The New Jersey Assembly on Monday approved legislation to enter New Jersey into the Social Work Licensure Compact.
The compact establishes a multistate license system in which an individual licensed at the clinical, master’s or bachelor’s level in social work needs only to obtain licensure in one state that is a party to the compact in order to practice as a social worker in another member state to the compact, so long as certain requirements established under the compact are met by the individual.
Missouri, South Dakota, and Utah are currently members of the compact, with moves being made in about 20 additional states to join. Unfortunately for many local social workers, New York is not one of them.
Under the bill, provisions are established regarding, among other items, the authority of a member state’s licensing authority; how an adverse action against a multistate licensee is managed; the set-up of the Social Work Licensure Compact Commission and its Executive Committee; the collection of data on member states; and how to withdraw from the compact, if sought by a member state.