Keep the social worker exam requirement in place

Here is a copy of the email we will send your lawmaker on your behalf:

<Dear Senator Name,>

I am a Massachusetts resident writing to ask you to strike the language in the House-passed economic development bill (H.5576) that eliminates the licensing exam for certified social workers, and to make sure it does not survive conference committee.

I am not a social worker. I am writing as a member of the public, because this affects all of us. Social workers decide whether children are safe in their homes. They assess suicide risk. They step into families’ lives at their most vulnerable moments. The licensing exam is the one uniform check that every person doing this work has demonstrated they are prepared for it. My doctor, my nurse, and my attorney all had to pass an exam before being trusted with the public. The people making decisions about at-risk children and adults in crisis should be held to the same standard.

I understand there are workforce shortages, and I support real solutions. But lowering the standard is not a solution. It just shifts the risk onto families like mine.

Please urge Senate President Karen Spilka and Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael J. Rodrigues to keep this language out of the Senate bill. The public is counting on you.

<Your Name>

<Your Address>