La. Admin. Code tit. 46 § XXV-317

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section XXV-317 - Continuing Education Requirements

A. The purpose of continuing education is to protect the public by:

1. ensuring that the practitioner has formal opportunities to upgrade and update professional knowledge and skills; and

2. encouraging the practitioner to learn from other professionals; and

3. assisting the professional to expand his/her professional resource network.

B. Consequently, approved learning situations emphasize opportunities for professional interaction and relationship-building.

C. Any credentialed social worker may be audited. It is important to keep good records of continuing education experiences for at least one year and to be able to explain the nature of the content covered.

D. Random audits are done to ensure that the continuing education mandate is applied fairly to all credentialed social workers.

E. For audit purposes, only certificates of attendance, sign-in sheets signed by a representative of the sponsoring organization, or an original letter from the sponsoring organization will be accepted as proof of attendance for continuing education events.

F. The collection period for continuing education hours is July 1, through June 30 of each fiscal year.

1. Continuing Education Waivers for Declared Emergencies. In response to a disaster or emergency declared by the appropriate authority or governor of the state, continuing education units required for renewal of a license may be waived by the board.

2. Continuing Education Extensions for Extenuating Circumstances. In response to extenuating circumstances, the time frame mandated to complete continuing education units required for renewal of a license, certification, or registration may be extended by the board.

3. The board may grant a social worker approval to complete more than 10 hours of continuing education via distance learning in the case of debilitating, disabling, or other medical conditions making travel impossible or extremely inconvenient. The licensee shall provide satisfactory documentation for the grant of approval.

4. The board may grant a social worker approval to complete more than 10 hours of continuing education via distance learning if the social worker resides out of United States territories where no in-person continuing education is available. The licensee shall provide satisfactory documentation for the grant of approval.

G. Continuing education hours are pro-rated as follows during the initial year of registration, certification or licensure.

Month Received	Hours Required
April, May, June	0
July, August, September	20
October, November, December	15
January, February, March	10

H. Continuing education hours collected in the month of June may be used for the current collection period or may be carried over to the next collection period.

I. In the case of extenuating circumstances, when the individual does not fulfill the continuing education requirements, the individual shall submit a written request for extension to the board for consideration.

J. Continuing Education Requirements for the Registered Social Worker

1. Twenty clock hours of continuing education in programs approved by the board shall be obtained prior to each renewal date including three clock hours in social work ethics once every two years.

K. Continuing Education Requirements for Licensed Master Social Worker and Certified Social Worker

1. Twenty clock hours of continuing education in programs approved by the board shall be obtained prior to each renewal date, including three clock hours in social work ethics once every two years.

L. Continuing Education Requirements for Licensed Clinical Social Worker

1. Twenty clock hours of continuing education in programs approved by the board shall be obtained prior to each renewal date to include:

a. three clock hours in social work ethics once every two years;

b. ten clock hours each year shall be clinical content, including diagnosis and treatment;

c. to maintain the board approved clinical supervisor status, obtain three clock hours of continuing education in clinical supervision every two years, beginning July 1, 2008. These hours must be pre-approved by a LABSWE-designated pre-approval organization.

M. The following learning forums are approved for continuing education and must contain content applicable to social work practice:

1. educational offerings sponsored by or approved by social work licensing bodies, state and national professional social work organizations, and schools accredited by the Council on Social Work Education;

2. educational offerings sponsored by or offered by entities approved by the Association of Social Work Boards;

3. should the individual social worker make the determination that an education offering which is not pre-approved by one of the approval organizations has content applicable to social work practice, the Guide for Assessment of Continuing Education (§317. P) must be used. This document, as well as all the relevant course materials, and the certificate of completion should be maintained in the event you are audited;

4. distance learning (teleconferences, telecourses, home-study courses and internet courses) sponsored by entities listed in §317. M 1, or pre-approved by a LABSWE-authorized pre-approval organization cannot exceed a total of 10 clock hours of the required 20 clock hours of continuing education required annually for renewal of social work credentials;

5. continuing education activities or academic courses provided by accredited schools of social work. Academic course work counts per actual class hour;

6. presentations of content applicable to social work practice at professional conferences, staff development meetings, and other appropriate forums in which you are the primary presenter. These presentations count 1.5 times the actual time of the presentation, in order to give credit for preparation time. (Example: You prepare a presentation on Holiday Stress that lasts one hour. You will receive 1.5 hours continuing education credit for this presentation.) Presentation and preparation time may only be counted once for each topic. Academic preparation and teaching of social work content (undergraduate or graduate) may be counted once in the same manner, unless the course has been revised to include substantially new content and text books. Please be prepared to provide the exact nature of the content and presentation;

