August, 1999

Inside this Issue:

A new licensure law for the new millennium

MSWs in home health care

Child protection

Procedure for MSWs with felony convictions

Queries

New licensees

Check out these facts

Remembering Mr. Mac

Attention Board Approved Supervisors

In Rembembrance

Abbreviations

LCSW = Licensed Clinical Social Worker
GSW = Graduate Social Worker
GSW-Provisional = Graduate Social Worker Provisional
RSW = Registered Social Worker

A NEW LICENSURE LAW FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Governor Foster Signs New Social Work Practice Act
Effective January 1, 2000

The opportunity for current BCSWs and MSWs to "grandfather" into the new licensrue law will close December 31, 2000.   Watch the BCSW Newsletter for additional information regarding this process.

A copy of the new law may be purchased for $3.50. Call 225.763.5470 or write to the BCSW Board: 11930 Perkins Rd, Suite B, Baton Rouge, LA, 70810.

MSWs in Home Health Care

Under our current law as well as the new Social Work Practice Act, MSWs cannot contract to provide services for home health care agencies unless they are duly employed by the agency and the employer deducts federal withholding tax, FICA or other retirement benefits from the MSWs salary or wages.

Child Protection

Procedures for MSWs With Felony Convictions

The burden of proof for submitting the requested documentation is the responsibility of hte MSW applicant in order to convince the Board that he/she has good moaral character and fitness to practice board certified social work.

The MSW applicant should collect and deliver the following documents to the Board office promptly:

1. Any delay in providing the requested information will delay the board's action on the application.
2. Providing any false or misleading information or being evasive or concealing or making material omissions by the applicant or any lack of cooperation by the applicant shall form a basis for the denial of the application.
3. In the event that the application is denied by the board, the applicant may request a Compliance Hearing provided the application for such a hearing is made in writing within thirty days after the applicant's receipt of the notice of the denial of the application. The request shall contain the applicant's receipt of the notice of the denial of the application and the request shall contain the applicant's grounds for opposition to the denial of the application. The applicant is further aware that at such a hearing the applicant may be represented by legal counsel and the applicant bears the burden to establish that he or she meets the criteria for licensure.

Queries

Q: I have been treating a client diagnosed as Borderline Personality Disorder. This person is often rageful and has reported abusive behavior with the family dog. This is a very painful issue for the client and sh ehas been working hard to develop better coping skills. Last week I received a subpoena to appear in a child custody dispute to provide an assessment regarding this client's fitness as a parent. I do not want to breech her confidentiality or negatively impact our therapeutic alliance. What is my ethical responsibility in such a situation?

A:Your ethical responsibility is to act in the best interest of the client's child. You are also ethically responsible to safeguard any of your client's confidences which are irrelevant to your assessment of her "fitness as a parent".

Our current Social Work Practice Act under Privileged Communications 2714C states "Nothing in this section shall be construed, however, to prohibit any board certified social worker from testifying in juvenile court hearings concerning matters of adoption, child abuse, child neglect, or other matters pertaining to the welfare of children."

The proposed Code of Conduct 103.H4e (Limits to Confidentiality) includes "Where the social worker has been appointed to conduct an evaluation for child custody or visitation by the court or where prior communications to the social worker relate to the health conditions of a client(s) who are parties to proceedings or custody or visitation of a child and the condition has substantial bearing on the fitness of the person claiming custody or visitation.

Q: I have been working with a family for two years as a case manager. One family member is chronically mentally ill. Another is presently in recovery from substance abuse and is being treated for gambling addiction. There are many other sensitive family issues which have been reported to the proper authorities. The family has begun to heal and to rebuild their lives as a much more cooperative and caring group. About a year ago, one family member was involved in an automobile accident and is being sued. I recently received a subpoena to appear in court with all my case records! I don't see how my knowledge of this family's struggles relate to a car accident. I am considering refusing to appear citing the client's right to confidentiality. Please advise.

A:Plan on showing up! A subpoena compels a social worker to appear in court but does not compel the social worker to testify. Subpoenas are not issued by a judge but by the clerk of court at the request of a lawyer. At this point, there has been no consideration by the court of any claim of privilege or confidentiality.

Often a subpoena will be accompanied by a consent form signed by the client which frees the social worker to testify and provide any documents requested. Even when the client has signed an informed consent, the social worker is ethically obligated to disclose only information that is actually relevant to the proceedings. If asked about sensitive, irrelevant information, the social worker may refuse to disclose without more specific consent from the client or an order from the court.

