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House hearing draws split testimony on bill to remove exam requirement for social work associates
Summary
Supporters said removing the bachelor-level exam will remove a barrier to reimbursement and workforce growth; the Association of Social Work Boards and other witnesses warned the change could lower public protections.
The House opened the public hearing on House Bill 271 (FN), a bill that would remove the requirement that licensed social work associates (LSWAs) sit for the bachelor-level Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) exam. Representative Peter Schmidt, the bill’s prime sponsor, framed the measure as a workforce action intended to expand billing capacity for agencies serving children and adults awaiting psychiatric hospitalization.
Lynn Currier Stanley, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers — New Hampshire chapter, testified in support and described the statutory tier the Legislature created about 3½ years earlier to allow bachelor- and associate-degree holders to become licensed social work associates so agencies could bill third-party insurers for services. Stanley said the exam requirement for the LSWA tier has become “a barrier to people being able to actually access this licensure…
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