NASW Policy Briefing

Licensing Reform Task Force - What Social Workers Need to Know

The Governor has convened a statewide Licensing Reform Task Force that will deliver recommendations by September to directly inform 2027 legislation. This is not a general listening tour. It is a Governor-driven pipeline to statutory change.

Behavioral health and social work are explicitly included in the scope, but there is currently no clear social work representative on the task force, which makes early engagement important.

Key takeaways for social workers:

• Health care and behavioral health are identified as critical workforce shortage areas, especially in rural and frontier communities.
• Licensing reform is being framed around removing unnecessary barriers while maintaining public safety, not eliminating licensure.
• Interstate reciprocity and compacts were discussed repeatedly. A task force leader explicitly stated Montana should more seriously consider joining the Social Work Licensure Compact.
• Some participants raised concerns that compacts could lower standards. This framing is inaccurate but influential and will need to be addressed clearly.
• Criminal history and reentry were a major focus. These conversations were largely framed around construction and trades and may not translate cleanly to social work, given ethics, child safety, and background check requirements.
• The Legislature does not routinely review Title 37, but this task force includes discussion of more regular statutory review. For social workers, Title 37 Chapter 39 is the most relevant section.
• Once recommendations are adopted into the task force report, opposing them later will be politically difficult.

This is an early and important window to shape how social work is understood in this process, particularly around portability, public protection, and access to care.