Social Work CE- Where Do I Find My State Board’s Approved Provider Criteria? (Question 2)

Question #1 was answered in an earlier article, which was, “What does my state require in continuing education for social workers?”. The question to be addressed here is, “Where do I find my Social Workers State Board’s approved provider criteria?”. It is necessary to gather this information prior to looking for a CE provider.

Once you know what your state board requires of you to renew your license, following this, it is necessary to verify what constitutes an approved provider. There is variability in what constitutes an approved CE provider among state boards. Realizing the specifics for your state board will assist you in your CE provider search. Before getting into where to find the answer to the question above, it is necessary to discuss the three pre-approval categories of CE providers.

The first one is simple, be approved by the State Board directly. Each state board that approves a CE provider will issue a “provider number” that will be unique for each CE company. For example, those that are licensed Social Workers in California, you have to take courses from a CE provider that has been approved by the CA BBS and has their own PCE#. For those whose state board has the same requirement as California, make sure the CE provider you use have been issued a provider number by your state board.

Other state boards accept the approvals from certain national organizations. For instances, a Social Worker in Connecticut can use a provider who has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). Different states and different professional boards accept different national approvals, know which ones your state board accepts.

Another category are licensees that use providers approved by a different state but which govern their profession. For instance, an Alabama social worker is able to use a provider approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (CA BBS), since the CA BBS governs Social Workers. So, now you know the variations of acceptance, where do you go to find out what your state board allows?

You will want to begin at your state board’s home page of their website. From there you will be looking for a link for the state board’s rules and regulations (or statutes, rules, etc.). There will be a section in this document on continuing education, find that section. The acceptable sources according to your state board will be explained here. For Oregon Social Workers, the section you are looking for is “Continuing Education Reporting Requirements”. Here you will find if your state board accepts providers with approval from a national board, approval from another state board overseeing MFTs, or if they need to be approved by them directly.

Armed with this information you are now able to start looking for the right online CE provider. There will be less headaches having done this work initially. Look for the approvals each provider has obtained and make sure they match what your state board requires. If the provider does not have the proper approvals, go to the next one. The next question to be answered will be, “How many hours of my CE can be earned online?”, stay tuned.

If you are an Social Worker seeking Continuing Education for Social Workers, visit AspiraCE at http://www.aspirace.com. AspiraCE is an approved online CE provider for Social Workers across the United States. There are many courses to choose from, great pricing structure, and top-notch customer service. Visit AspiraCE for your Social Worker CEUs today!