Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. The purpose of continuing education is to
protect the public by:
1. ensuring that the
practitioner has formal opportunities to upgrade and update professional
knowledge and skills; and
2.
encouraging the practitioner to learn from other professionals; and
3. assisting the professional to expand
his/her professional resource network.
B. Consequently, approved learning situations
emphasize opportunities for professional interaction and
relationship-building.
C. Any
credentialed social worker may be audited. It is important to keep good records
of continuing education experiences for at least one year and to be able to
explain the nature of the content covered.
D. Random audits are done to ensure that the
continuing education mandate is applied fairly to all credentialed social
workers.
E. For audit purposes,
only certificates of attendance, sign-in sheets signed by a representative of
the sponsoring organization, or an original letter from the sponsoring
organization will be accepted as proof of attendance for continuing education
events.
F. The collection period
for continuing education hours is July 1, through June 30 of each fiscal year.
1. Continuing Education Waivers for Declared
Emergencies. In response to a disaster or emergency declared by the appropriate
authority or governor of the state, continuing education units required for
renewal of a license may be waived by the board.
2. Continuing Education Extensions for
Extenuating Circumstances. In response to extenuating circumstances, the time
frame mandated to complete continuing education units required for renewal of a
license, certification, or registration may be extended by the board.
3. The board may grant a social worker
approval to complete more than 10 hours of continuing education via distance
learning in the case of debilitating, disabling, or other medical conditions
making travel impossible or extremely inconvenient. The licensee shall provide
satisfactory documentation for the grant of approval.
4. The board may grant a social worker
approval to complete more than 10 hours of continuing education via distance
learning if the social worker resides out of United States territories where no
in-person continuing education is available. The licensee shall provide
satisfactory documentation for the grant of approval.
G. Continuing education hours are pro-rated
as follows during the initial year of registration, certification or licensure.
|
Month Received
|
Hours Required
|
|
April, May, June
|
0
|
|
July, August, September
|
20
|
|
October, November, December
|
15
|
|
January, February, March
|
10
|
H.
Continuing education hours collected in the month of June may be used for the
current collection period or may be carried over to the next collection
period.
I. In the case of
extenuating circumstances, when the individual does not fulfill the continuing
education requirements, the individual shall submit a written request for
extension to the board for consideration.
J. Continuing Education Requirements for the
Registered Social Worker
1. Twenty clock
hours of continuing education in programs approved by the board shall be
obtained prior to each renewal date including three clock hours in social work
ethics once every two years.
K. Continuing Education Requirements for
Licensed Master Social Worker and Certified Social Worker
1. Twenty clock hours of continuing education
in programs approved by the board shall be obtained prior to each renewal date,
including three clock hours in social work ethics once every two
years.
L. Continuing
Education Requirements for Licensed Clinical Social Worker
1. Twenty clock hours of continuing education
in programs approved by the board shall be obtained prior to each renewal date
to include:
a. three clock hours in social
work ethics once every two years;
b. ten clock hours each year shall be
clinical content, including diagnosis and treatment;
c. to maintain the board approved clinical
supervisor status, obtain three clock hours of continuing education in clinical
supervision every two years, beginning July 1, 2008. These hours must be
pre-approved by a LABSWE-designated pre-approval organization.
M. The following
learning forums are approved for continuing education and must contain content
applicable to social work practice:
1.
educational offerings sponsored by or approved by social work licensing bodies,
state and national professional social work organizations, and schools
accredited by the Council on Social Work Education;
2. educational offerings sponsored by or
offered by entities approved by the Association of Social Work
Boards;
3. should the individual
social worker make the determination that an education offering which is not
pre-approved by one of the approval organizations has content applicable to
social work practice, the Guide for Assessment of Continuing
Education (§317.
P) must be used. This document, as well as
all the relevant course materials, and the certificate of completion should be
maintained in the event you are audited;
4. distance learning (teleconferences,
telecourses, home-study courses and internet courses) sponsored by entities
listed in §317.
M 1, or pre-approved by a LABSWE-authorized
pre-approval organization cannot exceed a total of 10 clock hours of the
required 20 clock hours of continuing education required annually for renewal
of social work credentials;
5.
