Chapter Highlights

NASW Iowa Chapter (NASW-IA) Executive Director, Denise Rathman, worked with the NASW Foundation and the University of Iowa School of Social Work, in 2018-2019, to assess the Iowa social work labor force. The initiative was funded by a generous $50,000 grant from the Telligen Community Initiative.

Two key outcomes of the initiative, Rathman said, are that NASW-IA now has “an excellent action plan that will serve as a roadmap as we work to collect the data we need to do our advocacy work for the profession. We have a better understanding of why some organizations don’t always look to hire social workers.

In May 2019, Colorado Gov. Polis signed into law two bills that will expand the hiring of social workers and other mental health professionals in state schools. The bills are the Kindergarten through Fifth Grade Social and Emotional Health Act and Professional Behavioral Health Services for Schools.

The NASW Colorado Chapter lobbied heavily for passage of these bills.

House Bill 2569 (Occupational Licensing; Reciprocity) was signed into law. This legislation requires a “regulating entity to issue an occupational license to a person who establishes residence in Arizona if the person is currently licensed or certified in good standing in at least one other state in the discipline applied for and at the same practice level as determined by the regulating entity and if the person meets a list of other specified requirements.”

The New York State Legislature voted to pass legislation A.576/S.1046,which will prohibit licensed mental health professionals from engaging in efforts to change a minor’s sexual orientation, gender expression, and/or gender identity, otherwise referred to as “conversion” or “reparative” therapy.

This legislative victory is a long time coming. NASW-NYS has long condemned the use of conversion therapy and for years, we continued to push for passage of legislation that would ban this dangerous and outdated practice.