O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 24-30—HB 5197
Public Health Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING SO CIAL WORKERS
SUMMARY: This act enters Connecticut into the Social Work Licensure
Compact. The compact creates a process for social workers to obtain a multistate
license, allowing them to practice in any member state (including by telehealth).
Member states must grant a multistate license in one of three categories (clinical,
master’s, or bachelor’s) to social workers who meet the compact’s eligibility
requirements. The Social Work Licensure Compact Commission administers the
compact, and Connecticut joins the commission under the act.
Among other provisions, the compact:
1. sets eligibility criteria for states to join the compact and for social workers
to practice under it,
2. addresses several matters related to disciplinary actions for licensees
practicing under the compact,
3. allows the commission to levy an annual assessment on member states and
fees on multistate licensees to cover its operational costs,
4. only allows amendments to the compact to take effect if all member states
adopt them into law, and
5. has a process for states to withdraw from it.
In practice, the compact is still in the process of being implemented. Below is
a broad overview of the compact.
Additionally, under the act, the public health commissioner must require
anyone applying for social worker licensure to submit to a state and national
fingerprint-based criminal history records check by the Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection (§ 2). This corresponds to a compact requirement
(see State Participation in the Compact and Social Worker Participation in the
Compact, below).
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
SOCIAL WORK LICENSUR E COMPACT
Compact Overview
The Social Work Licensure Compact creates a process for social workers to
obtain a multistate license from their home state, allowing them to practice in any
member state (including by telehealth) under a multistate authorization to practice.
A licensee providing services in a remote state under this authorization must follow
the laws of the remote state where the client is located.
Under the compact, a “member state” is a state that has enacted the compact. A
“home state” is the member state that is the licensee’s primary domicile. A “remote O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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state” is a member state, other than the licensee’s home state. A “state” is a U.S.
state, commonwealth, district, or territory that regulates social work.
State Participation in the Compact (§ 1(3))
To be eligible to participate in the compact, a state must do the following:
1. license and regulate social work at the clinical, master’s, or bachelor’s
category;
2. require licensure applicants to graduate from a program meeting specified
requirements (e.g., related to accreditation);
3. require clinical licensure applicants to complete a supervised practice
period; and
4. have a way to receive, investigate, and adjudicate complaints about
licensees.
To maintain compact membership, a member state must also do the following:
1. require applicants for a multistate license to pass a qualifying national exam
corresponding to their licensure category;
2. participate fully in the commission’s licensee data system, including using
the commission’s unique identifier;
3. notify the commission, in compliance with the compact’s terms and rules,
about any adverse action (e.g., license revocation or suspension) or the
availability of current significant investigative information about a licensee
(e.g., information that the licensee represents an immediate threat to public
health and safety);
4. implement procedures for considering the criminal history records of
multistate license applicants, including the applicants’ submission of
fingerprints or other biometric-based information to obtain these records
from the FBI and the state agency that keeps criminal records;
5. comply with the commission’s rules;
6. require applicants to be licensed in the home state and meet the home state’s
qualifications for licensure or licensure renewal and other applicable state
laws;
7. authorize a multistate licensee in any member state to practice according to
the compact and the commission’s rules; and
8. designate a delegate to participate in the commission’s meetings.
Under the compact, a member state meeting the above requirements must
designate which multistate licensure categories it will issue. If a member state does
not meet the participation requirements for a particular license category, the state
may choose to issue a multistate license to applicants that otherwise meet the
licensure requirements for that category or categories.
The compact allows home states to charge a fee for the multistate license.
Social Worker Participation in the Compact (§ 1(4))
To be eligible for a multistate license under the compact, an applicant (in any
category) must meet the following requirements: O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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1. hold or be eligible for an active, unencumbered license in the home state;
2. pay any state fees or other applicable fees for the multistate license;
3. submit fingerprints or other biometric data;
4. notify the home state within 30 days after being subject to any adverse
action, encumbrance, or restriction on any professional license by any
member or non-member state;
5. meet the home state’s continuing competence requirements, if any; and
6. comply with the laws, regulations, and standards in the member state where
a client is located.
The compact also sets specific requirements for the three licensure categories.
For all categories, the compact requires a social worker to complete one of the
following:
1. passage of a qualifying national exam in the clinical, master’s, or bachelor’s
category, as applicable;
2. licensure in the home state in the applicable category, beginning before the
home state required a national exam and followed by a period of continuous
social work licensure since then; or
3. substantial equivalency of the above as the commission determines by rule.
The compact requires a social worker to have a master’s degree in social work
for the clinical or master’s category, or a bachelor’s for that category, from a school
meeting specified criteria (e.g., related to accreditation).
For the clinical category only, the compact requires a social worker to complete
one of the following:
1. 3,000 hours of postgraduate supervised clinical practice;
2. two years of full-time postgraduate supervised clinical practice; or
3. substantial equivalency of the above as the commission determines by rule.
License Renewal. Under the compact, a multistate license is subject to the home
state’s renewal requirements. To be eligible to renew, the social worker must
maintain compliance with the above general requirements.
Issuance of a Multistate License (§ 1(5))
Under the compact, upon receiving an application for a multistate license, the
home state’s licensing authority must determine whether the applicant is eligible.
