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Committee hears bill to adopt Social Work Licensure Compact aimed at improving portability for social workers
Summary
House Bill 1035 would enact the Social Work Licensure Compact in North Dakota to ease occupational licensing portability for social workers, supporters said, helping hospitals, behavioral-health providers, military families and organizations that provide continuity of care across state lines.
The House Human Services Committee received testimony on House Bill 1035, which would create Chapter 43-41.1 in the North Dakota Century Code to adopt the Social Work Licensure Compact.
Senator Mike Wabam, vice chair of the interim Workforce Development Committee, said the compact is intended to reduce obstacles to workforce entry and mobility for social workers by allowing certain licensed social workers to practice in member states without obtaining a separate state license. "We are doing whatever we can to reduce the burdens and the obstacles to workforce development in the state," Wabam said, describing the compact as one tool to address workforce shortages.
Supporters from multiple sectors spoke in favor. Melissa Hauer, general counsel for the North Dakota Hospital Association, said hospitals struggle to meet demand for social workers and supported measures that streamline licensure. Lieutenant Colonel Jay Sheldon, representing the North Dakota Military Commission and the National Guard, described the compact as part of a broader set of interstate compacts that ease licensure portability for military spouses and personnel, noting that more than 20 states had adopted the social-work compact and several others were pending.
Kelvin Benson of Nexus Path Family Healing, a juvenile behavioral health provider, and Greg Kosowski of the Children's Advocacy Centers of North Dakota said the compact would support continuity of care, including telehealth services for children who temporarily relocate out of state. Elizabeth Loes of the North Dakota chapter of the National Association of Social Workers said the chapter supports the bill for the continuity-of-care and workforce benefits it would provide.
No testimony in opposition was recorded during the hearing. Committee members reserved further action; the committee did not take a final vote on the measure during the session recorded in the transcript.
