no longer automatically will accept CEUs approved by the Maryland Social Work Board of Examiners. GWSCSW is an approved provider of DC CEUs, but various other organizations have relied on the Maryland approval.
Before the Open Session of the Board meeting ended, GWSCSW requested that the Board take a new look at the process and qualifications needed for CEU approval.
For more information about the regulations, the Board’s webpage has a link to the DC Municipal Regulations for Social Work, “Chapter 70 Social Work June 9-8-2017.” CEU information is in section 7009, with the relevant issue at 7009.6. In addition, the HORA – the Health Occupations Revision Act – outlines scope of practice and other social work law; this document is also linked on the DC Board website.
There was no Board meeting in May. The next meeting of the Board will be Monday, June 24; the Open Session will begin at 10 AM.
The 2019 License Renewal Process
The license renewal-on-line process began on May 1, with, as of course you know, a deadline of July 31, 2019. If you have not received an email from the Board explaining the steps of the on-line process, be sure to provide the Board with your updated email address.
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