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Michigan Social Work Continuing Education. First things first, FAQs or “Frequently Asked Questions”. What is a CE Hour?. A CE hour is equal to 50 minutes of uninterrupted class time. You are not earning CEUs or CMEs or SBCEUs, you are earning CE Hours.
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What is a CE Hour? • A CE hour is equal to 50 minutes of uninterrupted class time. • You are not earning CEUs or CMEs or SBCEUs, you are earning CE Hours. • CE hours are sometimes referred to as “Contact Hours” or “Clock Hours”-meaning that one CE hour is the same as one hour of actual time. • Courses that are approved. Approving entities are listed on the next page • Presenting at an approved workshop/conference/webinar etc. (See rule 8n (b) with limitations) • Semester and Quarter credits earned through a University School of Social Work. (See rule 8n (c) (d) ) • Publication in a social work journal or textbook (See rule 8n (g) with limitations) What can I count as CE Hours?
How do I know what my licensure cycle is? • Every social worker who is licensed in the State of Michigan is issued a regular sized paper license along with a wallet sized version. On this license is your name, your license number and the date that your license expires. • Your license number will start with a “68” . It is recommended that you keep a copy of your license with you at all times. Providers may ask for your license number when you sign in for a course. • Not every licensed social worker has the same expiration date. • It is your responsibility to know your license number and your expiration date. • Your cycle is for three years. It is during this three year period that you are required to obtain your 45 CE Hours. For example: • If your license expired on 4/30/2009 you could begin counting your approved CE Hours on May 1, 2006. • If your license expires on 4/30/2010 you could begin counting your approved CE Hours on May 1, 2007. • Your 45 CE Hours are to be completed by your license expiration date. • Only “limited license” social workers are on a shorter cycle, it is not until you become fully licensed that you have a three year cycle and are required to obtain your 45 CE Hours.
How will I know if a course is approved? • Providers will advertise on their brochure whether or not the course is approved for social workers. BE CAREFUL! Sometimes the wording in the approval statements can be confusing. Tell me if you think a course is approved for Michigan social workers based on either of these approval statements: Michigan social workers may obtain board approval for continuing education contact hours. Or Michigan social work continuing education is approved by the Michigan Board of Social Work. • Neither is a correct statement, nor are they approval statements. • Only course sponsors can obtain continuing education approval. • You cannot get a course approved as an individual. • The Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative approves courses on behalf of the Michigan Board of Social Work. The Michigan Board of Social Work does not approve courses.
how will I know continued… • Providers are assigned specific approval numbers and an approval statement. Providers and / or courses that are approved will have a statement similar to this: This course is approved by the Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative. Course approval #123456-00 or it may read something like this: Social Work Education Associates is an approved continuing education provider through ASWB and the ACE program. Provider # 1234. • Providers are required to issue a signed certificate of attendance to every attendee who meets the attendance requirements which bears the course approval statement, course approval number or provider number, course name, attendee’s name, date of attendance, and the number of CE hours earned.
Who is the Collaborative? • The Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative is a volunteer group of social work leaders from Universities and social work organizations. • NASW-Michigan is the administrative arm of the Collaborative with fiduciary responsibility under contract with the State of Michigan. • The Collaborative works very closely with the Michigan Board of Social Work assessing the needs associated with continuing education for social workers in the state of Michigan. • The Collaborative is responsible for the review of continuing education applications on behalf of the Michigan Board of Social Work. • Continuing education providers (i.e. Hospitals, Universities, CMH’s etc…) apply to the Collaborative for approval of their continuing education offerings.
How does the State keep track of my hours? • The State of Michigan is not keeping track of your hours, this is your responsibility. • If you are having trouble keeping your records or find yourself constantly wondering if the courses you took were actually approved then it is recommended that you sign up for a CE tracking service. • NASW-Michigan offers a tracking service for members and non-members. This interactive “on-line” service will keep track of your hours, verify course approval, and report to you via email when you have completed your continuing education requirements. If you are chosen for an audit then this service will provide you and MDCH Licensure with a transcript of your continuing education hours. If you would like to sign up for this service go to www.nasw-michigan.org.
