North Carolina School Social Work Licensure

School Social Workers in North Carolina are licensed at the BSW, MSW, Advanced and Ph.D. levels. The goals of the UNC School of Social Work's School Social Worker Licensure Program are to: (1) prepare master's level social workers who can help children and their families overcome barriers to learning through interventions in the home, school and community; (2) enable matriculating students, graduates and other qualified MSWs to meet the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) requirements for school social work licensure; and (3) encourage communities throughout the state to develop and maintain effective school social work services.

Licensed School Social Workers must be competent in the following areas: social work philosophy, social work practice (especially direct and indirect services to children and families), school social work practice, knowledge of community resources and educational issues.

Graduate Level Licensure in School Social Work requires applicants to do the following:

1. Complete the DPI school social work initial licensure application materials and send them to Dr. Shaffer. If the original application was previously sent to the DPI, Licensure Section, clear copies of the original must be sent to the School of Social Work.
    
2. Successfully complete a Council on Social Work Education accredited MSW program or be a candidate for such a degree. Applicants must submit an original graduate and undergraduate transcripts or legible, unaltered copies as documentation.
    
3. Successfully complete MSW course work in services to families and children or related areas. Since specialization content and format vary from one MSW program to another, transcripts are reviewed for evidence of a child and family concentration with direct and indirect practice content or significant direct practice course work with supportive content in indirect practice.
    
4. Submit a current résumé and provide verification of post-MSW employment; the DPI Form NE is used for verification purposes.
    
5. Submit a brief statement outlining their professional social work experience with children and their families.
    
6. Complete a practicum or an acceptable alternative as outlined below.
    
   1. Successfully complete at least 400 clock hours of practicum in a school social work placement or a closely related setting (3.0+ on a 4.0 scale or a P in the UNC graduate system). If the applicant is not a UNC-CH student or graduate, verification of the school social work practicum or a related placement must be provided.
       
   2. Successfully complete a minimum of 400 clock hours of MSW supervised experience in a public school setting. This may be a paid or volunteer experience. The applicant's supervisor/mentor must be approved by the School of Social Work and meet the minimum requirements of a School of Social Work field instructor. Applicants may be supervised by an MSW from within or outside of the public school. The MSW supervisor must affirm that the applicant has met specified competencies before credit is given for this experience. The competencies are similar to those expected of an MSW student placed in a public school or closely related setting. Verification of this experience needs to be sent to the School of Social Work. Supervisors may use a field evaluation form or a form based on the DPI competencies for School Social Workers.
       
   3. Provide evidence of at least one calendar year of significant, post-MSW degree employment focused on working with pre-school or school age children and their families. Evidence of MSW supervision during this period must be provided. This experience must have been gained within the past five years (if the experience was not full time, the applicant must have earned the equivalent of 2,000 clock hours within the past five years). This experience must include substantial collateral work with public schools, pre-schools and/or related programs and services. Examples of such experiences may include: clinical and case--management experiences with children, youth and families; program planning and evaluation; consultation to schools; child welfare/family service experience which includes collaborating with public schools concerning such areas as child abuse and neglect, children with special needs, teen pregnancy and parenting programs, substance abuse, homelessness, suicide, substance abuse or dropout prevention.
       
7. Successful completion of an approved, graduate level course in school social work policy and practice. Applicants who have not completed this course work may complete Social Work 850 at UNC-CH or an equivalent course at another CSWE accredited MSW program. In order to make it possible for applicants to completed this requirement the School of Social Work will try to offer this course during the Fall or Spring semester and during Summer Sessions. For students at a great distance from the school, a web-based course is also offered in conjunction with our on campus course.
    
8. Successful completion of an approved, graduate level course in education such as educational policy, services to special children and their families, school law, or testing and measurement. The UNC School of Education and the School of Social Work jointly determine the list of approved courses. The School of Social Work will provide a copy of courses approved on the UNC-CH campus; similar courses may be found at other graduate programs. When applicants wish to meet this requirement at a campus other than The UNC-CH, Ms. Carolyn Jones, Assistant Director of Teacher Education, UNC-CH School of Education, or Dr. Gary Shaffer, UNC-School of Social Work, will need to review and approve the proposed course work.

After licensure materials have been received by the School of Social Work, the School Social Work Coordinator prepares a letter of recommendation which outlines what requirements have been met and what, if anything, need to be done before licensure is recommended. This recommendation and the other application materials are then sent to the UNC-CH School of Education and the total licensure application is forwarded to the DPI, Licensure Section, for final processing and approval. DPI action may take several weeks or more to complete. If your recommendation was made with conditions, proof of meeting these conditions must be presented to Dr. Shaffer. A letter clearing your recommendation will then be sent to the DPI.

MSW applicants may be eligible for Specialty if they meet the above requirements, complete 60 hours of master's level course work, and demonstrate competencies in defined areas. Dr. Shaffer can provide additional information concerning DPI Specialty (Advanced Graduate) licensure. As of 03/01/02 DPI will no longer recognize the BSW + MSW as equivalent to the 60 hour MSW degree, unless 60 hours of approved graduate course work has been completed. BSW + MSW graduates with less than 60 hours of graduate work can be licensed at the Masters level.

Questions concerning alternatives to the UNC-CH course requirements should be directed to Dr. Shaffer.

State licensure forms may be obtained by visiting the DPI home page at http://www.dpi.state.nc.us. For information about the Schools of Social Work and Education at UNC-CH visit http://ssw.unc.edu or http://www.unc.edu/depts/ed. For further information about school social work licensure or applications, contact Dr. Gary L. Shaffer, The UNC-CH, School of Social Work, CB #3550, 301 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3550; phone 919-962-6436, fax 919-843-8715 or e-mail at Gary_Shaffer@unc.edu.

Note: MSW applicants who have not met all of the School Social Work Graduate Level Licensure requirements may obtain school social work employment in N.C. pending completion of the requirements for full licensure. Any social worker paid on the teacher salary schedule that has established a legal residence in NC and is employed full-time by a NC public school is eligible for in-State tuition for courses relevant to licensure or professional development (GS 116-143.5).