(The Center Square) – Social workers who move to Virginia will have an easier time continuing their work in the commonwealth thanks to regulatory changes from the Virginia Board of Social Work.
“I am very pleased that the Board of Social Work has taken this step,” Board of Social Work Executive Director Jaime Hoyle said in a statement. “The Board is helping address the critical need for mental health professionals, while maintaining the accountability that comes from requiring a state license.”
The process of obtaining a social worker license in Virginia will be easier if one is already a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed master’s social worker or a licensed baccalaureate social worker in a different state. Per the new rules, an applicant will only need to provide verification of a license in good standings in another state and to provide verification of passing the examination in another state as long as it is the same level of licensure being sought in the commonwealth.
“There is a critical shortage in Virginia of mental health professionals, and this is a significant step by the Board of Social Work to help address this shortage,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “A priority of my administration is to reduce state regulations and regulatory barriers, and this action shows how regulations can be streamlined to remove barriers to practice with the goal of bringing more mental health professionals to the Commonwealth.”
A Virginia Health Care Foundation report from 2021 found Virginia ranked 39th in mental health care when compared to every other state and nearly 70% of localities are designated as mental health professional shortage areas, according to the federal government. Those areas account for about 37% of the statewide population. The governor’s office noted two localities have no licensed behavioral health professionals and 35 do not have any trained behavioral health prescribers.
“We’ve heard how hard it is for social workers who move to Virginia to get licensed, and we thank the Board of Social Work for this important change,” Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Nelson Smith said in a statement. “Our plans to strengthen the behavioral health workforce include strategies like this to retain staff, attract more workers, and build a pipeline for the future.”
About four months ago, Youngkin created the Office of Regulatory Management with the express goal of cutting 25% of Virginia’s regulatory requirements. The agency is meant to review every Virginia regulation for its impact on local governments, the regulated community and private citizens and offer recommendations on how to best reduce the regulatory burden.
