TO:Organizations Providing Continuing Education in Social Work

FROM:Deborah Sheehan, Director, Professional Education Programs

SUBJECT:Application for Social Work Continuing Education Credits (CECs)

I am pleased to respond to your request for information regarding approval for continuing education courses which your organization offers. What follows is information about agency and course eligibility criteria, information about the application procedure and an application form. You will note that we have also enclosed information about procedures for applying for CECs for previously sponsored courses. Should you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to contact our office at 617-353-3756 or e-mail us at . Coordinator

TO QUALIFY FOR SOCIAL WORK CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS (CECs)

BUSSW PEP is an approved and recognized entity for providing continuing education credits in social work in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Following the regulations of the MA Board of Registration of Social Workers, approved CE programs must cover at least one of the following:

  1. Theories and concepts of human behavior in the social environment;
  2. Social work practice, knowledge and skills;
  3. Social work research, program evaluation, or practice evaluation;
  4. Social work agency management or administration;
  5. Development, evaluation and/or implementation of social policy;
  6. Social work ethics and standards of professional practice; or
  7. Current issues in clinical or non-clinical social work practice (e.g., diversity, aging, multi-culturalism, new approaches to diagnosis and treatment of mental or emotional disorders, etc.)

Programs Must Also Have:

Qualified instructors-those with expertise in the subject matter of the course, as indicated by their current positions, past experiences, educational backgrounds, publications, previous teaching assignments;

Well-defined learning objectives;

Suitable bibliographies--including references that are recent, peer-reviewed, and inclusive of the scientific literature available for the topic--which will be distributed to participants;

Evaluation forms to be completed by individual program participants. If there are separate workshops or lectures within the program, the format should allow participants to evaluate each segment individually; and

Program schedule (please see Example A below for a detailed example on providing your program’s schedule).

THE FOLLOWING DO NOT QUALIFY FOR SOCIAL WORK CECs:

Supervision

Staff meetings

Orientation

Committee meetings

Program’s focused on participants’ personal problems

Self-help or self-improvement programs not specific to social work

In-service training (ie: meetings geared specifically to a particular setting’s functions and management that cannot be transferred from one social work setting to another.)

REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICATION AUTHORIZATION

Application must be typed or it will be returned unauthorized (an electronic version is available for download at

A check for the correct amount ($50 per application) must accompany your application. Checks should be payable to Boston University School of Social Work. Purchase orders are not accepted.

A separate application must be filled out for each program segment when participants are given a choice for two or more programs given at the same time.

When applying for multiple day events, one application should be filled out per day.

While we often turnaround applications in less than two weeks, we do require a four week approval process timeframe. Therefore, it is in your interest to apply early enough to be able to include the authorization number we give you on the registration information you send out. If an authorization number has not been secured at the time of printing, the brochure should advise registrants how to contact you and/or other sponsors to find out if an authorization number has been issued.

THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA WILL BE USED TO REVIEW THE APPLICATIONS

A complete, typed application with attached evaluation form

Relevance of the program for professional social work practice

Clarity and specificity of objectives and content

Appropriateness of methodology for objectives and content

Appropriateness of qualifications on instructor/s

Adequacy of bibliography with at least four different authors

IF YOUR APPLICATION IS APPROVED

We will send you a written authorization which will include:

  1. The authorization number for the program which is valid during the relicensing period of dates;
  2. The number of approved continuing education credits (one hour of instruction equals one credit; registration, breaks, and mealtimes are not counted).

IF YOUR APPLICATION IS NOT APPROVED

We will notify you in writing within four weeks with an explanation.

If you choose to reapply, you will need to submit a completed application with the corrected information along with a second application fee.

You may appeal the decision in writing explaining why the application should be approved.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SPONSORS

A sponsor is: an agency, hospital, clinic, department of social work, college or university, professional organization or an individual

You may print information about continuing education credits on brochures only after an authorization number has been issued:

Appropriate wording is: This program has been approved for ___ Social Work Continuing Education Credits, for the licensure period of October 1, 2016 -- September 30, 2018, in accordance with 258 CMR. Boston University School of Social Work Authorization Number ____.

You may issue certificates of attendance only to individual participants who complete the entire program. No participant attending less than 100% of a program may receive a certificate of attendance, regardless of the reason.

The following information must be included on the certificate of attendance:

  1. Name and address of the sponsoring organization that maintains the records. This information must match what was entered on the authorization form sent by Boston University School of Social Work.
  2. Name, address, and social work license number of the participant (or space for the licensee to write the information).
  3. Title and date of the program, as indicated on the application submitted to Boston University School of Social Work.
  4. Authorization number, number of contact hours (CECs) and identification of the Boston University School of Social Work as the authorization body.
  5. Signature and title of a representative of the sponsoring organization.

The sponsoring organization must keep on file a list of social work attendees who completed the program and either the original completed evaluation forms or a summary of the overall evaluation results. These files must be available until September 30, 2018.

Please mail your completed application/s to:

Boston University School of Social Work

Professional Education Programs

264 Bay State Road

Boston, MA 02215

Example A. PROGRAM SCHEDULE SAMPLE

Time of SessionType of SessionInstructional Hours (base)

8:30am-9amRegistration0

9am-10:45amKeynote Speech1.75

10:45am-11amCoffee Break0

11am-12:45pmPanel Discussion1.75

Total Contact Hours:3.5

Questions?
Please visit us online at to see answers to commonly asked questions, download forms, and more. You may also call us at 617-353-3756 or e-mail us at .