Enacts the "Supervising Upcoming Professionals for Practice in Official Roles in Therapy (SUPPORT) act"; provides that for licensure as a clinical social worker, an applicant may satisfy the experience requirements under supervision of a mental health practitioner who has been granted the privilege to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans under article one hundred sixty-three of the education law.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A780
SPONSOR: Berger TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "Super-
vising Upcoming Professionals for Practice in Official Roles in Therapy
(SUPPORT) act"
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To allow students working to obtain their license of clinical social
work (LCSW) to be supervised by any licensed mental health practitioner
authorized to formally diagnose patients and create assessment-based
treatment plans
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill clarifies that this act shall be known and may be
cited as the "Supervising Upcoming Professionals for Practice in Offi-
cial Roles in Therapy (SUPPORT) act".
Section 2 of the bill amends paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section
7704 of the education law to allow working to obtain their license of
clinical social work (LCSW) to be supervised by any licensed mental
health practitioner who has obtained diagnostic privilege.
Section 3 of the bill provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, the only way for an individual with a Master of Social Work
(MSW) to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) is to gain
supervised experience under a psychiatrist, psychologist, or another
LCSW. However, in June 2024, New York Education Law was updated to allow
qualified mental health practitioners to apply for a diagnostic privi-
lege. With this privilege, mental health practitioners have the commen-
surate experience to properly supervise individuals seeking their
certification to become an LCSW. In a time when New York is undergoing a
mental health crisis, it is imperative that the state provides more
pathways towards certification without removing the standards that make
the profession what it is.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
780
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BERGER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "Super-
vising Upcoming Professionals for Practice in Official Roles in Thera-
py (SUPPORT) act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Supervis-
2 ing Upcoming Professionals for Practice in Official Roles in Therapy
3 (SUPPORT) act".
4 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 7704 of the education
5 law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read
6 as follows:
7 (c) Experience: have at least three years full-time supervised post-
8 graduate clinical social work experience in diagnosis, psychotherapy,
9 and assessment-based treatment plans, or its part-time equivalent,
10 obtained over a continuous period not to exceed six years, under the
11 supervision, satisfactory to the department, of a psychiatrist, a
12 licensed psychologist, [or] a licensed clinical social worker in a
13 facility setting or other supervised settings approved by the department
14 or a mental health practitioner who has been granted the privilege to
15 diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans under article one
16 hundred sixty-three of this title. Satisfactory experience obtained in
17 an entity operating under a waiver issued by the department pursuant to
18 section sixty-five hundred three-a of this title may be accepted by the
19 department, notwithstanding that such experience may have been obtained
20 prior to the effective date of such section sixty-five hundred three-a
21 and/or prior to the entity having obtained a waiver. The department may,
22 for good cause shown, accept satisfactory experience that was obtained
23 in a setting that would have been eligible for a waiver but which has
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00963-01-5
A. 780 2
1 not obtained a waiver from the department or experience that was
2 obtained in good faith by the applicant under the belief that appropri-
3 ate authorization had been obtained for the experience, provided that
4 such experience meets all other requirements for acceptable experience;
5 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
