Greetings social work colleagues,
I write this letter, my final President’s letter, from the Clinical Social Work Association (CSWA) Summit in Washington, DC where I spent the morning lobbying for several issues important to us clinical social workers: low MA reimbursement levels for social workers causing many to exclude clients with Medicare; the continuation of telemental health beyond the end of this year; problems with Medicare Advantage plans and the Interstate Compact. It has been an eventful, if tiring day which I have enjoyed greatly.
In April we met as CSWA State affiliates and got ‘state of the union’ updates as we participated in a round table discussion of the positive things going on in our states and identified areas of need. We got legislative and policy updates including the Interstate Compact from Laura Groshong, the CSWA Director of Policy and Practice which I will report on at a later date.
My term as President will end this fall when Colleen Starkey takes over the helm. I find myself both excited and relieved to be moving on to the Past President. I will fill that role for the next two years as I continue to support our organization. In that role, I expect to continue the good work Mitch Leppicello has done in Board recruitment while I take on other initiatives including reaching out more consistently to graduating MSWs around the State and developing consistent policies to guide the work contractors provide for our organization.
Currently, we are seeking a Student Rep for the Board. We invite a current graduate student to join us and be a conduit between the graduate programs and MSCSW. If you know of someone currently in graduate school who might be interested, please be in touch with me or Mitch AND as importantly, if you are interested in becoming more involved, we welcome your participation. As a volunteer Board, we are always looking for volunteers whether it be for a Board position or a specific initiative or event. Be in touch!
Some highlights of this past year at MSCSW have come in the areas of Education and Legislative efforts. Our finely tuned Education Committee continues to present monthly webinars that are thoughtful, timely, consistently well-attended, and receive positive reviews. This small committee led by Monica Sowden, continues to develop processes and procedures that allow a diversity of presenters’ efforts to share their professional expertise in an easily accessible format.
Later in 2024, the Education Committee is planning to present some in-person or hybrid seminars and reach out more broadly to include outstate providers, a long-held goal of ours. I thank the Committee Members, Mark LaChappelle, Sandi Laski, and Colleen Starkey for their commitment to these efforts.
Under the steady guidance of our Legislative Consultant, Jenny Arneson, and the Chair of MSCSW’s Legislative Committee, Jim Stoltz, working collaboratively with the Coalition of Licensed Social Workers and NASW, the Interstate Compact has been passed through several necessary stages at the State Legislature in a bill that combines several other interstate compacts. We are hopeful this will pass this session.
This is great news for clinical social workers wishing to become licensed in other states and although it will take another year or so to become a reality, we look forward to becoming more able to provide continuity of care for our clients. Jim continues attending the Mental Health Legislative Network meetings which allows us to be more engaged with them and their efforts.
The Membership Committee is led by Katie Marks, Bev Caruso, and Kimberly DeBeer, with the assistance of Sarah Schuh. Membership puts out this lovely e-newsletter, puts on Ethics Seminars four times each year, and manages two, Low Fee Supervision Groups offered by Carol Schreier, Mike Chovanec, and Kimberly DeBeer which have recently been full. I am grateful for their consistent attention to matters of great importance to our membership. The Committee on Law- Clay Sankey, Ellen Luepker, Dan Hinderaker, and Allyson Hayward- offer legal consultation to members as another perk of your membership.
The Board achieved a personal goal of mine and held a retreat in October when several Board members gave up a Saturday to thoughtfully consider MSCSW’s focus and goals. The time helped us define several initiatives that we continue working on such as updating board members’ job descriptions and creating better onboarding procedures, increasing outreach to new MSWs and our outstate colleagues, and enhancing board recruitment. Increasing our membership was a challenge given us two years ago and I’m pleased to report that it continues to grow and remains high, 453 at last count, up from 318 a year ago.
MSCSW, as the State affiliate of the National Clinical Social Work Association, continues to represent your professional interests to other local and national organizations, and our State legislators. Our goal continues to be to provide ongoing legislative updates and calls to action and facilitate communication among members via the listserve and regular e-newsletters.
We continue seeking ways to reach our outstate members more regularly so stay tuned for more information on that front!
Our 2024 Annual Meeting will be held in September again this year on Thursday, September 26th, location, TBD. Please watch for more information from our Membership Committee on those details.
Thank you all for your contributions to the field of clinical social work and your continued membership in our organization.
