Standing Up for Social Workers: Our Response to LARA’s Licensing Reform Recommendations

Today, NASW-Michigan submitted a letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Bureau of Professional Licensing leadership in response to the state’s Cutting Red Tape initiative. While we applaud the proposed steps to modernize and streamline licensure processes, we also highlighted critical gaps—especially around the ASWB social work exam—that must be addressed to build a truly equitable and effective behavioral health workforce. Below is the full letter. Read the full Red Tape Report from LARA here.

Dear Governor Whitmer and Bureau of Professional Licensing Leadership,

On behalf of the National Association of Social Workers – Michigan Chapter (NASW-MI), I want to express our appreciation for LARA’s Cutting Red Tape initiative and the recommendations aimed at improving professional licensing processes in Michigan. Reducing unnecessary barriers to licensure is essential for strengthening our behavioral health workforce and ensuring Michiganders have access to high-quality care.

We strongly support several recommendations outlined in the report, including:

• Creating and offering expanded/alternative pathways to licensing, maximizing the number of professionals across the state

• Ensure parity amongst renewals of behavioral health limited licenses

• Allowing minor regulatory offenses to be removed from licensees’ records

• Better aligning licensing requirements to other states 

• Expanding continuing education flexibility, including increased distance learning opportunities

• Eliminating unnecessary and problematic examinations and ensure required exams are available in multiple languages

• Creating an advisory commission to provide expert guidance on controlled substances

These measures will reduce administrative burdens and modernize licensure processes for behavioral health professionals. However, the current recommendations do not fully address all the challenges faced by social workers and other behavioral health providers in Michigan. NASW-Michigan and our thousand of social work members in Michigan are ready to be a support to the Administration in any ways necessary and have been working for several years on reforms. 

While the report discusses eliminating jurisprudence exams and highlights language accessibility concerns, it fails to address the broader issue of licensure exams in the behavioral health field—particularly the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) social work exam requirement in Michigan. Unlike other professions that have required exams, social workers must take the ASWB exam, which has been widely criticized for its inequitable pass rates across racial, age, and other demographic groups. In 2023, only 36% of the 2,010 master's-level social workers in Michigan passed the ASWB Clinical Exam, highlighting a significant barrier to licensure and directly creating a shortage of qualified mental health professionals in the state, especially in comparison to other behavioral health professions.

Social workers already undergo rigorous educational requirements, supervised practice, and ongoing continuing education to ensure competence in the field and protect the public. If Michigan is committed to reducing unnecessary barriers and increasing the workforce, then eliminating the ASWB exam should be part of the conversation. If complete elimination is not feasible at this time, we urge LARA to explore alternative pathways with us to licensure that do not disproportionately exclude qualified professionals from the workforce.

We appreciate the steps being taken to streamline licensure and request a deeper discussion on these critical issues. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate on reforms that ensure licensing processes are both fair and effective in maintaining high standards for the profession.

Thank you for your time and commitment to improving Michigan’s professional licensing system. We look forward to continued dialogue on this matter.

Sincerely,

Director of Policy & Advocacy | NASW-MI