An interstate social work licensing bill took effect Friday, but Ohio is still at least a year from allowing its social workers to meet with clients who live outside of the Buckeye State and vice versa.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed Sen. Kristina Roegner’s (R-Hudson) Senate Bill 90 into law in May. It enters Ohio into the Social Work Licensure Compact that will eventually allow social workers in participating states to get multistate licenses.
So far, 15 other states have joined, including nearby Kentucky and Tennessee, according to an Ohio Legislative Service Commission analysis.
It comes at a time when the need for behavioral health care in the state far outweighs the availability, said Practice Associate Liam Strausbaugh with Ohio’s National Association of Social Workers.
“There are waitlists for months for people to be able to get in and get seen, particularly for people who are seeking any sort of specialized services,” Strausbaugh said in an interview.
Most of Ohio’s counties, 85% of them, are classified by the state as having a shortage of mental health professionals. Even in the post-pandemic era of telehealth, however, licensing standards mean most social workers and similar professionals can't provide services to individuals who don't live in the same state.
Those standards can create challenges all over, but Strausbaugh said it can be acute along borders—like for providers and patients in the greater tri-state area in Cincinnati.
“They could be having clients in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana,” Strausbaugh said. “But the way social work licensure works is you have to be licensed in the state where your client lives, so if you're only licensed in Ohio, you can only see clients that are in Ohio.”
Ohio was among the earliest states to join the Social Work Licensure Compact. Although the base number of seven states have signed on to establish the compact, according to its website, it will take at least a year to begin allowing interstate practice.
“They haven't had their first meeting yet, even,” Strausbaugh said. “That commission is really going to create all of the different rules related to interstate licensure, all the regulations, how to actually get those licenses distributed.”
During this legislative session, Roegner has backed several similar license portability bills for other professions and fields—from physician assistants to cosmetologists to dental hygienists.
