To become licensed as a social worker in Pennsylvania, an individual must have supervised experience, hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and must have passed a licensure examination, which is currently the National Social Work Licensing Exam offered by the Association of Social Work Boards. However, in 2022, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) highlighted disparities in the examination’s pass rates among demographic groups. It has also become very clear that the test acts as a barrier to licensure and excludes too many good, qualified candidates, something that is especially concerning as the U.S. is expected to be facing a shortage of approximately 200,000 social workers by 2030.
 
For these reasons, I plan to introduce legislation to require the State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors to offer an alternative to the examination required for licensure as a bachelor social worker, a social worker, or a clinical social worker. The alternative would consist of additional hours of supervised professional experience for each level of licensure, added to any other supervised clinical professional experience required for licensure. In doing so, my legislation will eliminate the barrier that the licensure exam creates and ensure that our Commonwealth is prepared to meet the anticipated demand for social work services.
 
Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to support our workforce.