Requirements relating to licensure as a licensed clinical social worker, limited permits to practice licensed clinical social work and the supervision of clinical social work services provided by a licensed master social worker.
Purpose:
To revise the requirements for admission to an examination for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker. The amendment also clarifies the supervision requirements for a licensed master social worker practicing licensed clinical social work and the supervised experience requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker and for limited permits to practice licensed clinical social work
Text of proposed rule:
1. Paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of section 74.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective November 15, 2007, as follows:
(2) Requirements for admission to examination for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker.
(i) To be admitted to the licensing examination, the candidate shall be required to:
(a) file an application for licensure with the department;
(b) pay the fees for the licensure application and first registration period; [and]
(c) present satisfactory evidence of having met the education requirement for licensure as a clinical social worker, as prescribed in section 74.1(c) of this Part, including receipt of the social work degree; and
(d) present satisfactory evidence of having met the experience requirements for licensure as a clinical social worker, as prescribed in section 74.3 of this Part.
2. Clause (e) of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of section 74.3 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective November 15, 2007, as follows:
(e) the supervisor provides at least one hour per week or two hours every other week of in-person individual or group clinical supervision, provided that [no more than 50 percent of the required hours of in-person supervision may be group] at least two hours per month shall be individual clinical supervision.
3. Subparagraph (v) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of section 74.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective November 15, 2007, as follows:
(v) the supervisor provides at least one hour per week or two hours every other week of in-person individual or group clinical supervision, provided that [no more than 50 percent of the required hours of in-person supervision may be group] at least two hours per month shall be individual clinical supervision.
4. Subparagraph (v) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of section 74.6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective November 15, 2007, as follows:
(v) the supervisor provides at least one hour per week or two hours every other week of in-person individual or group clinical supervision, provided that [no more than 50 percent of the required hours of in-person supervision may be group] at least two hours per month shall be individual clinical supervision.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Anne Marie Koschnick, Legal Assistant, Office of Counsel, Education Department, State Education Bldg., Rm. 148, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 473-8296, e-mail: legal@mail.nysed.gov
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Frank Munoz, Associate Commissioner, State Education Department, Office of the Professions, Education Bldg., 2nd Fl., West Wing, 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, (518) 486-1765, e-mail: opdepcom@mail.nysed.gov
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Regulatory Impact Statement
1. STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
Section 207 of the Education Law grants general rule making authority to the Board of Regents to carry into effect the laws and policies of the State relating to education.
Section 6501 of the Education Law requires any applicant seeking admission to practice a profession in this state to obtain a license issued by the State Education Department.
Section 6504 of the Education Law authorizes the Board of Regents to supervise the admission to and regulation of the practice of the professions.
Paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of section 6507 of the Education Law authorizes the Commissioner of Education to promulgate regulations in administering the admission to and the practice of the professions.
Paragraph (c) of subdivision (2) of section 7704 of the Education Law establishes the experience requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker.
Paragraph (d) of subdivision (2) of section 7704 of the Education Law establishes the examination requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker.
Section 7705 of the Education Law authorizes the State Education Department to issue a limited permit to practice social work as a licensed clinical social worker to an applicant whose qualifications have been approved for admission to the examination.
2. LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES:
The proposed amendment carries out the intent of the aforementioned statutes by revising the requirements relating to admission to the licensing examination for licensure as a clinical social worker. The proposed amendment also clarifies the supervised experience requirements for licensure as a clinical social worker and for limited permits to practice licensed social work and the supervision requirements for clinical social work services provided by a licensed master social worker.
3. NEEDS AND BENEFITS:
Currently, section 74.2(b)(2) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education permits an applicant for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker to be admitted to the licensing examination prior to meeting any experience requirements. The proposed amendment revises these requirements to require candidates to present satisfactory evidence of completion of the experience requirements set forth in section 74.3 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education prior to admission to the licensing examination. This amendment is needed to conform to the content of the licensing examination, which is based on the expectation that the applicant will have completed at least two years of post-degree supervised experience.