7. attendance at staff development presentations with content applicable to social work practice (such as staff meeting with a formal and in-depth presentation on working with clients who present borderline symptoms, etc.). Please be prepared to provide the presenter's name, credentials, date of presentation and nature of the content covered. Case based staffing meetings are not included as appropriate continuing education experiences;

8. attendance at professional social work meetings, Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) item writing workshops, symposiums, panel discussions, or conferences sponsored by the professional associations suggested in §317. M.1 Please be prepared to provide the dates and nature of content or consultation covered;

9. formal study groups of three or more participants. Must submit name, address, telephone number and credentials of group members to the board office. Study groups should maintain records of topics, attendance, meeting times, and presenters for audit purposes;

10. contracted professional consultation which the credentialed social worker receives. Must provide the paid consultant's name, address, telephone number, credentials, and the dates and focus of the consultation;

11. preparation of substantial written material with content applicable to social work practice which requires literature search, research, and explication of social work content (such as writing a social work article or book for publication, or a major grant application). Please provide specific information about the nature of the written work, the effort required, and the publisher or funding agency. These activities may be counted for no more than five hours continuing education;

12. Reading books or journal articles with content applicable to social work and followed by a face-to-face discussion as part of an organized workshop. A maximum of one-hour credit can be obtained from reading a book if the social worker, signs a statement that he/she read the book, attends the discussion about the book, and passes the pre-test administered prior to the face-to-face discussion with at least 70 percent. The one-hour credit for reading is considered distance learning. Credit for the discussion counts as actual time spent in the discussion and counts as in-person continuing education.

13. Viewing documentary film with content applicable to social work practice not deemed for general public and followed by a face-to-face discussion. Film shall be pre-approved by LABSWE and must rate a 10 or higher on the guide for assessment of continuing education to qualify for continuing education credit.

14. social workers should be doing consistent independent study. However, such study does not meet the goal of increasing professional relationships and networks. Consequently independent study must receive pre-approval from the board.

N. The intent of the continuing education requirement is to enhance competence, not to cause undue expense or burden to the credentialed social worker. The board encourages social workers to develop learning options which enhance their abilities to do their various social work roles. For instance:

1. a study group might have presentations from professionals who represent different community resources for clients, or might have formal book reviews and discussions of substantial social work books;

2. a staff development meeting might examine recent federal or state policies which affect social work services, or ways to increase cultural diversity and sensitivity among staff;

3. a social work faculty meeting might have a formal presentation on how to work with students who have diagnosed mental health conditions;

4. an administrator might contract for consultation on how to deal with staff who are drug or alcohol impaired.

O. The following learning situations will not be accepted:

1. banquet speeches;

2. non-social work content courses not directly related to enhancement of social work skills or performance as a social work employee. (Example: Computer, financial or business management courses designed to enhance the business of private practice);

3. staff orientation, administrative staff meetings and case management meetings;

4. book reports or critiques of professional journal articles;

5. a continuing education offering that rates a zero in any category of the Guide for Assessment of Continuing Education.

P. Guide for Assessment of Continuing Education. As continuing education events vary across the categories listed below, the appropriateness of considering them as acceptable continuing education also varies. An event must receive a total score (combination of all three sections) of 10 to be "clearly acceptable" for continuing education to renew a social work credential. If a category (Program Content, Program Presenter or Program Audience) rates a zero, the education offering is not acceptable for social work continuing education.

PROGRAM CONTENT

(Clearly Acceptable)

6) Mainstream social work knowledge, skills and values

6) Specialized social work knowledge, skills and values

4) Information from related fields that is useful for social work practice

2) Developing areas that may lack strong research, support or clear application

0) Content that is specifically not acceptable or not related to social work practice

5) Social worker with appropriate expertise in content area

4) Related professional with ability to connect content to social work practice

2) Lay-person (e.g., client) on the impact of needing/receiving services

0) Presenter with no apparent professional qualifications nor link to social work practice

4) Social work practitioners/students

4) Interdisciplinary professional audience that may include social workers

3) Audience presumed to be primarily from another profession (e.g., nursing)

1) Audience open to the general public

0) Audience presumed to be primarily the general public

(Clearly Not Acceptable)

Total Score_____(add score from each section to get Total Score)

La. Admin. Code tit. 46, § XXV-317

Promulgated by the Department of Health and Hospitals, Board of Certified Social Work Examiners, LR 26:305 (February 2000), amended LR 29:2385 (November 2003), LR 34:248 (February 2008), LR 37:2618 (September 2011), Amended by the Department of Health, Board of Social Work Examiners, LR 43959 (5/1/2017).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 37:2705(C) and (G) and 37:2714.