Below is a version of what Abe Goetz, LMSW, CADC, our chapter board president-elect, said at the public hearing last week. He also emailed it to the public comments email address. He was also quoted in the Iowa Capital Dispatch

NASW-IA statement on proposal to Eliminate and Consolidate Boards and Commissions

The Iowa Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-IA) works to advance our members' professional development and to promote the social work profession. NASW-IA is opposed to the consolidation/merging of the Board of Social Work.

The Board of Social Work oversees the largest amount of licensees available to provide clinical mental health services in the State of Iowa, more than the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists and Licensed Mental Health Counselors combined.

Unlike the Iowa Board of Medicine (19 staff members for 8710 licensees), the Iowa Board of Nursing (22 staff members for 60,567 licensees) or the Iowa Board of Dentistry (8 staff members for approximately 2250 licensees), the staff of the Bureau of Professional Licensure at the Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensure (which includes the Iowa Board of Social Work) serve multiple boards.

The Bureau of Professional Licensure serves 60,909 active licensees with 16.5 staff members. Certainly, there are other personnel from the Division of Inspections and Appeals that support the Professional Boards, but the Bureau of Professional Licensure itself is quite lean.

Additionally, combining boards would make for longer meetings. Combining the boards will not decrease the workload that each profession brings before the Bureau. If for example the Board of Social Work and the Board of Behavioral Science were to be combined, there would still be the same number of complaints to be addressed for each profession. The Iowa Board of Social Work meetings are generally a full business day. The Iowa Board of Behavioral Health meetings are generally the same length. This scenario could actually lead to inefficiencies, as the board meetings might need to be extended to two days long, increasing per diems and leading to the need for hotel stays.

To acquire a social work license, there are different educational requirements, fieldwork, clinical exams and amounts of exams, and a different Code of Ethics at a national level compared to other mental health providers.

Significantly altering the Board of Social Work and the ability to follow the standards can adversely affect Iowa's ability to join the Interstate Compact. The interstate compact will offer more access to mental health services for rural Iowans through telehealth opportunities, provide access to specialized therapists across state borders, it will support relocating spouses and families of veterans, and improve continuity of care for clients.

Further complicating and minimizing the work of the Iowa Board of Social Work will affect the ability to more efficiently license social workers who serve the mental health needs of Iowans which will then further affect the abilities of Iowans to live meaningful lives and contribute to the local economy.

We ask that the Iowa Board of Social Work be removed from the list of recommendations for consolidation."

If you would like to weigh in on this topic, you can still email comments to

BCRCcomments@iowa.gov

Comments should be emailed by 9-17-23

To learn more about this effort, read the Governor’s press release here