Highlights

ASWB signs the final contract to purchase the land for the new headquarters that will bring staff together under one roof. The next steps to pass regulatory hurdles with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Quality begin.

ASWB begins the next practice analysis to update the social work licensing exams based on current job surveys sent to more than 200,000 U.S. social workers and more than 20,000 Canadian social workers. Through a yearlong process, subject matter experts and current practitioners are involved in developing blueprints that are approved by the ASWB Board of Directors. The new exams will launch in January 2018.

ASWB joins a consortium of regulatory boards that is lobbying “to limit antitrust remedies through relevant federal regulation,” as explained by the Federation of Associations of Regulatory Boards (FARB). This legislative strategy was developed in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of the FTC v. the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners.

ASWB explores expanding the Path to Licensure program to the Kansas Department of Children and Families (DCF), whose social work employees must obtain licensure within six months of employment.

Social Work Workforce Initiative Steering Committee. ASWB continued participation in activities as members of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Roundtable.

The Nominating Committee slates a record 22 candidates to run for seven positions on the Board of Directors and four seats on the Nominating Committee due to bylaws changes that increase the size of the Board of Directors to 11 and the Nominating Committee to five.

ASWB’s Foundation, the association’s research arm, awards a $25,000 grant to two researchers from Texas Tech University for their project “Perceptions about Use and Effectiveness of E-Supervision for Clinical Social Work License Candidates.”