House Passes Bill To License Social Workers

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...Under a bill that passed the House Monday by a vote of 74-18, state social workers hired after next July 1st will have to be licensed by a national accrediting organization and those already on staff who have degrees in social work will have three years to obtain their licenses. Representative Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, the sponsor of the bill, says the bill would help restore respect to social workers and, in turn, allow the state’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services to recruit and keep more highly trained social work professionals. State social workers who don’t have social work degrees would not be required to obtain them, nor would they be required to be licensed. The cabinet had been concerned how those social workers, many of whom have bachelor’s degrees in related fields such as psychology, could find time to obtain those degrees.