Why do I have to sign in and out of workshops if the State isn’t keeping track? • This is the best way for providers to monitor your attendance. • We ask the providers to do this for a number of reasons: • Providers will be subject to audit by either MDCH-Licensure, The Michigan Board of Social Work or by the Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative. • Providers are required to monitor attendance. They must keep track of the time that you checked into the course and the times that you leave. • If you miss more than 10 minutes of one hour of presentation then they are not allowed to grant you a CE for that hour. • If you miss one day of a two-day workshop it is at the discretion of the provider as to whether or not they will grant partial credit. • If you were to lose your certificate of attendance, the provider will have a record of your registration and will be able to issue a duplicate certificate.
Where do I send my certificates to? • Do not automatically send in your certificates to the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH / The State). They may get lost and without your proof of attendance you may not be able to renew your license when it is due and if you don’t renew then you could be at risk for losing your license. • If you are audited by The State you will receive a letter requesting proof of your attendance (certificates) be sent in to MDCH-Licensure. You must comply with this request. • If you decide to sign up for the CE Tracking Service through NASW-Michigan you will be asked to send in “copies” of your certificates of attendance.
Let’s Take a Look at the Specific Rulesof Social WorkContinuing Education Requirementsunder the Licensure Law
Rule Number 1 (1) An applicant for license renewal who has been licensed for the 3 year period immediately preceding the expiration date of the license or an applicant for re-licensure shall accumulate not less than 45 continuing education hours that are approved by the Michigan Board of Social Work, under R338.2908o, during the 3 years preceding an application for renewal or re-licensure. At least 5 of the 45 continuing education contact hours in each renewal period shall be in social work ethics and 1 continuing education contact hour in each renewal period shall be in pain and pain symptom management. What this means: Your license is valid for three years. During this three year period you are required to earn 45 CE hours. Licensure law requires you to have 45 CE hours of approved courses completed by your license renewal date. Courses must be approved by one of the following entities: Michigan Continuing Education Collaborative ASWB/ACE – Association of Social Work Boards ACE – Approved Continuing Education Another state’s Board of Social Work 5 of your 45 CE hours must be in social work ethics and 1 CE hour in Pain/Pain Symptom management. R 338.2908mLicense renewals and re-licensure; continuing education requirements.
Rule Number 2 (2) Submission of an application for renewal or relicensure shall constitute the applicant’s certification of compliance with the requirements of this rule. A licensed master’s or licensed bachelor’s social worker shall retain documentation of meeting the requirements of this rule for a period of 4 years from the date of applying for license renewal or relicensure. Failure to comply with this rule shall be a violation of section 16221 (h) of the code. What this means: Before you mail in your license renewal to the Michigan Department of Community Health you will sign a statement on this renewal form indicating that you have completed the 45 CE hour requirements When you attend a workshop/course/webinar you will receive a certificate of attendance. You are required to keep these certificates of attendance for a period of 7 years. (Three years during your licensure cycle and 4 years from the date you send in your renewal. R 338.2908mLicense renewals and re-licensure; continuing education requirements continued…
What will happen if I don’t have my 45 CEs? • Failure to comply with the rules-16221 (h) of the code: • If a person does not have the 45 hours in approved coursework during the licensure period, they are in violation of the Public Health Code requirements for renewal of their license whether they are short 1 hour or 45 hours. • Documentation of the situation will be sent to MDCH staff who files complaints. A formal complaint would be filed against the licensee. • The licensee would be sent the complaint and given a chance to settle the case informally or participate in an administrative hearing. The case is presented to the Disciplinary Subcommittee for final action. • Typically, CE violations are subject to a fine, probation and the licensee would be ordered to complete the missing CE hours within a period of time. Those CEs would count toward the renewal cycle in question and could not be used in the 45 hours required for the next renewal cycle. • Each case is reviewed and discipline assessed on the merits of the case.
