Ohio Admin. Code 4757-23-01

Current through all regulations passed and filed through November 4, 2024

Section 4757-23-01 - Social work supervision

This rule applies to all social work assistants; to all licensed social workers employed in a private practice, partnership, or group practice; to all licensed social workers engaged in social psychotherapy; and to all licensed social workers seeking licensure as independent social workers.

(A) Social work supervision:

(1) "Clinical supervision" or "work supervision" of licensed social workers performing social psychotherapy and social workers employed in a private practice, partnership, or group practice means the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the supervisee's performance; professional guidance to the supervisee; approval of the supervisee's intervention plans and their implementation; the assumption of responsibility for the welfare of the supervisee's clients; and assurance that the supervisee functions within the limits of their license. The supervisor must have access to the supervisee's client documentation. Supervision must occur on a regular and consistent basis, such that the supervisor can evaluate the client progress and the performance of the supervisee. The clinical/work supervisor will review the case notes of the licensed social worker. The assessment, diagnosis, treatment plan, revisions to the treatment plan, correspondence and transfer or termination of the client(s) shall be approved by the supervisor and shall be made available to the board upon request. Licensed social workers shall disclose to their clients on all printed and electronic material that they are under the supervision of an appropriately licensed mental health professional when diagnosing and treating mental and emotional disorders. The supervisee shall on all printed and electronic materials also disclose to their clients the name(s) of said professional(s). The work/clinical supervisor may be subject to discipline when the board determines the supervisor failed to provide proper supervision to a dependent licensee under supervision.

(2) "Training supervision" means supervision for the purposes of obtaining a license and/or development of new areas of proficiency while providing services to clients. The training supervisor is responsible for providing direction to the supervisee, who applies social work theory, standardized knowledge, skills, competency, and applicable ethical content in the practice setting. The supervisor and the supervisee both share responsibility for carrying out their role in this collaborative processes of professional growth and development. Training supervision may be individual supervision or group supervision. Supervision must start with an initial face to face meeting after which communication may be in person, via videoconferencing, or by phone.

(a) "Individual supervision" is supervision that consists of an interactive face- to-face meeting between one supervisor meeting with no more than two supervisees.

(b) "Group supervision" is supervision that consists of an interactive face-to- face meeting with one supervisor and no more than eight supervisees.

(B) Clinical/work supervision requirements.

(1) A social worker engaged in social psychotherapy in an agency setting shall be supervised by an independent social worker, a licensed professional clinical counselor, an independent marriage and family therapist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist or an advanced practice registered nurse-clinical nurse specialist or advanced practice registered nurse-certified nurse practitioner who is certified in psychiatric-mental health by the American nurses credentialing center.

(2) A social worker working as an employee of a partnership, group or private practice shall be supervised in all practice of social work by a supervisor listed in paragraph (B)(1) of this rule.

(C) Training supervision of licensed social workers by licensed independent social workers with a supervision designation requires the supervisor to:

(1) Have demonstrated competence in the area in which they are supervising;

(2) Have training in supervision theory and practice;

(3) Have training in legal and ethical issues relevant to counseling, psychosocial interventions and social psychotherapy;

(4) Complete and forward to the board all supervision evaluations required by the board within thirty days of completing supervision with a supervisee;

(5) Promote the delivery of services in a non-discriminatory manner.

(D) A licensed independent social worker may provide clinical/work supervision to licensees of the Ohio chemical dependency professionals board when such licensees are working solely with substance use disorder clients. The licensed independent social worker who does so must have the appropriate education, training and supervised experience in substance use disorder practice.

(E) A licensed social worker, when working with solely substance use disorder clients, but not dual-diagnosis clients, may receive clinical/work supervision from a licensed independent chemical dependency counselor or licensed independent chemical dependency counselor clinical supervisor licensed by the Ohio chemical dependency professionals board.

