Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the limitations in the current state-based licensure system for social worker practitioners, clients, and regulators that calls for an interstate solution such as a licensure compact. It also reviews the models of interstate licensure compacts from other healthcare professions and draws lessons critical for the implementation of the emerging Social Work Licensure Compact. It further reviews empirical evidence on interstate compacts, available only in the nursing literature, and reports that the nurse licensure compact may be related to improvement in nurses’ geographic mobility and public safety but a reduction in nurses’ wages and employment. Building upon these reviews, this paper proposes that social work stakeholders and scholars should focus on monitoring how and to what extent the compact will affect (1) practitioners’ practice mobility and labor market outcomes, (2) public safety and access to social work services, and (3) regulatory efficiency and standardization in the future.
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This research was funded by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). However, the opinions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and may not reflect the official position of the ASWB.
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Kim, J.J., Joo, M.M. & Curran, L. Social Work Licensure Compact: Rationales, Expected Effects, and a Future Research Agenda. Clin Soc Work J 51, 316–327 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-023-00878-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-023-00878-y