Continuing Education to Advance Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination in Practice

Background and Purpose

Continuing education (CE) is an essential component of social workers’ ethical and professional behavior. In September 2023, the Board of Registration of Social Workers in Massachusetts instituted a new CE requirement, requiring social workers complete 3 hours of training about anti-racism and anti-discrimination in each licensure period. Clinical social workers proposed this requirement after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, as a step toward ensuring social workers are lifelong learners about anti-racism and anti-discrimination.

This study explored social workers’ perceptions of the new requirement. Are practicing social workers aware of the new requirement and know how to meet it? To what extent do practicing social workers perceive the new policy as useful and/or needed for professional development?

Methodology

The sampling frame included all licensed independent clinical social workers (LICSW) in Massachusetts whose licenses were due for renewal in the first eight months of the new requirement. Potential participants received a postcard with a QR code for the informed consent and a Qualtics survey. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS. Qualitative data were analyzed in Dedoose using thematic analysis.

Results

Participants (N=152) were LICSWs who earned their MSW an average of 13.9 (SD=9.86) years ago. Participants were primarily White (85.8%), female (88.8%), and 30-49 years old (73.8%). Many felt knowledgeable about anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice (82.1% and 78.8%, respectively), with mean self-efficacy for anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice at 9.05 (SD=1.39) and 8.83 (SD=1.44) [min=3, max=12], respectively.

Participants did not all agree with the new requirement. Although 75.7% (n=114) thought it would improve practice, only 55% (n=82) believed the requirement was the right amount of hours, while 23.5% (n=35) believed it was too few and 21.5% (n=32) too much. Communication about the requirement was poor, with 34.2% (n=52) learning about it through the survey and 42.8% (n=65) struggling to determine how to fulfill the requirement.

In qualitative responses, participants described the learning as beneficial. Some wanted the content provided in a required course. Others believed the policy was heavy-handed, as it constitutes 10% of CEs each licensure cycle, and does not account for workers who hold licenses in multiple states or who have advanced knowledge in this area.

Conclusions and Implications

Participants generally had high self-efficacy for anti-racism and anti-discrimination in practice. This finding is encouraging as self-efficacy is associated with effort and motivation to act. Despite high perceived knowledge, participants were open to learning more about both topics.

Given that many participants were unaware of the new requirement, information needs to be disseminated more effectively, including how to fulfill the requirement. In evaluating the new policy, the unintended consequences need to be considered, including the lack of standardized content and the challenge of measuring its impact on practice. This presentation supports the SSWR conference objective to “center racial equity and social justice in social work research, policy, and practice.”