STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5882
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 8, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to mandatory continuing
education for social workers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 7710
2 to read as follows:
3 § 7710. Mandatory continuing education. 1. (a) Each licensed master
4 social worker or licensed clinical social worker required under this
5 article to register triennially with the department to practice in this
6 state, shall comply with the provisions of mandatory continuing educa-
7 tion requirements prescribed in subdivision two of this section, except
8 as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivision. Licensed
9 master social workers or licensed clinical social workers who do not
10 satisfy the mandatory continuing education requirements shall not prac-
11 tice until they have met such requirements, and they have been issued a
12 registration certificate, except that a licensed master social worker or
13 licensed clinical social worker may practice without having met such
14 requirements if he or she is issued a conditional registration certif-
15 icate pursuant to subdivision three of this section.
16 (b) Each licensed master social worker or licensed clinical social
17 worker shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education require-
18 ment for the triennial registration period during which they are first
19 licensed. In accordance with the intent of this section, adjustment to
20 the mandatory continuing education requirement may be granted by the
21 department for reasons of health that are certified by an appropriate
22 health care professional, for extended active duty with the armed forces
23 of the United States, or for other good cause acceptable to the depart-
24 ment which may prevent compliance.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02491-01-3
A. 5882 2
1 (c) A licensed master social worker or a licensed clinical social
2 worker not engaged in practice, as determined by the department, shall
3 be exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement upon the
4 filing of a statement with the department declaring such status. Any
5 licensee who returns to the practice of social work during the triennial
6 registration period shall notify the department prior to reentering the
7 profession and shall meet such mandatory education requirements as shall
8 be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.
9 2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for regis-
10 tration as a licensed master social worker or licensed clinical social
11 worker shall complete a minimum of thirty hours of acceptable formal
12 continuing education. Any licensed master social worker or licensed
13 clinical social worker whose first registration date following the
14 effective date of this section occurs less than three years from such
15 effective date, but on or after January first, two thousand fourteen,
16 shall complete continuing education hours on a prorated basis at the
17 rate of one-half hour per month for the period beginning January first,
18 two thousand sixteen up to the first registration date thereafter. A
19 licensee who has not satisfied the mandatory continuing education
20 requirements shall not be issued a triennial registration certificate by
21 the department and shall not practice unless and until a conditional
22 registration certificate is issued as provided for in subdivision three
23 of this section. Continuing education hours taken during one triennium
24 may not be transferred to a subsequent triennium.
25 3. (a) The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional
26 registration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
27 requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who
28 agrees to make up any deficiencies and complete any additional education
29 which the department may require the fee for such a conditional regis-
30 tration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the trien-
31 nial registration. The duration of such conditional registration shall
32 be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any
33 licensee who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to
34 submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing
35 education and who practices without such registration may be subject to
36 disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of
37 this title.
38 (b) For purposes of this section "acceptable formal education" shall
39 mean formal courses of learning which contribute to professional prac-
40 tice in social work and which meet the standards prescribed by regu-
41 lations of the commissioner. Such formal courses of learning shall
42 include, but not be limited to, collegiate level credit and non-credit
43 courses, professional development programs and technical sessions
44 offered by national, state and local professional associations and other
45 organizations acceptable to the department, and any other organized
46 educational and technical programs acceptable to the department. The
47 department may, in its discretion and as needed to contribute to the
48 health and welfare of the public, require the completion of continuing
49 education courses in specific subjects to fulfill this mandatory contin-
50 uing education requirement. Courses must be taken from a sponsor
51 approved by the department, pursuant to the regulations of the commis-
52 sioner. Licensed master social workers or licensed clinical social work-
53 ers shall maintain adequate documentation of completion of acceptable
54 formal continuing education and shall provide such documentation at the
55 request of the department. Failure to provide such documentation upon
56 the request of the department shall be an act of misconduct subject to
A. 5882 3
1 disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of
2 this title.
3 (c) The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five
4 dollars. Such fee shall be payable on or before the first day of each
5 triennial registration period, and shall be paid in addition to the
6 triennial registration fee required by paragraph (g) of subdivision one
7 and paragraph (g) of subdivision two of section seventy-seven hundred
8 four of this article.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2016. Provided, that effec-
10 tive immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or
11 regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
12 date are authorized and directed to be made and completed by the state
13 education department.
