Dear Editor,
On April 11, county social work supervisors lobbied in Sacramento to push for AB 671. Many people often wonder what title protection is and why is it a big deal. Title protection requires precise positions to require specific academic degrees. A physician must have a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree to obtain such position; likewise, when a person visits a dentist office, he is assured that his dentist holds a Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Dental Medicine degree. However, when a family receives a visit from a county social worker, the family is not guaranteed that the social worker holds a bachelor or master of social work degree.
Under AB 671, California law will require all social work supervisors to hold graduate degrees in social work, or a graduate degree in a behavioral science with a certificate in child welfare. What makes a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree have so much clout? It’s curriculum. The Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) accredits graduate and undergraduate social work programs. A person holding an M.S.W. degree went through a rigorous graduate program of approximately 60 semester units, conducted approximately 1,000 hours of fieldwork, and studied with professor who has an extensive background in the field of social work. The CSWE mandates each educational institution to teach specific skills in a specific sequence. That is to say, a person who holds an M.S.W. degree from a university in California is precisely as qualified for the position as a person who obtained an M.S.W. degree from a graduate school on the east coast. This is why so much importance in placed on the education of social worker supervisors in AB 671. AB 671 ultimately protects families, ensuring that they are exposed to a professional social worker or a person who has been formally trained by a professional M.S.W. degree-holding individual.
Gabriel Robles, Melissa Ohlhaver, Ely Kirkendall, Elsa Lua, Christy Dean and Evelyn Santana