A few years ago, New York passed laws that allow social workers and mental health practitioners to be licensed. Besides allowing these professionals to be licensed, the law also restricts certain activities to those who have a license. For the most part, the law allows a multi-year transition time for agencies like ours. However, by January 1, 2010 we are required to be in full compliance.

There are five licenses that most affect us at HFA. Two of the licenses are for social workers:
LMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker)
LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)
Three of the licenses are for a group that the law refers to as mental health practitioners:
LCAT (Licensed Creative Arts Therapist)
LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor)
LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist)

We have had two informational meetings about the licensing. We held one in Rochester (videoconferenced to Warsaw) on Feb 1 which was attended by 30 staff, and held another a week later at the Finger Lakes Campus which was attended by 13 staff. During those sessions, staff with licenses provided helpful information to those who are preparing for licensure.

We have collected information on what licenses staff currently have, and what licenses staff plan to get. Here’s what our current numbers reflect:
LMSW—30 have this license, 12 plan to get it
LCSW—34 have this license, 6 plan to get it
LCAT—5 have this license, 6 plan to get it
LMHC—7 have this license, 12 plan to get it
LMFT—2 have this license, 2 plan to get it
Heather Wester will do a series of preparation classes on Thursdays during March and April for staff taking the LMSW, LCSW and LMHC exams.

At one of the meetings there was a suggestion that we create something on our website that would allow staff to share information with each other about licensing issues. We invite staff to use this Blog to share their experiences, pose questions and express concerns. We hope this will be a useful vehicle for information exchange.