New Colorado law eliminates entry level social worker exam

Senate Bill 24-115 has one goal in mind: address the hiring crisis in the mental health and social work fields. Now a law, its sponsors and advocates say that it can be a game changer for filling open positions, combatting burnout, and addressing the mental health crisis in Colorado properly. Currently, licensed clinical social worker Leanne Rupp explained, it's a crisis within a crisis.

"There are plenty of people in the social work that don't have that privilege because they can't afford the cost of higher education," said Rupp, who is also the Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers, Colorado chapter.  "They can't afford the cost of licensure. They get stuck in the pipeline. We have a workforce shortage."

As a leader of social workers statewide, Rupp has seen the various ways in which marginalized communities have a tough time finding behavioral health resource workers that look like they do. That creates a disparity and feeds into an ongoing mental health crisis in Colorado and across the United States. State senator Dafna Michaelson-Jenet saw the same thing.

"We are so desperate for social workers and counselors," she said.

With Rupp as a key contributor and Sen. Michaelson-Jenet as an author, SB 24-115 was born. One of the main components of the bill was eliminating the masters-level exam. Currently in the state, a prospective social worker must receive a master's degree, take the master's exam, pass it, collect clinical hours, take another exam, pass it, and receive their full licensure. Each exam costs hundreds of dollars and the pass rate data supplied by the National Association of Social Work Boards fed into the decision to eliminate the first test in the chain.

"What will be removed is the requirement to take an exam the second you get out of graduate school and want to enter the profession," said Rupp.

In 2022, the ASWB released pass rate data on the test itself. What it found was that while 86% of all test takers eventually passed the master's exam, the rate disparities were massive across demographics. Ninety-one percent of White test takers eventually passed, while that number dropped down to 71% for Hispanic/Latino test takers and further to 52% for Black test takers.

Eighty percent of test takers whose primary language is English eventually passed but this fell to 63% for English second-language speakers.

While the test disparities along gender lines were essentially non-existent, the pass rates also revealed a falling number across age demographics the older the test taker was. Michaelson-Jenet explained that it means the test itself has its own implicit biases within its questions.

"This is data from the testmakers' own company showing that this exam is entirely flawed," she explained.

Rupp and Michaelson-Jenet said that the data is especially important when looking at the changing demographics within the state of Colorado and national trends. The social work field is becoming increasingly diverse while communities of color are starting to become more active participants in mental and behavioral health services.

"You want someone who has a general understanding of who you are and what your culture is and what you believe in," said Michaelson-Jenet. "And we are not providing that base of social workers right now."

"They want to serve their families and friends," Rupp followed up. "They want to serve colleagues that need care. They want to break down the barriers to access when access behavioral health care is already so challenging."

Other states, including Illinois, have also passed similar legislation to eliminate the masters exam as a barrier to entry. Rupp told CBS Colorado that while the number of social workers practicing in the state increased exponentially, grievances essentially flatlined, proving that the clinical hours and practical experience matter more to good social work than a test. The law in Colorado takes effect this year.