President’s Message January 2006
By Judy Haspel

Foremost on the minds of much of our membership continues to be recovery, and most of our programs have been on hold. Our education committee has been dispersed and our membership committee has been injured. Our mentors are focused on rebuilding their own lives and have not been in a place to offer themselves to new graduates at this time.

However, more and more of us are returning to rebuilding our practices, and as we do so, we return our attention to the needs of our professional organization. We anticipate good attendance at our next board meeting in February.

We have been able to stay on sound financial footing, thanks to our diligent Treasurer, Charlene Spears and your ever frugal LACSW Board. We hope to offer some high quality educational programs in the near future, as our irrepressible Education Chair, Mimi Jalenak, has returned. Legislative issues may be less in the forefront, as our state considers recovery in the upcoming session. However, our Legislative Chair, Debbie Fernandez and the rest of the committee will remain vigilant.

All members of the board have contributed wherever they could assuming one another’s assigned duties, thanks to Donna Lewis for stepping in and recording the minutes at our last board meeting. Thanks to all of you who have offered to help and gone above and beyond what you previously committed to.

Our most pressing task at our next board meeting will be to consider whether or not to remain in the Clinical Social Work Federation. It is our understanding that the organization as we know it will change into a more centralized “Association” format. The implications for individual states may be profound. The by- laws dictate that a state society may withdraw by March 1 without penalty, but if we wait any longer, we would owe membership dues for the following year. Though we are fiscally stable, we are not in a position to spend our money frivolously. CSWF has planned their reorganization meeting for AFTER the withdrawal deadline. A possibility would be to wait and see what the organizational plan would look like, but that could cost us another year’s dues (several thousand dollars) to Federation.

This issue will be first on the agenda at our next board meeting, Feb 10, 2006, 10:00am at Behavioral Hospital in Baton Rouge. All members are invited. Or, if you have thoughts, ideas, questions, please call me or email me at JOHASPEL@aol.com.

CEAP ISSUES RESOLVED (for now)

Sharon Weston Broome, State Senator, District 15, had suggested that we ask for a resolution regarding whether or not other professions can regulate our practice. We know that the law is on our side but we wanted clarity without having to open our law to scrutiny. In her response to an inquiry by our lobbyist, Maxine Courmier, Senator Broome explained,

“In the 2005 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, the sections of law [RS 36:259(s) and (LL)] dealing with the certification requirements and procedures for employee assistance professionals were repealed in Act 428, which began as House Bill 386 by Representative Smiley. This Act also abolished the Board of Certified Employee Assistance Professionals, which was the entity providing such certification.

As a result of both the certifying entity and the requirements and procedures for such certification having been abolished and repealed, the issue of whether social workers must seek certification is moot. At this time, social workers in Louisiana are not required to seek a separate certification in order to provide employee assistance services that are provided for within the scope of practice of a social worker, as defined in statute and by the Louisiana Board of Social Work Examiners.”

WHY BELONG TO CSWF

   THE BUDGET 2005-2006
December Report

Accessible Funds to Date :   22,327

LABSWE
Post Katrina Accommodations

Renewal fees

The social worker can make a written request for deferred payment of the 2005-06 renewal fee to be submitted with the renewal application. Payment of the renewal fee must be made by August 31, 2006. A new ID card will be sent after receipt of the renewal application and request for deferred payment.

Audits

The regular 10% audited social workers in the affected parishes who have lost their records because of the hurricane should turn in a notarized affidavit stating how many hours they completed and that their records were destroyed by the hurricane. Those who were audited because they owed hours must turn in a notarized letter to the board attesting to the amount of hours collected. These letters will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Continuing Education

Continuing Education is required by state law and cannot be waived without a change in the law.  However, there is a rule in place for requesting an extension to collect continuing education.

Supervision

The law and the rules do not allow for a waiver of the supervision and professional experience requirements.  However, social workers can submit a written request to the board that will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Volunteer vs Paid Experience

If social workers want to complete their professional experience by doing volunteer work the following requirements must be met: 30 hrs per week, at least 2 hours per month of supervision by an LCSW in accordance with Rule 505, and a letter on agency letterhead from the agency must be submitted documenting the number of hours per week the social worker volunteered, the beginning and end date of the volunteer work, and the fact that the social worker volunteered at least 30 hours per week.

Certificates

Replacements are available if requested by August 31, 2006: LCSW $15.00, all others $10.00.

Lost records

Clients should be informed, and the social worker should try to recapture/reconstruct the record.

Informal Survey Results (mean average)

At what % is your practice back to normal?

Our website is www.lacsw.org. Website ID is “LACSW”, and your password is “strength”. If any LACSW member would like to post a short clinical article on our website (no charge), crediting yourself and with a link to your website if you have one, contact Charlene Spears at 337-237-9150.

