Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact

Development of an interstate compact for social work licensure has been underway for nearly a year, with a draft expected to be released for stakeholder review and public comment in July, and the goal of having model legislation available to states for passage in their 2023 legislative sessions. The development of a social work licensure compact is vital to ensuring the portability of professional social work practice as the landscape of practice continues to evolve due to the expansion of telehealth and the re-examination of how (and where) social workers engage with clients in the midst of the ongoing pandemic and beyond.

The social work compact development process has been led by the Council of State Governments (CSG), through funding from the Department of Defense. Please find a brief update on the process thus far from CSG. NASW cares deeply about social work licensure, supports the development of an interstate licensure compact, and has worked hard to help inform various steps of the compact development process. The list of participating stakeholders included in CSG’s update includes organizations and states that had contributors participating in the technical assistance group and/or the document team during the drafting process. While it was impossible to include voices from every state in the Nation at this stage of development, the next step in the compact development process (stakeholder review and public comment) includes an opportunity for anyone in the Nation to provide input, and it will be vitally important for all of us to participate in this process. NASW will share further information about the stakeholder review and public comment process in the coming weeks – stay tuned!