Since 2013, ASWB has worked toward the goal of easing practice mobility for social workers.

ASWB members—the regulatory boards in states and provinces across the United States and Canada—chose licensure by endorsement as a key strategy. Licensure by endorsement means states recognize a social worker’s existing license in issuing a new one, reducing barriers to adding a license.

Now, ASWB is embarking on a new project to add another mobility tool to the social work regulatory toolkit. The Council of State Governments, in partnership with the Department of Defense, has chosen ASWB to lead an effort to create a social work licensing compact.

CSG and DoD hosted a compact kickoff meeting for the social work profession in May to inform social workers and other interested stakeholders about the compact development process. The meeting covered aspirations for the project, the function of interstate compacts, and the need for and advantages of license portability in the social work profession. View the recording of the social work compact kickoff meeting.