The amendment also clarifies the supervision requirements for a licensed master social worker practicing licensed clinical social work and the supervised experience requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker and for limited permits to practice licensed clinical social work. Currently, the regulations require that a supervisor provide at least one hour per week or two hours every other week of in-person individual or group clinical supervision, provided that no more than 50 percent of the required hours of in-person supervision may be group clinical supervision. The proposed amendment clarifies the current regulations to require supervision of at least one hour per week of individual or group supervision, with at least two hours of individual supervision each month. This amendment is needed to eliminate confusion in the supervised experience requirements in the existing regulations.
4. COSTS:
(a) Costs to State government. The regulation will not impose any additional cost on State government.
(b) Cost to local government. None.
(c) Cost to private regulated parties. None.
(d) Cost to the regulatory agency. As stated above in Costs to State government, the proposed amendment does not impose any costs on the State Education Department.
5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANDATES:
The proposed amendment does not impose any program, service, duty, or responsibly upon local governments.
6. PAPERWORK:
The proposed regulation requires each candidate for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker to present satisfactory evidence of having met the prescribed experience requirements prior to admission to the examination for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker.
7. DUPLICATION:
The proposed regulation does not duplicate other existing State or Federal requirements.
8. ALTERNATIVES:
There are no viable alternatives to the proposed regulation and none were considered.
9. FEDERAL STANDARDS:
There are no Federal standards for the licensure of licensed clinical social workers.
10. COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE:
The amendment will be effective on its stated effective date. Because of the nature of the proposed amendment, no additional period of time is needed to enable regulated parties to comply.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The proposed amendment revises the requirements for admission to an examination for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker. The amendment also clarifies the supervision requirements for a licensed master social worker practicing licensed clinical social work and the supervised experience requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker and for limited permits to practice licensed clinical social work. It does not impose any adverse economic impact, reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements on small businesses or local governments. Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed amendment that it does not affect small businesses or local governments, no further steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and one has not been prepared.
Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
1. TYPES AND ESTIMATED NUMBER OF RURAL AREAS:
The proposed regulation will apply to the 44 rural counties with less than 200,000 inhabitants and the 71 towns in urban counties with a population density of 150 per square mile or less. The proposed amendment revises the requirements for admission to an examination for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker. The amendment also clarifies the supervision requirements for a licensed master social worker practicing licensed clinical social work and the experience requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker and for limited permits to practice licensed clinical social work. There are currently 22,256 licensed clinical social workers registered to practice in New York State, about 11 percent of which reside in rural areas.
2. REPORTING, RECORDKEEPING AND OTHER COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS; AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:
The proposed amendment revises the requirements for entry to the licensing examination for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker. Specifically, the amendment requires all candidates to present satisfactory evidence that they have completed the experience requirements set forth in section 74.3 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.
The proposed regulation will not require regulated parties, including those located in rural areas, to hire professional services in order to comply, and will not impose any additional recordkeeping requirements.
3. COSTS:
The proposed regulation does not impose additional costs on applicants for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker beyond the costs imposed by Section 7704 of the Education Law.
4. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:
The proposed amendment revises the requirements for admission to an examination for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker. The amendment also clarifies the supervision requirements for a licensed master social worker practicing licensed clinical social work and the experience requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker and for limited permits to practice licensed clinical social work. Because of the nature of the proposed amendment, the State Education Department does not believe it to be warranted to establish different requirements for licensed clinical social workers and/or licensed master social workers who live or work in rural areas.
5. RURAL AREAS PARTICIPATION:
Comments on the proposed regulations were solicited from statewide organizations representing all parties having an interest in the practice of licensed clinical social work. Included in this group were the State Board for Social Work and professional associations representing the social work profession. These groups have members who live or work in rural areas. Also, the Department solicited comment from all colleges and universities in the State that offer social work programs, including those located in rural areas, and public and private entities, including state and local governments, that employ individuals that live or work in rural areas. Each organization has been provided notice of the proposed rule making and an opportunity to comment.
Job Impact Statement
The proposed amendment revises the requirements for admission to an examination for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker. The amendment also clarifies the supervision requirements for a licensed master social worker practicing licensed clinical social work and the experience requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker and for limited permits to practice licensed clinical social work. The proposed amendment would not have a substantial adverse impact on the number of jobs and employment opportunities in the field of social work. In fact, the proposed amendment will have no impact on the number of jobs and employment opportunities in this field. Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed amendment that it would have no impact on jobs and employment opportunities, no affirmative steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement is not required and one has not been prepared.