(F) Requirements for social work professional training supervision to qualify for licensure as an independent social worker:

(1) One hour of individual and/or group supervision for each twenty hours of work by the supervisee with no less than one hundred fifty hours total.

(2) Employment experience obtained, that is required for licensure as an independent social worker, shall be supervised by an independent social worker. Employment experience obtained after September 1, 2008, that is required for licensure as an independent social worker, shall be supervised by an independent social worker with supervision designation.

(3) Records of training supervision shall be maintained by the supervisee . Supervisors have no obligation to retain supervision records, however supervisors may do so to ensure they are able to properly document supervision hours. The supervision records shall contain information concerning the dates of supervision, content and goals of supervision. The supervisor shall sign the supervision records at least quarterly to document their review. The supervision records may be retained on hard copy forms or electronic forms. Logs must be made available to the board upon request.

(4) Upon completion of the required supervision hours to qualify for an licensed independent social worker license, the licensed social worker shall request that the licensed independent social worker with supervision endorsement who last provided training supervision submit all accrued training supervision hours to board using the logs maintained by the supervisee. The supervisor shall submit the training supervision hours using the online form provided by the board.

(5) The supervisor is not obligated to provided a recommendation for independent licensure if the supervisor has determined the supervisee is not qualified at that time for independent practice. Supervisors who fail to timely submit supervision hours upon a request by a supervisee may be subject to disciplinary action. The evaluation may not be submitted to the board prior to the supervisee completing training supervision requirements.

(6) There shall be no direct family relationship between the supervisor and the supervisee if the experience is to be counted toward the fulfillment of the licensure requirement.

(7) If the training supervision is occurring in Ohio, the supervisee and the supervisor shall be licensed in Ohio.

(8) Requests for exceptions to this rule, due to hardship, shall be made in writing to the committee.

(G) A licensed social worker may not be in solo private practice. A licensed social worker must be employed or contracted with an agency, practice, or independently licensed professional who can provide clinical/work supervision in accordance with this rule.

(H) Requirements for social work professional training in supervision to qualify for a training supervision designation:

(1) Only independent social workers who have obtained a training supervision designation shall provide training supervision. Applicants for training supervision designation shall apply on forms required by the board and shall document at least the following requirements.

(a) One year post licensure experience as an independent social worker; and

(b) Training in supervision of at least nine hours of continuing education in committee approved supervision programs or one master's level supervision course, which shall be completed as follows: between the date the applicant received the independent social worker and the date the applicant is applying for the supervision designation using continuing education training; or complete a master's level supervision course from an accredited university within the last three years.

(2) All independent social workers with training supervision designation shall maintain supervisory status by obtaining three hours of social workers professional standards committee approved continuing professional education in supervision or a master's level course in supervision each renewal period.

(3) If the minimum of nine hours of academic preparation is continuing education coursework, it shall be board approved. The continuing education coursework in social work training supervision shall include each area as follows:

(a) The coursework shall total nine clock hours of didactic and interaction instruction; and

(b) The coursework shall contain content that satisfies the following learning objectives.

(i) The participant will become familiar with the major models of supervision for social work;

(ii) Gain skills to develop a personal model of supervision, drawn from existing models of supervision;

(iii) Understand the co-evolving dynamics of licensee-client and supervisor-licensee-client relationships;

(iv) Explore distinctive issues that arise in supervision;

(v) Address the contextual variables in practice such as culture, gender, ethnicity, power and economics;

(vi) Become familiar with the ethical, legal and regulatory issues of supervision; and

(vii) Understand the role of evaluation in supervision.

Ohio Admin. Code 4757-23-01

Effective: 7/1/2024
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 3/19/2024 and 07/01/2029
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 4757.27, 4757.28
Rule Amplifies: 4757.27, 4757.28
Prior Effective Dates: 02/24/1986 (Emer.), 05/22/1986, 07/03/1997, 09/20/2002, 09/20/2007, 11/02/2008, 10/18/2009, 09/01/2011, 11/03/2014, 09/03/2018