Title 34 — Title 34

As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings: (1) BOARD. The State Board of Social Work Examiners established under this chapter. (2) SOCIAL WORK. The professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities enhance or resto…

(a) The purpose of this compact is to facilitate interstate practice of regulated social workers by improving public access to competent social work services. This compact preserves the regulatory authority of states to protect public health and safety through the current system …

As used in this compact, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) ACTIVE MILITARY MEMBER. Any individual with full-time duty status in the active Armed Forces of the United States, including members of the National Guard and Reserve. (2) ADVERSE ACTION. Any administra…

(a) To be eligible to participate in this compact, a potential member state must currently meet all of the following criteria: (1) License and regulate the practice of social work at either the clinical, master’s, or bachelor’s category. (2) Require applicants for licensing to gr…

(a) To be eligible for a multistate license under the terms and provisions of this compact, an applicant, regardless of category, must do all of the following: (1) Hold or be eligible for an active, unencumbered license in the home state. (2) Pay any applicable fees, including an…

(a) Upon receipt of an application for a multistate license, the home state licensing authority shall determine the applicant’s eligibility for a multistate license in accordance with Section 34-30-103. (b) If the applicant is eligible pursuant to Section 34-30-103, the home stat…

(a) Nothing in this compact, nor any rule of the commission, shall be construed to limit, restrict, or in any way reduce the ability of a member state to enact and enforce laws or rules related to the practice of social work in that state, where those laws or rules are not incons…

(a) A licensee may hold a home state license, issued by his or her home state, in only one member state at a time. (b) If a licensee changes his or her home state by moving between two member states: (1) The licensee shall immediately apply for the reissuance of his or her multis…

An active military member or his or her spouse shall designate a home state where the individual has a multistate license. The individual may retain his or her home state designation during the period the service member is on active duty. History: (Act 2024-298, §1.)

(a) In addition to the other powers conferred by state law, a remote state, in accordance with existing state due process law, may: (1) Take adverse action against a regulated social worker’s multistate authorization to practice only within that member state, and issue subpoenas …

(a) The compact member states hereby create and establish a joint governmental agency whose membership consists of all member states that have enacted this compact known as the Social Work Licensure Compact Commission. The commission is an instrumentality of this compact states a…

(a) The commission shall provide for the development, maintenance, operation, and utilization of a coordinated data system. (b) The commission shall assign each applicant for a multistate license a unique identifier, as determined by the rules of the commission. (c) Notwithstandi…

(a) The commission shall adopt reasonable rules in order to effectively and efficiently implement and administer the purposes and provisions of this compact. A rule shall be invalid and have no force or effect only if a court of competent jurisdiction holds that the rule is inval…

(a) Oversight. (1) The executive and judicial branches of state government in each member state shall enforce this compact and take all actions necessary and appropriate to implement this compact. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this compact, venue is proper and judicial proc…

(a) The compact shall come into effect on the date on which this compact statute is enacted into law in the seventh member state. (1) On or after the effective date of this compact, the commission shall convene and review the enactment of each of the first seven member states ref…

(a) This compact and the commission’s rulemaking authority shall be liberally construed so as to effectuate the purposes, implementation, and administration of this compact. Provisions of this compact expressly authorizing or requiring the adoption of rules shall not be construed…

(a) A licensee providing services in a remote state under a multistate authorization to practice shall adhere to the laws and rules, including laws, rules, and applicable standards of the remote state where the client is located at the time care is rendered. (b) Nothing in this c…

Except as to judicial proceedings for the enforcement of this compact among member states, individuals may pursue judicial proceedings related to this compact in any Alabama state or federal court that would otherwise have competent jurisdiction. History: (Act 2024-298, §1.)

It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this state and the purpose of this chapter to protect the public by setting standards of qualification, education, training, and experience for those who seek to engage in the practice of social work and to protect the public by pr…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), no person may engage in the practice of social work, holding himself or herself forth as a “social worker,” a “licensed bachelor social worker,” a “licensed master social worker,” or a “licensed independent clinical social worke…

(a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent qualified physicians, surgeons, psychologists, psychotherapists, attorneys, marriage counselors, family counselors, school counselors, or members of the clergy or any other individual from doing work within the standards a…

The State Board of Social Work Examiners shall issue a license as a “licensed bachelor social worker,” a “licensed master social worker,” or a “licensed independent clinical social worker” to an applicant who satisfies all of the following requirements: (1) Is at least 19 years o…

From May 23, 1977, until November 24, 1978, the Board of Social Work Examiners shall receive applications from individuals, such applications being duly notarized and sworn, which outline the applicant’s eligibility for licensure under the criteria specified in either subdivision…

Upon receipt of an application from a person who holds a valid social workers’ license from another state of the United States which requires standards equivalent to Alabama’s for licensing and who possesses all the qualifications prescribed in Section 34-30-22, except that he or…

After November 24, 1978, the initial fee for a license shall be at least $50 and the fee for renewal thereof shall be at least $25. History: (Acts 1977, No. 652, p. 1102, §12.)

