LAC 46:XXV.1305. Criteria for Approval of Continuing Education Offerings [Formally §317(M) and (P)]

A. The following learning forums are approved for continuing education as long as they contain content applicable to social work practice: 1. in-person educational offerings and synchronous interactive webinars sponsored by or approved by social work licensing bodies, a Board authorized pre-approval organization, state and national professional social work organizations, and schools accredited by the Council on Social Work Education; 2. educational offerings sponsored by or offered by entities approved by the Association of Social Work Boards; 3. asynchronous virtual learning (teleconferences, telecourses, home-study courses and pre-recorded or internet courses) sponsored by entities listed in this section, or pre-approved by a Board-authorized pre-approval organization cannot exceed a total of 10 clock hours of the required 20 clock hours of continuing education required annually for renewal of social work credentials; 4. continuing education activities or academic courses provided by accredited schools of social work. Academic course work counts per actual class hour; 5. presentations of content applicable to social work practice at professional conferences, staff development meetings, and other appropriate forums in which the licensee is the primary presenter; 6. attendance at staff development presentations with content applicable to social work practice (such as a staff meeting with a formal and in-depth presentation on working with clients who present borderline symptoms, etc.). The presenter’s name, credentials, date of presentation and nature of the content covered must be provided. Case based staffing meetings are not included as appropriate continuing education experiences; 7. attendance at professional social work meetings, Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) item writing workshops, symposiums, panel discussions, or conferences sponsored by the professional associations suggested in this section. The dates and nature of content or consultation covered must be provided; 8. formal study groups of three or more participants. Licensees must submit names, addresses, telephone numbers and credentials of group members to the board. Study groups must maintain records of topics, attendance, meeting times, and presenters for audit purposes; 9. contracted professional consultation which the credentialed social worker receives. Licensees must provide the paid consultant’s name, address, telephone number, credentials, and the dates and focus of the consultation; 10. preparation of substantial written material with content applicable to social work practice which requires literature search, research, and explication of social work content (such as writing a social work article or book for publication, or a major grant application). Specific information about the nature of the written work, the effort required, and the publisher or funding agency must be provided. These activities may be counted for no more than five hours continuing education. 11. reading books or journal articles with content applicable to social work and followed by a face-to-face discussion as part of an organized workshop. A maximum of one hour credit can be obtained from reading a book if the licensee signs a statement that they read the book, attended the discussion about the book, and passed the pre-test administered prior to the face-to-face discussion with at least 70 percent. The one-hour credit for reading is considered asynchronous virtual learning. Credit for the discussion counts as actual time spent in the discussion and counts as in-person continuing education. 12. viewing documentary film with content applicable to social work practice not deemed for the general public and followed by a face-to-face discussion. The film shall be pre-approved by the board and must rate a ten or higher on the Guide for Assessment of Continuing Education to qualify for continuing education credit; 13. independent study pre-approved by the board; 14. attendance at regular meetings of the board, for which social workers may receive credit for actual time spent attending the public portion of the meeting-one hour of this time will be designated as an ethics hour and all other time will be designated as general continuing education provided, however, that no social worker may receive more than ten hours of continuing education per collection period from attending meetings of the board or its committees; 15. attendance at meetings of the committees of the board, for which social workers may receive credit for actual time spent attending the meeting-the chair of the committee shall designate in advance the nature of the continuing education credit received by attendees, provided, however, that no social worker may receive more than ten hours of continuing education per collection period from attending meetings of the board or its committees. B. Should the individual licensee make the determination that an education offering which is not pre-approved by one of the approval organizations has content applicable to social work practice, the Guide for Assessment of Continuing Education in this Section must be used. This document, as well as all the relevant course materials, and the certificate of completion must be maintained in the event the licensee is audited. C. The following learning situations will not be accepted for continuing education credit: 1. banquet speeches; 2. non-social work content courses not directly related to enhancement of social work skills or performance as a social work employee. (Example: Computer, financial or business management courses designed to enhance the business of private practice); 3. staff orientation, administrative staff meetings and case management meetings; 4. book reports or critiques of professional journal articles; and 5. a continuing education offering that rates a zero in any category of the Guide for Assessment of Continuing Education in this Section. D. Guide for Assessment of Continuing Education. As continuing education events vary across the categories listed below, the appropriateness of considering them as acceptable continuing education also varies. Continuing education approval organizations must use the criteria in this Subsection to evaluate continuing education offerings. An event must receive a total score (combination of all three sections) of at least 10 to be acceptable for continuing education to renew a social work credential. If any category below rates a zero, the education offering is not acceptable for social work continuing education. PROGRAM CONTENT (Clearly Acceptable) _____ 6) Mainstream social work knowledge, skills and values _____ 6) Specialized social work knowledge, skills and values _____ 4) Information from related fields that is useful for social work practice _____ 2) Developing areas that may lack strong research, support or clear application _____ 0) Content that is specifically not acceptable or not related to social work practice (Clearly Not Acceptable) PROGRAM PRESENTER (Clearly Acceptable) _____ 5) Social worker with appropriate expertise in content area _____ 4) Related professional with ability to connect content to social work practice _____ 2) Lay-person (e.g., client) on the impact of needing/receiving services _____ 0) Presenter with no apparent professional qualifications nor link to social work practice (Clearly Not Acceptable) PROGRAM AUDIENCE (Clearly Acceptable) _____ 4) Social work practitioners/students _____ 4) Interdisciplinary professional audience that may include social workers _____ 3) Audience presumed to be primarily from another profession (e.g., nursing) _____ 1) Audience open to the general public _____ 0) Audience presumed to be primarily the general public (Clearly Not Acceptable) Total Score_____(add score from each section to get Total Score)