Proponent Testimony — S. B. 90, Social Work Licensure Compact, House Commerce and Labor Committee

Summary

Written proponent testimony to the House Commerce and Labor Committee on S. B. 90, Enter the Social Work Licensure Compact, from Meredith Poynter, Southwest Ohio Director of the Mental Health & Addiction Advocacy Coalition (MHAC). The testimony states that Ohio's participation in an interstate licensing compact for social workers is critical for the behavioral health workforce. It states that, with five bordering states, the bill will help address the workforce shortage and allow access to existing behavioral health professionals across state lines. It applauds Senator Roegner for her work on the bill and urges the committee to favorably report it.

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“Proponent Testimony — S. B. 90, Social Work Licensure Compact, House Commerce and Labor Committee.” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2024-01-09-commerce-labor-testimony-testimony-9761-c0d8a3bf7c/, SHA-256 2fbe130241ade47d3a1cc831f5e69509d0d8107d003473283b700520087f22d0.

Full text

House Commerce and Labor Committee
Re: S. B. 90 Proponent Testimony
Chair Johnson, Vice-Chair Manchester, Ranking Member McNally, and members of the House
Commerce and Labor Committee,
I am testifying today regarding S. B. 90, Enter the Social Work Licensure Compact, and its
favorable passage.
My name is Meredith Poynter, and I serve as the Southwest Ohio Director of the Mental Health
& Addiction Advocacy Coalition (MHAC), a statewide organization that works to improve
access to behavioral health care for all Ohioans. I also serve as co-chair for the Regional
Behavioral Health Workforce Coalition. We are a cross-sector community-driven collaboration
of over 50 members to address short-term and long-term behavioral health workforce
development barriers. Our goals are to increase support, build evidence, and lead the scale-up of
best practices that build the behavioral health workforce that our region needs.
Ohio’s participation in interstate licensing compact for social workers is critical for the
behavioral health workforce. With five bordering states, we know this bill will help address our
workforce shortage and allow access to existing behavioral health professionals across state
lines. Currently these professionals face navigating the various state licensing requirements,
rules, regulations, and fee structures that can create significant challenges for those looking to
expand or move to Ohio.
Clinical Social Workers are the largest segment of the behavioral health field, focusing on the
assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illness. They work in hospitals,
mental health clinics, senior centers, state and local governments, schools and universities,
substance use clinics, military bases, child welfare agencies and employee assistance programs.
Creating reciprocal professional licensing practices for social workers between states, while
ensuring the quality and safety of services through joining the compact will support all Ohio, and
Ohio’s workforce.
We applaud Senator Roegner for her work on this bill, and we urge the committee to favorably
report S. B. 90.
Thank you, and I would be happy to answer any questions.

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