Provisions of the Social Work Title Protection Law

Provisions of HB 7198: An Act Concerning Social Workers

(Social Work Title Protection)

The social work title protection law took effect on October 1, 2019, except that the section on municipalities grandfathering took effect July 1, 2019.

Here it what the title protection law does:

  • Reserves the title of Social Worker to those individuals who hold a baccalaureate or master degree in social work from a Council on Social Work Education accredited program or a doctoral degree in social work. Only those with such a degree can call themselves a social worker or use the title of social worker.
  • Restricts advertising of “social work services” to those individuals who hold a social work degree, as defined in the above bullet point.
  • Grandfathers in municipal employees who have the job title of social worker but not the degree in social work. Such individuals can only use the title of social worker within their current municipal employment and must have been employed with the job title of social worker prior to July 1, 2019.
  • Exempts state agencies from title protection.
  • Puts into CT statute the current practice of giving preference in hiring to BSWs and MSWs for the position of social worker within the state social worker job classification. Adds DSW to the degrees that confer preference. The state has given preference in hiring to applicants with social work degrees since 2014. This assures that a new administration cannot unilaterally eliminate the preference, as it is now statutorily required.