September 2022 Chapter Update
NASW-WA invites you to meet our Chapter leadership and committee members, make public comments on the licensure compact draft, and more! The Chapter continues to seek volunteers to serve on Committees. Click here for more information.

Jeremy Arp, MSW, ACSW
Executive Director, NASW-WA
(he/him)
Meet Your Chapter Leadership Thursday, September 15th!

The Membership Engagement Committee invites you to our Virtual Meet & Greet for the NASW Washington Chapter on Thursday, September 15th at 6:30pm. Join us for the opportunity to meet your Chapter leadership from the NASW-WA Board of Directors and our committees! You'll hear from board and committee members about their roles and areas of practice, goals for this year, and what motivated our members to take on such an active role in the chapter. Click here to RSVP!
Social Work Licensure Compact: Submit Your Public Comments!

The social work compact development process has been led by the Council of State Governments (CSG), through funding from the Department of Defense. The licensure compact will facilitate multistate practice among member states and reduce the barriers to license portability. The first draft of the compact was released in July 2022, and is still open for public comment. We expect that the comment period will close soon. Read the compact draft at https://compacts.csg.org/compact-updates/social-work/.

NASW developed a set of Frequently Asked Questions related to the development of an interstate licensure compact here. To view the video from the event NASW hosted on July 26th, click here. To view the video from NASW's event on August 31, click here.

For your consideration and to inform comments on the draft compact, note that the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) released information that confirms racial disparities in passage rates that our association and others are very concerned about. Read the information from ASWB here. Note that the current draft of the compact includes an exam for all levels of social work licensure.

Check compacts.csg.org for additional details including weekly information sessions. CSG will reconvene representatives from ASWB, CSWA and NASW throughout the stakeholder review phase to assess responses and make necessary edits to the draft. The editing process will continue until stakeholder suggestions are thoroughly addressed.
From the WA Department of Health: DC:0-5 Assessment Tool for Licensed Behavioral Health Agencies

The Department of Health (department) released a Policy Statement regarding the department’s intent to allow Behavioral Health Agencies (BHA) licensed under Chapter 246-341 WAC to use either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) or the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC:0-5) when completing a diagnostic assessment statement as required in WAC 246-341-0640

The current clinical record content documentation standards in WAC 246-341-0640 require a licensed BHA to use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). In 2021, the legislature passed Second Substitute House Bill 1325, amending RCW 74.09.520 to require Apple Health mental health professionals to use the current version of the DC:0-5 diagnostic classification system for mental health assessment and diagnosis of children from birth through five years of age for billing purposes.

Department rules are currently being amended to include both the DSM-5 and DC:0-5. Until the rules are amended, the department will accept diagnostic assessment tools for the purposes of completing the diagnostic assessment statement as required in WAC 246-341-0640.
PACE Activities: August Endorsements

The Chapter PACE (Political Action for Candidate Election) Committee endorses candidates in statewide elections who support legislation and policies that are consistent with the goals of the social work profession. The Chapter PACE Committee completed a second round of endorsements in August - with more candidates under review in September! View our endorsements list here.

PACE endorses campaigns and donates to candidates, especially those in swing districts or potentially close elections. Each election, PACE seeks donations from NASW-WA members for this effort. Please consider making a donation to PACE today at https://www.nasw-wa.org/make-a-pace-donation.

Thank you in advance for your donation!
Legislative Alerts


Urge Your U.S. Senators to Pass the Equality Act (S.393)

NASW affirms that the fundamental human rights of LGBTQ+ people must be protected from any and all efforts to limit full participation in civic life and related activities that effectively enhance social, physical, and mental health and well-being. That is why we support the Equality Act (S.393), which has previously passed in the House of Representatives (H.R. 5). Click here for more information and to take action!

Urge Your Congressional Lawmakers to Pass the Simplifying and Strengthening Public Service Loan Forgiveness Act

Despite the incredibly valuable services that social workers provide, access to student loan debt relief has remained largely out of reach for this workforce. That is why NASW supports legislation like the Simplifying and Strengthening Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Act of 2022 (H.R. 8330/S. 4345) which would make permanent the recent improvements to the PSLF program under the Biden Administration, and would implement other commonsense reforms to help America’s public servants lower the cost of higher education.
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunity! Social Workers Needed for Seattle/King County Clinic

Seattle/King County Clinic is preparing to open its doors at Seattle Center on Oct. 20-23 to provide eye exams and prescription eyeglasses free of charge to more than 1,000 people in need. To meet this ambitious goal, organizers are recruiting hundreds of volunteers for the undertaking. Although no dental or medical care will be offered this year, after more than two years on hiatus, the clinic still expects the interest from prospective patients to be high. The organizers outlined a need for social workers for all days of the clinic: Read more here.

To find out more about Seattle/King County Clinic, visit seattlecenter.org/skcclinic or call 206-684-7200.
FEATURED UPCOMING EVENTS
Call for Presenters

Are you interested in presenting a workshop for NASW-WA? We have an open call for presenters (live, virtual, or recorded). Click here for more information about what we're looking forhttps://www.nasw-wa.org/request-for-proposals.
Chapter Classifieds

NASW-WA offers a space on our website for text-only classified ads. Go to: https://www.nasw-wa.org/classifieds.

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