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2024 Colorado Legislative Advocacy Info

The Chapter advocates on issues affecting our profession in Colorado through a variety of efforts. These efforts include participating in a coalitions and committees, relationship building with staff at government agencies, private organizations, and employer companies; attending and testifying at the DORA Social Work Examiners Board and the Colorado Assembly legislative committees; as well as meeting with local and state politicians.

Important Update: August 20, 2024:

DORA has NOW IMPLEMENTED the new requirement (via passage of SB24-115 - see below for details) to take & pass the CO Jurisprudence Examination to obtain the Clinical Social Worker Candidate (SWC) credential & passage of the ASWB Masters Exam is no longer required to obtain the LSW license.

To learn more about the Jurisprudence Exam, please visit our Jurisprudence Exam Help page on our website. To learn more about the additional changes that DORA has made to licensing/credentialing, please scroll down to the bottom of this page!

The NASW-CO Chapter has worked in partnership with Colorado legislators to run the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact legislation (HB24-1002) & to make necessary updates to regulatory requirements for all types of mental health licensure in CO via SB24-115 during the 2024 Legislative Session -- learn more about both of these exciting legislative efforts below!

SOCIAL WORK INTERSTATE LICENSURE COMPACT

The Council of State Governments (CSG) is partnering with the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) to support the mobility of licensed social workers through the development of a new interstate compact. This additional licensing pathway will facilitate multistate practice among member states and reduce the barriers to license portability.

CURRENT STATUS

Multistate licenses are not yet available & will not be available to apply to obtain for some time (estimated timeframe: 18-24 months as of April 2024).

HB24-1002: Social Work Licensure Compact PASSED its final vote on Friday, 4/19/2024 & was signed by Governor Polis on 6/3/2024! NASW-CO is proud to have led the effort to run & pass this important legislation into law in the state of Colorado.

The model Compact language must be enacted into law by a state to officially join the Social Work Licensure Compact. A minimum of 7 states must pass the Compact legislation and sign it into law before the SW Compact will officially be "activated" and the Compact Commission can be formed to begin the work of overseeing the development of the Compact's Rules, processes, and applications.

On April 12, 2024 Kansas became the seventh state to pass Social Work Interstate Licensing Compact Legislation. That was a threshold that had to be met for states to create a Compact Commission that will govern the compact and ensure coordination between the participating states.

In all, 22 states have now passed the compact legislation and signed it into law. They are are: Missouri on July 7, 2023, followed by South Dakota on February 4, 2024; Utah; Washington (state), and Kentucky in March 2024; Virginia, Nebraska, Vermont, and Maine in April 2024; Georgia, Iowa, Alabama, Ohio, Louisiana, Tennessee and Minnesota in May 2024; Colorado, Louisiana, Arizona and Rhode Island in June 2024; and New Hampshire in July 2024.

The legislation has been introduced and is pending in three other states (North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey) as of mid-July 2024. Additional states can join the Compact Commission after they pass the legislation and sign it into law.

In July 2023, The Council of State Governments hosted a legislative summit for policymakers to learn about the Social Work Compact. Agenda items included a framework for social work regulation, section by section review of the compact, compact perspectives panel, advocacy strategies, and audience Q&A. Access a recording of the meeting here: July 2023 CSG Legislative Summit Video Recording and the Powerpoint slides here: 2023 CSG Legislative Summit Slide Deck.

Learn more about the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact here: https://swcompact.org/.

COLORADO LSW LICENSURE CHANGES & OTHER IMPORTANT UPDATES TO THE MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICE ACT

NASW-CO led a coalition effort in partnership with organizations representing ALL of the types of mental health professionals who are licensed in the state of Colorado (Psychologists, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists, Professional Counselors, & Addiction Counselors) to develop & run SB24-115: Mental Health Professionals Practice Requirements, which was introduced in the CO Senate on 2/5/2024 & is Co-sponsored by Senators Dafna Michaelson Jenet & Jim Smallwood, & Representatives Mary Young & Emily Sirota.

The changes included in this bill attempt to ensure that regulation of practice is standardized & yet also not unduly burdensome to those pursuing professional licensure in the mental health field. The bill makes the following changes to the Mental Health Practice Act & the associated Rules & Regulations for all of the mental health professional types:

Creates & allows for the renewal & re-issuance of Candidate credentials in all MH professional field
- Candidate credentials will become 3-year credentials, with the ability to renew the credential on a 3-year renewal cycle multiple times (with 60-hrs of Continuing Education required for 2nd &/or subsequent renewals of the credential)
Adds a requirement to take & pass the CO Jurisprudence Exam to obtain a Candidate credential in all MH professional fields
Removes outdated & burdensome language required in the Mandatory Disclosure Form used by all MH professional types
Clarifies who may administer certain types of psychological tests under proper supervision
Removes the requirement to take & pass a national licensure exam (the ASWB Masters Exam) to obtain the LSW license in CO
Reinstates the minimum # of clinical supervision hours required for LPC Candidates who are pursuing LPC licensure
- 50 hours of clinical supervision will be required for every 1,000 hours of post-degree work experience (a total minimum of 100 hours of clinical supervision accrued over the course of a minimum of 2 years)
Clarifies the ability of a professional counseling student to continuing seeing clients from their internship/practicum site while in their final semester of their graduate program (after they have completed their official internship/practicum requirements for the program)

SB24-115 PASSED its final vote on 4/9/2024 & was signed by Governor Polis in Greeley, CO on 5/22/2024!

Here’s a quick overview of where certain pieces of the bill’s changes (to licensure & credentialing requirements for MH professionals) stand:

Addition of a Colorado Jurisprudence Exam requirement to obtain the SWC (Clinical Social Worker Candidate) credential (& all other MH professional Candidate credentials):
- NOW IN EFFECT
- This has been added to the SWC application & other MH Candidate applications & is now “live”
- Reminder: passage of the CO Jurisprudence Exam is only valid for a 1-year period (do not take the exam more than 1 year in advance of submitting an application for a credential or license)
Removal of ASWB Masters Exam requirement to obtain the LSW (Licensed Social Worker) license in Colorado:
- NOW IN EFFECT
- DORA has updated the LSW application online to remove the requirement to enter an ASWB licensure exam passage date & as of mid-August 2024, DORA began allowing applicants to click-past/skip the question on the “Licensure by Examination” application re: providing an ASWB licensure exam passage date (the question has been made “optional” on the application instead of “required”, but it remains on the application for those who wish to submit proof of ASWB exam passage)
Making the SWC (& other MH Candidate credentials) a renewable credential:
- PARTIALLY IN EFFECT
- DORA has automatically updated ALL currently existing Candidate credentials to have a new expiration/renewal date of 12/31/2027 & this change is actively showing up in DORA’s “Check a License” portal (linked here: Verify a License)
- DORA is working on creating an application & process for renewal of candidate credentials that will be used in the future (when the extended credentials begin approaching their new expiration date of 12/31/2027)
- Of note, if/when current Candidates apply for renewal of their Candidate Credential in the future (in December 2027 & beyond), they will be required to provide proof of Colorado Jurisprudence Exam passage before being permitted to renew their Candidate Credential

Consider joining NASW as a Member (learn more about ALL the Membership Benefits here: NASW Membership Benefits) to support our legislative efforts & advocacy for all social workers!