SOCIAL WORK LICENSING 101

Where have we been?

The first social work regulatory legislation was introduced in California in 1929. This bill was defeated by the legislature there, and did not reemerge in California until 1945, when California adopted a registration system.

In the meantime, Puerto Rico had enacted a statute in 1934, making it the first U.S. jurisdiction to adopt a system for the legal regulation of social workers.

The real upsurge in regulation came in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, when eight, 14, and 27 states enacted social work regulation, respectively.

Today, every state in the country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia has some form of social work regulation in place.