NASW-NC Position on Recent Proposal to Consolidate Licensing Boards

Recent Proposal to Consolidate Licensing Boards

NASW-NC has been following the Occupational Licensing Board Subcommittee at the North Carolina General Assembly and their recent proposal to consolidate licensing boards in North Carolina. Conversations of consolidation have occurred over the past two years and NASW-NC has been meeting with legislators interested in the topic over the past two years to educate them on the licenses and certifications issued for social workers. This subcommittee was tasked with reviewing all occupational licensing boards in the state and coming up with recommendations for consolidation and possible elimination in an attempt to cut down on the number of licenses issued in the state.

Last week, the committee released their full report entitled Amend APA/Sunset Occupational Licensing Bds which can be found here. Prior to the report’s release, all committee members received a position on consolidation through our coalition work with the Professional Association Council. You can view the position statement here.

While the North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensing Board was not on the list of boards to be consolidated, the report still has major impacts on the social work profession and those with more than one license. The North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board and the North Carolina Marriage and Family Therapy Licensure Board were both proposed to be consolidated with the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors.

Additionally, the following licensing requirements are listed for total elimination under the report:
Fee Based Pastoral Counselors
Recreational Counseling
Employee Assistance Professionals

Further, the report issued by the committee is asking all licensing boards to consider issuing only one license per board. This has harmful impacts on all professionals. Social Work issues two licenses: the LCSW and the LCSWA. We would not want to lose either license as both are important to the profession and clients served in our state.

NASW-NC will continue to work on this issue with the committee. The report is in a proposed bill that will most likely be introduced during the 2016 Legislative Short Session set to begin April 25^th and we will advocate against the bill.

Thank you for your NASW-NC membership. Without your membership, this advocacy on your behalf would not be possible.