continuing education activities or academic courses provided by accredited
schools of social work. Academic course work counts per actual class
hour;
6. presentations of content
applicable to social work practice at professional conferences, staff
development meetings, and other appropriate forums in which you are the primary
presenter. These presentations count 1.5 times the actual time of the
presentation, in order to give credit for preparation time. (Example: You
prepare a presentation on Holiday Stress that lasts one hour. You will receive
1.5 hours continuing education credit for this presentation.) Presentation and
preparation time may only be counted once for each topic. Academic preparation
and teaching of social work content (undergraduate or graduate) may be counted
once in the same manner, unless the course has been revised to include
substantially new content and text books. Please be prepared to provide the
exact nature of the content and presentation;
7. attendance at staff development
presentations with content applicable to social work practice (such as staff
meeting with a formal and in-depth presentation on working with clients who
present borderline symptoms, etc.). Please be prepared to provide the
presenter's name, credentials, date of presentation and nature of the content
covered. Case based staffing meetings are not included as appropriate
continuing education experiences;
8. attendance at professional social work
meetings, Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) item writing workshops,
symposiums, panel discussions, or conferences sponsored by the professional
associations suggested in
§317. M.1 Please be
prepared to provide the dates and nature of content or consultation
covered;
9. formal study groups of
three or more participants. Must submit name, address, telephone number and
credentials of group members to the board office. Study groups should maintain
records of topics, attendance, meeting times, and presenters for audit
purposes;
10. contracted
professional consultation which the credentialed social worker receives. Must
provide the paid consultant's name, address, telephone number, credentials, and
the dates and focus of the consultation;
11. preparation of substantial written
material with content applicable to social work practice which requires
literature search, research, and explication of social work content (such as
writing a social work article or book for publication, or a major grant
application). Please provide specific information about the nature of the
written work, the effort required, and the publisher or funding agency. These
activities may be counted for no more than five hours continuing
education;
12. Reading books or
journal articles with content applicable to social work and followed by a
face-to-face discussion as part of an organized workshop. A maximum of one-hour
credit can be obtained from reading a book if the social worker, signs a
statement that he/she read the book, attends the discussion about the book, and
passes the pre-test administered prior to the face-to-face discussion with at
least 70 percent. The one-hour credit for reading is considered distance
learning. Credit for the discussion counts as actual time spent in the
discussion and counts as in-person continuing education.
13. Viewing documentary film with content
applicable to social work practice not deemed for general public and followed
by a face-to-face discussion. Film shall be pre-approved by LABSWE and must
rate a 10 or higher on the guide for assessment of continuing education to
qualify for continuing education credit.
14. social workers should be doing consistent
independent study. However, such study does not meet the goal of increasing
professional relationships and networks. Consequently independent study must
receive pre-approval from the board.
N. The intent of the continuing education
requirement is to enhance competence, not to cause undue expense or burden to
the credentialed social worker. The board encourages social workers to develop
learning options which enhance their abilities to do their various social work
roles. For instance:
1. a study group might
have presentations from professionals who represent different community
resources for clients, or might have formal book reviews and discussions of
substantial social work books;
2. a
staff development meeting might examine recent federal or state policies which
affect social work services, or ways to increase cultural diversity and
sensitivity among staff;
3. a
social work faculty meeting might have a formal presentation on how to work
with students who have diagnosed mental health conditions;
4. an administrator might contract for
consultation on how to deal with staff who are drug or alcohol
impaired.
O. The
following learning situations will not be accepted:
1. banquet speeches;
2. non-social work content courses not
directly related to enhancement of social work skills or performance as a
social work employee. (Example: Computer, financial or business management
courses designed to enhance the business of private practice);
3. staff orientation, administrative staff
meetings and case management meetings;
4. book reports or critiques of professional
journal articles;
5. a continuing
education offering that rates a zero in any category of the Guide for
Assessment of Continuing Education.
P. Guide for Assessment of Continuing
Education. As continuing education events vary across the categories listed
below, the appropriateness of considering them as acceptable continuing
education also varies. An event must receive a total score (combination of all
three sections) of 10 to be "clearly acceptable" for continuing education to
renew a social work credential. If a category (Program Content, Program
Presenter or Program Audience) rates a zero, the education offering is not
acceptable for social work continuing education.
PROGRAM CONTENT
(Clearly Acceptable)
6) Mainstream social work knowledge, skills and values
6) Specialized social work knowledge, skills and
values
4) Information from related fields that is useful for social
work practice
2) Developing areas that may lack strong research, support or
clear application
0) Content that is specifically not acceptable or not related
to social work practice
5) Social worker with appropriate expertise in content
area
4) Related professional with ability to connect content to
social work practice
2) Lay-person (e.g., client) on the impact of
needing/receiving services
0) Presenter with no apparent professional qualifications nor
link to social work practice
4) Social work practitioners/students
4) Interdisciplinary professional audience that may include
social workers
3) Audience presumed to be primarily from another profession
(e.g., nursing)
1) Audience open to the general public
0) Audience presumed to be primarily the general
public
(Clearly Not Acceptable)
Total Score_____(add score from each section to get Total
Score)
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
37:2705(C) and (G) and
37:2714.