If you are served with a subpoena with no consent form, you should contact your client or your client's attorney to determine if the client wishes to consent to the release of information. If the client does not wish to consent, the attorney may file a motion to quash the subpoena on the grounds that such testimony would violate the social worker-client privilege and the social worker's duty of confidentiality to the client. In many cases, the social worker may be able to accomplish the same result by writing a letter to the court, explaining the situation and asking for direction.

If no motion of quash is made, the social worker is obligated to appear at the trial or deposition as the subpoena directs. When the social worker is initially asked about the client, either the client's attorney or the social worker should raise the social worker-client privilege and request the court to rule that the social worker need not testify. In case of a deposition, the social worker should inform the attorney issuing the subpoena in advance that s/he intends to raise the privilege and will not answer unless ordered to do so by the court. If having considered the confidentiality concerns, the court orders the social worker to testify or be deposed, then the social worker must either comply or risk being held in contempt of court.

Q: Does a social work client have the right to obtain copies of his own records?

A:Yes and no. Current statutory law (RS§ 40:1299.96) gives the patient/client a right of access to their therapy notes/records of social workers who are employed by designated "health care providers" or "state health care providers". The health care provider can deny access to a patient/client only if the provider reasonably concludes that knowledge of the information contained in the record would be injurious to the health and welfare of the patient or could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or safety of any other person.

Social workers who are not employed by a "health care provider" or a "state health care provider" currently are not legally mandated to give clients access to their records. The 1972 Social Work Practice Act does not even require social workers to keep any records!

Consistent with social work efforts to be more clearly identified as health care providers with the capacity to diagnose and treat, the new social work Rules, Regulations and Procedures will address the issues of record keeping and the client's right to access his own records.

Once promulgated, the new Rules will establish the need for a "professional disclosure statement" which advises clients of their right to "have access to records as allowed by law". Minimally, "the records shall contain documentation of the assessment or diagnosis, documentation of a plan" and documentation of any revisions of the aforementioned. The record must also include "any fees charged and other billing information, copies of ally client authorization for release of information and any other legal forms pertaining to the client."

Q: Recently, the police came to my office with a search warrant for my entire therapeutic case record on a particular client. Subsequently, the client was arrested due to the recorded admission of guilt contained in the case file. What should I have done in this situation?

A:Social workers are well advised not to resist lawful search warrants. Resisting a search warrant could subject the social worker to being charged with resisting a police officer (RS 14:108) or a similar offense. The issuance of a search warrant is based on the independent judgment of a judicial officer who "must make a practical, common-sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit, there is a 'fair probability' that evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place". State vs. Byrd, 568 So 2d 554,559 (LA. App 1990)

The judge must have concluded that there was a fair probability that evidence of a criminal conduct involving your client was located in the client's therapy records. I tis also reasonable to assume taht the court was well aware of the laws relative to privacy and testimonial privilege and reviewed the applicable statutory law, the Code of Evidence, and cases interpreting the law. The court's conclusion was that the law provides an exception to the traditional application of the social worker testimonial privilege where the communication relates to child abuse.

Health care provider testimonial privilege must yield to the objectives of state child protection laws. The confidentiality or testimonial privilege of your client was abrogated due to the subject matter of the inquiry (child abuse) and the intrusion on your client's privacy was constitutionally permissible.

 

Welcome New BCSWs

The following social workers have been granted the BCSW license by the Board since the last newsletter.

Check Out These Facts

Fact: Effective January 1, 2000, no person shall practice SOCIAL WORK in the State of Louisiana unless the individual holds current, valid licensure, certification, provisional certification or registration issued by the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners.

Fact: LCSWs must obtain 10 continuing education hours in supervision preapproved by the Board, once every five years to maintain their Board Approved Clinical Supervisor (BACS) status.

Fact: LCSWs, GSWs, and RSWs must complete 20 clock hours of continuing education each year in order to renew their license, certification or registration. The 20 hours must include three (3) hours of continuing education in ethics every two years.

Fact: An MSW may be certified as a GSW-Provisional for a maximum of three (3) years but must sit for the GSW examination at least once each year.