Rule 338.2908n Acceptable continuing education; limitations. Rule 8n. (1) The Board shall consider any of the following as acceptable continuing education. • One continuing education contact hour, without limitation, may be earned for each 60 minutes of attendance at a continuing education program that complies with the standards in R 338.2908o. What this means: • Any course that is approved by one of the approving entities. • Three continuing education contact hours may be earned for each 60 minute presentation of a continuing education program that is not part of the licensee’s regular job description that complies with the standards in R 338.2908o. Credit may be earned for the same program only once in each renewal cycle period. A maximum of 15 CE Hours may be earned under this subdivision. What this means: • If you give a presentation at an APPROVED course and giving a presentation is not part of your job description then you may earn 3 CE Hours for every 60 minutes of presentation given. You may earn CE Hours for the same presentation one time and your presentation CE Hours are maxed out at 15 CE Hours earned for presentations regardless of how many presentations you give.
Rules and limitations continued… Rule 8n. (1) continued… • Five continuing education contact hours may be earned for each semester credit earned for academic courses related to social work practice offered in an educational program approved by the board under R 338.2908o. What this means: • Courses taken through a University School of Social Work will count for 5 CE Hours for every semester credit earned. If you earned 5 semester credits through a school of social work this would be equal to 25 CE Hours. • Three continuing education contact hours may be earned for each quarter credit earned for academic courses related to social work practice offered in an educational program approved by the board under R 338.2908o. What this means: • Courses taken through a University School of Social Work will count for 3 CE Hours for every quarter credit earned. If you earned 5 quarter credits through a school of social work this would be equal to 15 CE Hours.
Rules and limitations continued… Rule 8n. (1) continued… • One continuing education contact hour may be granted for each 60 minutes of attendance, without limitation, at a continuing education program that has been granted approval by another state board of social work or the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB/ACE). What this means: • If you want to attend a course that has been approved by another state’s board of social work or by ASWB/ACE then it will be recognized as an approved continuing education program by MDCH-Department of Licensure. Please keep in mind that NASW State Chapter offices are not representative of any state’s board of social work. • One continuing education contact hour may be granted for each 60 minutes of attendance, without limitation, at a continuing education program related to social work practice offered by an educational program approved by the board R 338.2908o. What this means: • This is basically the same as (a). Courses must be approved if you want them to count towards your licensure renewal CE Hours.
Rules and limitations continued… Rule 8n. (1) continued… • Not more than 10 continuing education contact hours may be granted for publication, in a social work journal or textbook, of an article or chapter related to social work. What this means: • If you write an article and it is published in a social work journal or textbook then you can earn 10 CE Hours for this publication. • A maximum of 10 continuing education contact hours may be earned for completion of online computer programs pertaining to social work approved by the board R338.2908o. What this means: • Courses taken online that are APPROVED are allowed. Maximum of 10 online hours every three year cycle. • While this rule specifically states “online” courses, the Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative has made the following recommendation regarding “Distance Learning” such as online, teleconferences, home study etc…
Distance Learning recommendation: The Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative recommends that in order to improve their skills and obtain knowledge, social workers should obtain their CE hours from a variety of methods and sources. The Licensing Board is currently reviewing the law to determine how home study will be defined and incorporated in future licensing requirements. At this time, we are recommending that all social workers limit their home study CE hours to10 hours every three years.”
C.E. R.U.L.E.S Complete your 45 CE Hours Education is key to success Remember the rules and know the requirements Understand and know what is accepted for continuing education License number-know your “68” number Expiration date on your license and know your three year cycle Select your CE courses carefully-always make sure they are approved!
References • For a complete copy of the Social Work General Rules go to www.michigan.gov and follow the links for Michigan Department of Community Health-select the tab “Agencies” at the top of the page and then click on Community Health. Once you are at the Community Health page you can then select “Health Systems and Health Professionals Licensing”. Follow the links at that page to Social Work. • To sign up for the NASW-Michigan CE Tracking service you can follow the links at www.nasw-michigan.org. • To view this power point and for complete information about social work continuing education requirements please visit the Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative website at www.socialworkcec.com.