How better social work workforce data can strengthen regulatory decisions

When policymakers, regulators, and workforce planners ask important questions about the social work profession — How many social workers are actively practicing? Where are workforce shortages emerging? How is telehealth changing service delivery? — the answers are often difficult to find.

That is the challenge behind the Social Work Cross-Profession Minimum Data Set, or CPMDS: Social Work, a new tool developed through a collaboration of regulators, workforce researchers, and social work leaders to support more consistent workforce data collection across jurisdictions.

The CPMDS: Social Work adapts the broader Cross-Profession Minimum Data Set framework for social work, creating a standardized set of workforce questions that can help jurisdictions better understand who is practicing, where they are practicing, and what populations they serve.

What CPMDS: Social Work can reveal about the social work workforce

According to workforce researcher Hannah L. Maxey, PhD, MPH, RDH, president of Veritas Health Solutions, better workforce data helps turn assumptions into actionable information. Collecting workforce information can help regulators and policymakers gain a clearer picture of the social work workforce, including the difference between those who hold licenses and those who are actively practicing.

“Without our [Indiana] Behavioral Health and Human Services Board, we wouldn’t have this information for our state,” Maxey said. Workforce data can reveal critical information about workforce participation, telehealth practice, and service capacity that may not be apparent from licensee counts alone.

In Indiana, workforce data has supported assessments focused on behavioral health shortages and provided evidence to guide strategic investments. Maxey noted that state workforce data helped make it possible for leaders to invest in structured assessments of workforce challenges and recommendations.

There’s great opportunity to connect exam data and education data to the workforce data to be able to understand nationally the flow of the social work workforce.

The CPMDS: Social Work includes questions on demographics, education, licensure, employment status, practice setting, telehealth, hours worked, and populations served. The impact of the data can increase when multiple jurisdictions collect similar information.

“There’s great opportunity to connect exam data and education data to the workforce data to be able to understand nationally the flow of the [social work] workforce,” Maxey said.

As more jurisdictions collect comparable workforce information, regulators may gain new opportunities to understand workforce mobility, regional trends, and workforce capacity across jurisdictional lines. Maxey pointed to ongoing conversations about how standardized workforce data can support broader workforce planning efforts.

How comparable workforce data supports policy and planning

Maxey described how workforce information has been used to support dashboards, reports, policy briefs, and legislative decision-making. She cited examples of states using workforce data to understand staffing needs, identify shortages, and guide policy development.

One example comes from Utah, where workforce data collected through a minimum data set framework informed a behavioral health review and helped support broader workforce planning initiatives. According to Maxey, that effort contributed to the establishment of a state workforce information center designed to bring together regulatory, educational, and labor-market data to support policymaking.

At the same time, she acknowledged that resource limitations can be a challenge for boards and agencies. Even so, she argued that periods of financial constraint make reliable workforce data more — not less — important because it helps leaders make informed decisions about priorities and resource allocation.

Why social work regulators are key to better workforce data

One of the strongest themes to emerge from the CPMDS: Social Work project is the important role regulators can play in understanding the social work workforce.

By collecting consistent workforce data through licensure and renewal processes, boards can contribute valuable information that helps stakeholders understand the profession’s current and future workforce needs.

Maxey believes regulators are uniquely positioned to help champion these efforts, noting that regulatory boards are often the most reliable source of workforce data. By helping jurisdictions collect comparable information, the tool has the potential to strengthen workforce planning, support policy development, and improve understanding of the social work profession across the United States and Canada.

As Maxey emphasized, workforce data serves both policymakers and the public. Better information helps regulators demonstrate their value, inform decisions about public resources, and strengthen public protection.

For social work regulators, the opportunity is clear: Better data can lead to better decisions and a stronger workforce equipped to meet the needs of the public.