(a) All licenses and certificates under this chapter shall be effective when issued by the State Board of Social Work Examiners. (b) All licenses and certificates issued by the board shall expire on the last day of the month in the calendar year that is exactly two years from the…

(a) Individuals licensed under Section 34-30-23 or Section 34-30-24 shall be exempt from any examination provided for in Section 34-30-22, subdivision (3). (b) Any person who meets the following listed conditions shall be issued a certification as a “licensed certified social wor…

The license issued pursuant to this chapter shall be displayed in the licensee’s principal place of practice, and shall entitle the licensee to hold himself or herself forth to the public as providing services as authorized by this chapter. History: (Acts 1977, No. 652, p. 1102, …

Effective January 1, 1984, and thereafter, each person licensed under this chapter as a licensed bachelor social worker who has received two years or more of continuing supervision from a licensed graduate social worker or a licensed certified social worker may engage in the prac…

(a) No individual may engage in the independent clinical practice of social work unless he or she satisfies all of the following: (1) Is licensed under this chapter as an independent clinical social worker. (2) Has a doctorate or master’s degree from a school of social work appro…

Nothing contained in this chapter shall prohibit licensed independent clinical social workers from practicing social work as partners or in groups, or from pooling fees and money received either by the partnerships or groups or by the individual members thereof for professional s…

Licensed independent clinical social workers shall be permitted to form professional associations to operate in the practice of social work according to Alabama law. History: (Acts 1977, No. 652, p. 1102, §3; Act 2016-313, §1.)

Nothing contained in this chapter shall prohibit a Merit System or Civil Service employee who is employed in a social work position whose qualifications are established or determined by a regulatory board, pursuant to state or federal law, from engaging in the practice of social …

(a) No person may represent himself or herself as a social worker by using the title “social worker,” “licensed bachelor social worker,” “licensed master social worker,” or “licensed independent clinical social worker,” or any other title that includes such words, or by adding th…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize any individual licensed under this chapter to practice medicine or to describe or label any test, report, or procedure as psychological or as a psychological evaluation. History: (Act 2023-100, §2)

License; Administrative Fines. (a) The State Board of Social Work Examiners may deny an application or, after a hearing, may refuse to renew, may suspend, or may revoke any license issued under this chapter upon proof that the person has engaged in unprofessional conduct within t…

The following procedure will apply to revocation and suspension hearings and to judicial review of these hearings: (1) Hearings are to be conducted by a five-person panel of the Board of Social Work Examiners with recommended decisions to be by majority vote of the panel. (2) Rea…

(a) There is created an Alabama Board of Social Work Examiners, which shall consist of seven members who are citizens of this state and appointed by the Governor. No person shall be excluded from serving on the board by reason of race, sex, or national origin. Four members shall …

Members shall be limited to two consecutive terms of office. History: (Acts 1977, No. 652, p. 1102, §8; Acts 1988, No. 88-141, p. 210, §3; Act 2004-77, p. 103, §3.)

Appointments to fill vacancies on the Board of Social Work Examiners caused by a reason other than the expiration of a member’s term shall be for the duration of the unexpired term and shall be made by the Governor from a list as described in Section 34-30-50. History: (Acts 1977…

Persons who are employed by the State of Alabama and who are subject to the Merit System shall not be prohibited from serving on the Board of Social Work Examiners, provided such person meets all other qualifications as a member of the board. History: (Acts 1977, No. 652, p. 1102…

Compensation for members of the Board of Social Work Examiners shall be limited to travel and per diem, not to exceed the prevailing rate paid state employees, but the expense is not to exceed the amount derived in fees for licenses and fines. History: (Acts 1977, No. 652, p. 110…

Members of the Board of Social Work Examiners can be removed from office for cause in the manner provided by the statutes of Alabama for removal of public officials who are not subject to impeachment. History: (Acts 1977, No. 652, p. 1102, §8.)

Meetings; Public Meetings Required. The Board of Social Work Examiners shall organize upon appointment and qualification of its members, and shall elect annually from its membership a chairman, a vice-chairman, and a secretary. The board shall meet twice each year and as frequent…

In addition to the duties set forth elsewhere in this chapter, the Board of Social Work Examiners shall do all of the following: (1) Recommend modifications and amendments to this chapter. (2) Recommend to the appropriate district attorneys prosecutions for the violations of this…

The Board of Social Work Examiners may accept contributions and bequests from individuals, organizations, and corporations and must expend these funds to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Records of receipts and expenditures of such funds shall be made available to Examiner…

by Board. (a) All fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be nonrefundable and shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Board of Social Work Examiners and shall constitute a separate fund to be disbursed as prescribed in subsection (b) of this section. …