Social Work Profession Awarded Federal Grant to Develop Interstate Licensure Compact

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), as part of an initiative to promote licensure portability for military spouses, has awarded a $500,000 grant for the development of an interstate licensure compact for social workers.

A compact is a legal agreement between states that will allow licensed social workers to practice in those states participating in the compact. Currently, licensed social workers must seek and receive licensure in each state in which they wish to practice.

“NASW is grateful to the DOD for recognizing the need for license portability for the many military spouses who are social workers, and for greater access to social work services,” says Angelo McClain, PhD, LICSW, CEO of NASW. “NASW is proud to be a leader in these efforts and ensure a compact framework which reflects the NASW Code of Ethics and meets the needs of both social workers and the clients we serve.”

The grant, awarded through a competitive proposal process, will be provided to the Council of State Governments (CSG), which will oversee the development of the compact. The Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) will be the lead on the effort; NASW and the Clinical Social Work Association (CSWA) will be partners. The DOD funding will cover the initial 12- to 16-month phase of a multiyear process to implement a compact. The compact legislation must then be enacted in each state that wishes to participate. NASW chapters will play a key role in advocacy efforts to enact compact legislation in the states. A plan for collaborating on and funding the subsequent phases of this initiative will be developed by NASW, CSWA, ASWB and other national social work organizations.

An interstate licensure compact for the social work profession will do the following:

improve client access to social work services;
increase opportunities to practice across state lines (e.g., teletherapy);
enhance mobility of social workers and their families;
support spouses of relocating military families;
improve continuity of care;
preserve and strengthen the state licensure system; and
enhance the exchange of licensure verification, investigatory, and disciplinary information between member states.

Over the next 12 to 16 months, CSG will lead social work stakeholders through a consensus-based process to develop the licensure compact language. Stakeholders include current social work licensees, association leaders, regulators, and subject matter experts, and state legislators, among others. There will be opportunities for input from the field.

To learn more, access the official announcements from the DOD and the CSG.

— Source: NASW

Howard University Announces Recipient of New Endowed Professorship

The Howard University School of Social Work is pleased to announce the appointment of Mildred “Mit” C. Joyner, DPS, MSW, LCSW, as the inaugural John E. & Barbara S. Jacob Distinguished Endowed Professor. The endowed professorship was established to support outstanding faculty-led initiatives at the School of Social Work by civil rights leader and Howard University Board of Trustees Chairman Emeritus John E. Jacob, PhD, and his wife, Howard University alumna Barbara S. Jacob.

“The School of Social Work is grateful for the extraordinary support of John E. and Barbara S. Jacob,” says Sandra Crewe, PhD, dean of the School of Social Work. “Their $500,000 donation during the School of Social Work’s 75th anniversary in 2015 was indicative of their continuing commitment to social justice and the important role of social workers as leaders. The selection of Mildred ‘Mit’ Joyner as the inaugural distinguished professor allows the opportunity to continue the momentum of the civil rights era through the development of new leaders exposed to the accomplishments and contributions of the donors and the expertise of our inaugural recipient.”

As the inaugural John E. & Barbara S. Jacob Distinguished Endowed Professor, Joyner will develop the first cohort of Howard University Social Work Social Justice (HUSWSJ) fellows. Ten students will be selected to participate in a six-month interactive learning and practice collaboration to conduct research on social work and social justice leadership. Under the direction of Joyner, HUSWSJ fellows will examine current leadership trends and the future of the social work profession’s commitment to social justice at the intersections of equity, antiracism, social well-being, and the social determinants in traditional and nontraditional social work practice settings.

“I am elated to serve as the inaugural John E. & Barbara S. Jacob Distinguished Professor at Howard University School of Social Work,” Joyner says. “Both John E. and Barbara S. Jacob are Howard University alumni who have excelled in their respective careers and have served as leaders in their community. It is an honor and privilege to accept a professorship named after and funded by these two exemplars.”

Joyner is president of NASW, which has 55 chapters throughout the United States and its territories. She also serves as president of the North America Region of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), which includes Canada and the United States, and is a member of IFSW’s Executive Committee. In 2011, Joyner, a full professor of social work, received the emeritus rank with full rights and privileges from the West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where she served as a member of the faculty for three decades. Later in 2011, she retired from the university and created MCJ Consultants, which specializes in organizational change and achieving equity. Joyner earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, and a Master of Social Work in planning, policy, and administration from the Howard University School of Social Work.

Jacob is a Howard University alumnus and civil rights leader who served as president and CEO of the National Urban League from 1982 to 1994. He became a member of the Howard University Board of Trustees in 1973 and served as chairman of the board from 1989 until 1991. He is a retired director and executive vice president of global communications for Anheuser-Busch Companies, a $15 billion, St. Louis–based global corporation.

“As a Howard graduate of the class of 1971, I am elated that I have the opportunity and privilege to return home to the Mecca,” Joyner continues. “To share my knowledge and skills with social work students, who are all destined to serve as leaders in their chosen career path, is indeed a gift. My job is to give students confidence in knowing they each have the ability to hurdle all the obstacles that they will face.”

— Source: Howard University