If so, it must issue a multistate license (in one of the three categories) authorizing
the person to practice in all member states under a multistate authorization to
practice. All member states must recognize the license.
Reissuance of a Multistate License by a New Home State (§ 1(7))
The compact allows a licensee to hold a multistate license, issued by his or her
home state, in only one member state at a time.
It sets a process for social workers who move from one member state to another
to obtain a reissued multistate license in the new home state (e.g., payment of
applicable fees and verification by the new home state that the person meets
specified requirements). O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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For social workers who change their primary state of residence from a member
state to a nonmember state or vice versa, the new state’s criteria apply to the
issuance of a single state license.
The compact specifies that it does not prevent licensees from holding single
state licenses in multiple states, but they may have only one home state for purposes
of the compact and one multistate license. It also does not interfere with a member
state’s requirements for issuing a single state license.
Military Families (§ 1(8))
The compact requires an active-duty military member, or their spouse, to
designate a home state where the person has a multistate license. The person may
keep this designation while the service member is on active duty.
Respective States’ Authority and Adverse Actions (§ 1(4), (6) & (9))
The compact addresses several matters related to states’ authority to investigate
and discipline social workers practicing under its procedures. It maintains member
states’ authority to regulate social work in a way that is consistent with the compact,
and a social worker’s services in a remote state are subject to that state’s regulatory
authority.
The following are examples of the regulatory structure under the compact:
1. a home state has exclusive authority to take adverse action against a social
worker’s multistate license, but a remote state may take adverse action
against a social worker’s multistate authorization to practice within that
state and may issue subpoenas, impose fines, and take other necessary
action to protect its citizens;
2. for taking adverse action, a licensee’s home state must give the same
priority to conduct reported from other member states as it would to conduct
within the home state;
3. if a social worker’s multistate license is encumbered or subject to adverse
action, his or her multistate authorization to practice is deactivated in all
remote states until the encumbrance is lifted;
4. if allowed by that state’s law, a member state may recover from a social
worker the investigation and disposition costs for cases resulting from
adverse actions;
5. if a member state takes adverse action, it must promptly notify the data
system administrator (see below), who must promptly notify the home state
and all member states about any adverse actions by remote states;
6. a member state may allow licensees to participate in an alternative program
for impaired practitioners rather than imposing an adverse action; and
7. the compact does not authorize a member state to discipline a social worker
with a multistate authorization to practice for lawful actions within another
member state.
Social Work Licensure Compact Commission (§ 1(10) & (12)) O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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The Social Work Licensure Compact Commission administers the compact,
and it consists of one delegate appointed by each member state’s social worker
licensing authority. (In practice, the commission’s first meeting is anticipated to
occur in fall of 2024.) The compact sets several powers, duties, and procedures for
the commission. For example, the commission:
1. must make reasonable rules to implement and administer the compact,
which are generally subject to public hearing and comment (a rule has no
further effect if a majority of the member states’ legislatures reject it within
four years after the rule’s adoption);
2. may levy and collect an annual assessment from each member state and
impose fees on social workers with multistate licenses to cover the costs of
its operations; and
3. must have its receipts and disbursements financially reviewed yearly and
include the review in its required annual report.
The compact addresses several other matters regarding the commission and its
operations, such as setting conditions under which its members, officers, and
employees are immune from civil liability.
By adopting the compact, Connecticut joins the commission.
Data System (§ 1(11))
Member states must submit specified licensee information for inclusion in a
database the commission creates. The compact addresses several matters related to
this data system, such as establishing the following:
1. current significant investigative information about a licensee in any member
state is only available to other member states;
2. adverse action information about a licensee in any member state is available
to other member states, and member states must report any adverse action
against licensees and monitor the database to determine whether these
actions were taken; and
3. member states that contribute information to the data system may designate
information that may not be shared publicly without the state’s express
permission.
Compact Oversight, Enforcement, Member Withdrawal, and Related Matters (§
1(13)-(16))
Among other related provisions, the compact:
1. requires each member state’s executive and judicial branches to enforce the
compact and take all necessary and appropriate steps to implement it;
2. requires the commission to take specified steps if a member state defaults
on its obligations under the compact, and after exhausting all other means
of securing compliance, allows a defaulting state to be terminated from the
compact upon a majority vote of the member states’ delegates;
3. requires the commission, upon a member state’s request, to try to resolve a
compact-related dispute among member states and between member and O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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non-member states;
4. allows the commission to bring legal action to enforce compliance against
a defaulting member state upon a majority vote (the case may be brought in
the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia or the federal district
where the commission’s principal offices are located);
5. allows a member state to withdraw from the compact by passing a law to do
so, but withdrawal does not take effect until 180 days after the law’s
enactment;
6. allows member states to amend the compact, but an amendment does not
take effect until all member states enact it into law;
7. makes its provisions severable and requires that they be liberally construed
to carry out its purposes, and if any compact provision is held
unconstitutional (as to a state constitution or the U.S. Constitution), the rest
of the compact’s validity is unaffected; and
8. supersedes any conflicting laws or other legal requirements in member
states, to the extent of the conflict.