Fact: Effective January 1, 2000, all social workers employed in the State of Louisiana, including those previously exempt (faculty in the schools of Social Work and federal or state employees), must be credentialed in accordance with the new Practice Act.

Fact: The LCSW license, GSW certification and RSW registration must be kept conspicuously posted in the office or place of business at all times.

Fact: Effective January 1, 2000, the Board will not accept supervision by a Board Certified Psychiatrist toward qualifying for the LCSW license. Supervision msut be given by an LCSW, Board Approved Clinical Supervisor (BACS).

Fact: LCSWs must obtain ten of their 20 clock hours of continuing education each year in clinical content including diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

Fact: Beginning January 1, 2000, there will be seven (7) members on the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners and one will be a public member.

Fact: BCSWs will receive an affidavit by mail on or before January 1, 2000, that they may complete and return to the Board office, to indicate that they want to grandfather as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

Remembering Mr. Mac
by C. B. Roberts

Mr. Mac, as he was affectionately known to a legion of welfare colleagues, social workers, students and friends died at Glenwood Medical Center in West Monroe on May 11, 1999. To the wail of bagpipes he was remembered in a memorial service on May 15, 1999 at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Monroe. The body was donated to science.

Most of knew Terry McPhearson through his long tenure in social work, yet he was a very versatile man who was active in many endeavors during his life.

He was born March 16, 1913, in Sabine Parish. Upon graduation from high school, he received a congressional appointment to work in the Library of Congress. During his eight years of employment, he attended George Washington University where be obtained a Bachelors Degree and Masters Degree in Government and Political Science.

When he returned to Louisiana, Terry began his career in social work as a Welfare Visitor with the Department of Public Welfare. While in this position, he attended LSU School of Social Work and received a certificate of Social Welfare which paved the way for a promotion to Parish Welfare Director.

The battles of World War II were raging and with patriotism at its zenith, Terry joined the Marine Corp in January, 1942. He saw action in the South Pacific Theater on the islands of Guadalcanal, Guam, and Iwo Jima and observed the American flag raised on Iwo Jima. At the time of his separation from the marines, he had ascended to the rank of Captain. Terry continued in the Military Reserves retiring with the rank of Major. An important highlight for him was the honor of swearing his son into the Marine Corp.

After the war, Terry worked as a Training Officer for the Veterans Administration, leaving that job to become a farmer. He raised cattle and corn. For a time, he ran a cotton gin and was the owner of the general store in Hall Summit. Thos who remember Terry when he was a continual pipe smoker will have little difficulty visualizing him sitting on the front porch of hte country store, puffing his pipe, and spinning yarns. I joked with Terry that this was his "Country Squire Era". He quickly let me know that it was mostly hard work and little glamour.

Leaving the farm and private business, he became a Child Welfare Worker in Shreveport which led to him completing his social work education at Tulane School of Social Work. He received his Masters in Social Work there in 1962. A   promotion to Child Welfare Consultant would move Terry from Shreveport to administer Child Welfare Services in the Monroe area. He would serve in this position - although this job title changed - until his retirement in 1984.

Never one to let grass grow under his feet, he was soon on the faculty of the newly formed School of Social Work at Grambling State University. In his role as Assistant Dean, he was greatly responsible for the development of the Masters Program at GSU. He took care of the major operational problems of the school and the mundane problems of hte faculty and students. Exuding energy, he arrived at work before 7:30 A.M. each morning and was full of vigor late in the evening when the stamina of younger faculty members had begun to fade.

Terry took pride in his physical fitness. He jogged three miles each morning, showered, dressed and drove the forty miles to GSU. He admonished his fellow faculty to eat properly and exercise and encouraged us by pointing out that he had begun his own aerobic exercise program when he was sixty years old. Certainly his program had paid dividents as he was in his late seventies and early eighties at the time. Not only was he employed full time, he also participated in 3K and 5K runs on the week-ends. He reveled in the fact that he had been one of the founders of the Ouachita Senior Olympics and the Ouachita Valley Road Runners.

Terry was a concerned and contributing citizen of the Monroe community. He was a caring husband and parent, an active member of his church, a mason, and a Shriner. He was active in NASW, served on the Board of Social Work Examiners and the Board of the Retired State Employees Association.

He was, indeed, an amazing man - a rare combination of father figure, friendly uncle, and wise counselor. Mr. Mac will be keenly missed by all whose lives he touched.