NY State Senate Bill 2023-S5975

Senate Bill S5975

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Repeals the requirement that applicants must pass an examination in order to qualify as a licensed master social worker

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to higher education
Mar 24, 2023	referred to higher education

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2023-S5975 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5291
Current Committee:: Senate Higher Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Rpld §7704 sub 1 ¶(d), Ed L

2023-S5975 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Repeals the requirement that applicants must pass an examination in order to qualify as a licensed master social worker.

2023-S5975 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5975

SPONSOR: BROUK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to repeal paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 7704 of the
education law requiring applicants to pass an examination in order to
qualify as a licensed master social worker

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Repeals the requirement that applicants must pass an examination in
order to qualify as a licensed master social worker

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill repeals paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of
section 7704 of the education law requiring applicants to pass an exam-
ination in order to qualify as a licensed master social worker.

Section two sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York State is experiencing several simultaneous social crises - an
increase of immigrants from Latin America, increasing homelessness, and
a mental health and overdose crisis that is severely impacting many
communities. Social workers will be the ones who deliver crucial
services and 80% of them will be in our communities of color. To meet
these challenges New York must have a large, competent, and diverse
workforce of social workers because research posits that the most effec-
tive social workers speak the languages of their clients and reflect
their experiences.

We must address barriers to expanding our mental health workforce,
including barriers that prevent diverse social workers from becoming
clinicians. For this reason, it is imperative that New York State
license social workers at the MSW entry level who meet all New York
State requirements for licensure other than the Association of Social
Work Boards (ASWB) exam.

Per a 2022 ASWB Exam Pass Rate Analysis, in New York State only 49% of
Black social workers and 63% of Latinx social workers pass the exam on
their first try as compared to 86% of white social workers. This has
resulted in fewer bilingual and social workers of color entering the
workforce, including the mental health sector to meet the service needs
of New Yorkers. Illinois and Rhode Island have already passed similar
statutes because of the long history of racial disparities in the exam's
pass rates. Additionally, the fees, humiliation, and salary and
promotion implications for social work graduates are very burdensome.
Due to the 2022 ASWB report, the National Association of Social Workers
released a statement in early February 2023 opposing ASWB social work
licensing exams.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2023-S5975 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5975
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 24, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BROUK  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to repeal paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 7704  of  the
   education  law requiring applicants to pass an examination in order to
   qualify as a licensed master social worker

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  (d)  of  subdivision  1 of section 7704 of the
 education law is REPEALED.
   § 2.  This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09236-01-3

Comments

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baysquad1

10 months ago

Repeal this bill. The license exa, is not the same as a standardized test like the SAT, GRE, MCAT. The exam assesses the very specific knowledge of a person to provide a wide variety of services to individuals, families, patients, schools, hospitals, many types of facilities. Grad schools do not test for the same things. Grad schools term papers do not assess one’s knowledge. Term papers asses one ability to research a topic and write a report. A term paper does not diagnose. It does not
Assess for suicide. It does not provide crisis response intervention. It does not provide empathy. It does not reframe anger and build solutions,. Removing the exam removes the authenticity of the license. Social workers FOUGHT decades to have the exam and licensing because we are routinely marginalized, devalued by other professions. We are told we aren’t qualified . We are minimized, rejected, insulted, The exam legitimizes the license, remove the exam and you will set the social work profession back decades.

dominicgallo27

9 months ago

I am sorry to say this but you have no idea what you are talking about. An LMSW is practically a provisional license when compared to an LCSW because of the limitations in practice. An exam to attain an LMSW is a joke as it is just asking you to recall what you had learned from the graduate program you had just graduated. A program that is already accredited by multiple social work bodies. A multiple-choice exam proves nothing in the way of suicide assessment, crisis response, or any of the other skills that you stated.
Maybe you were confused as to what this bill was implying. It will not affect the process of getting clinical licensure which still requires supervised hours under a licensed clinician and your beloved exams.
The LMSW exam provides nothing but barriers and should be abolished.

Diego.bustamante49

9 months ago

The LMSW lets you do both the micro and macro duties of a social worker but only under supervision. LCSW allows you to do so unsupervised.

The proposal doesn’t really doesn’t say HOW it is biased. All it is saying is that minorities are passing it at a lower rate, which is not good for the communities they are trying to serve. However, who is to say that minorities aren’t passing due to the school system’s failure to adequately prepare people of color setting out into the world of higher education. As we know, schools in the United States are still severely segregated by socioeconomic status. Or even the universities that we are happily shelling out thousands of dollars to. Hey if the exam is biased as a Latino I’d like to know how. So far no one has been able to give me a clear answer. However, I still think what I said deserves consideration. Is the broken school system to blame? And if it turns out to be so, how are they going to solve it.

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