News

Achieving substantive change for our profession – for any system or institution – will require collaborative discussions and decision-making that is driven by data, not by conjecture, opinion, or personal agendas. This holds true regardless of the topic at hand.

ASWB has published a series of workforce study reports authored by Joy Kim, MSW, Ph.D., of the School of Social Work at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. These reports draw on a survey dataset collected by ASWB as part of the Social Work Census.

ASWB has published a revised edition of the Guide to the Social Work Licensing Exams for Educators and Supervisors and has expanded access to the available set of group review practice questions. These changes allow access to the exam materials for both social work educators and social work supervisors.

ASWB is seeking volunteers to participate on the standard setting panel for the next iteration of competence assessments for social work licensing. Deadline for applications is August 15, 2025.

As of June 2025, all states, provinces, and territories that use the social work licensing exams allow nonstandard testing arrangements for test-takers whose first language is not English.

Recently, coinciding with the vendor transition for exam administration, ASWB implemented a policy that provides the social work licensing exams in two distinct sections of 85 questions with a break in between the two sections. Each section has a time limit of two hours, and there are no structural differences in content distribution, content order, or difficulty between the sections.

Twenty-eight states have adopted the Social Work Licensure Compact as of June 2025. Compact Commission committees are meeting regularly to develop proposed rules, consider financial resources and needs, and plan next steps for implementation.

“Our new code of ethics comprises core values, and it also has guidelines guiding the practice of social work,” said Barb Whitenect, BA, BSW, MSW, RSW, of the Canadian Association of Social Workers. “It is aspirational.” Whitenect was the leadoff speaker at ASWB’s 2025 Education Meeting in early May, leading a dynamic discussion with Dale […]

During the 2025 ASWB Education Meeting in Portland, Oregon, the association presented awards for the Contributor Award and the inaugural Educational Excellence in Regulation Award.

As part of ASWB's continuing efforts to improve the testing experience, test-takers now have a scheduled 10-minute break during the social work licensing exams.