Board Vacancies

On July 26, 2006, there will be two vacancies on the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners. One vacancy must be filled by a Graduate Social Worker and the other vacancy must be filled by a Registered Social Worker. La. R.S. 37:2704, mandates the following qualifications for board members:

The public member position is currently vacant. The public member cannot be a currently elected official, and no public member can be or have been any of the following: (1) Actively engaged in the practice of social work or be the spouse of a social worker. (2) Engaged in the practice of psychology, psychiatry, or a member of a mental health profession, or the spouse of a member of a mental health professional. (3) Employed or own an agency or business entity that provides social, health, or mental health care or substance abuse services.

If you are interested in serving on the Board, you should submit a letter stating your interest, along with a current resume to the Board office or one of the following organizations by May 31, 2006:

Louisiana Association of Clinical Social Workers

P. O. Box 14153

Baton Rouge, LA 70808

 

Louisiana Chapter of National Association of Social Workers

700 North 10th St., Suite 200

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

 

Louisiana Council on Social Work Education

LSU School of Social Work

311 Huey P. Long Fieldhouse

Meeting dates 2005-2006

Feb.10, 2006

April 21, 2006

June 9, 2006

August 11, 2006

Meetings are at Behavioral Hospital of Baton Rouge. All members are invited to attend.

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EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Tentative schedule

Carol Baskin-Kacer, LCSW, LMFT

Anxiety and Depression in Children

March, possibly June 2006

Another Master Class...Details coming soon

Letters and E-mails to the editor :

“Speaking of social work heroes in the Baton Rouge recovery effort… Mim Aretsky, Deborah Fernandez, and Karen Collier were three that I was aware of who were extensively involved in recovery efforts. I’m sure that there were many more who worked tirelessly. The work of these three was quite visible to me. Mim, my office mate, told story after story of amazing efforts on her part and her friends in helping storm victims. Her attentiveness to the basic needs of the evacuees led her, at one point, to somehow round up truckloads of women’s extra large panties! Then she had to struggle with where to store them as her house wasn’t quite big enough. Deborah and Karen showed incredible dedication in organizing and networking mental health services for the storm victims. The time, energy and effort given by these three, and of course many others, showed admirable leadership in crisis, and amazing capacity to care for others in a time of need.”

Steven Bordelon

Attorney General Report

LACSW had asked for an opinion regarding claims that were denied by certain insurance companies that were based outside of the state of Louisiana. The question was –do insurance companies located outside of the state have a right to deny our claims. In their response to us, the Attorney General referred us to the Federal ERISA laws regarding employee rights, which missed the point entirely. ERISSA refers to self-insured companies, which do not have to honor the laws of states in which subscribers live.

We were using a test case with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, which has since changed their policies and has agreed to pay our claims, as is mandated by our state laws. We will pursue the matter with the Attorney General if we have another case in question. It seems that most companies are not using their location as a means to deny claims at this time.

If you have a case that is being denied on the grounds of location of the insurance company, please contact Larry Gooch (225)923-0764, so that we can assist in this matter.

LACSW
P.O. Box 14153
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Phone: 225-761-1668
Fax: 337-989-8458
Email: LACSW2@hotmail.com

Reminder: Please go to our website, www.lacsw.org to update your data. This is free publicity for your practice.

Our Special Thanks to Behavioral Hospital of Baton Rouge for hosting LACSW's meetings.

Behavioral Hospital of Baton Rouge
440 North Blvd.
Baton Rouge, LA 70806

Moving? Missed an Issue?

Please contact us at:

LACSW P.O. Box 14153 Baton Rouge, LA 70808
or
lacsw2@hotmail.com
 

To Contact Your Licensing Board:

Send $5.00 to the board for a copy of “The Rules, Standards, and Procedures of the Louisiana Social Work Practice Act– amended Oct.24, 2003.

Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners 18550 Highland Road—Suite B Baton Rouge, LA 70809 Phone: (225) 756-3470 or 800-521-1941 (LA only) email: socialwork@labswe.org Website: http://www.labswe.org

Contact Information:

LACSW Officers:

President– Judy Haspel 504-891-5807

President Elect— Carol Miles 985-893-1248

Secretary— Marjorie Roniger 504-818-2886

Treasurer— Charlene Spears 337-237-9150

Regional Board

Baton Rouge - Anita Evans, Deborah Fernandez, Maureen Powell, Justin Schleis, Larry Gooch, Dayle Malen

New Orleans– Anne Heard, Mimi Jalenak, Donna Lewis, George Morlier, Laura Myers

Shreveport—  Leesa Sitter, Peggy Salley

Slidell— Maria Klette-Ketchum, Sherry Merritt