Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 73 - PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS (§§ 73-1-1 — 73-79-1) › Chapter 53 - LICENSING AND REGULATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS (§§ 73-53-1 — 73-53-31) › Section 73-53-17 - Standards of conduct

(1)
Individuals licensed by the board shall conduct their activities, services and practice in accordance with the laws governing their professional practice and any rules promulgated by the board. Licensees and applicants may be subject to the exercise of the sanctions enumerated in Section
73-53-23
if the board finds that a licensee or applicant has committed any of the following:
(a)
Negligence in the practice or performance of professional services or activities;
(b)
Engaging in dishonorable, unethical or unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud or harm the public in the course of professional services or activities;
(c)
Perpetrating or cooperating in fraud or material deception in obtaining or renewing a license or attempting the same;
(d)
Violating the rules and regulations established by the board;
(e)
Violating the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics or the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Code of Ethics;
(f)
Being convicted of any crime which has a substantial relationship to the licensee's activities and services or an essential element of which is misstatement, fraud or dishonesty;
(g)
Being convicted of any crime which is a felony under the laws of this state or of the United States of America;
(h)
Engaging in or permitting the performance of unacceptable services personally due to the licensee's deliberate or grossly negligent act or acts or failure to act, regardless of whether actual damage or damages to the public is established, or assuming responsibility for another's work by signing documents without personal knowledge of the work as established by board rule;
(i)
Continued practice although the licensee has become unfit to practice social work due to:
(i)
failure to keep abreast of current professional theory or practice; or
(ii)
physical or mental disability;
the entry of an order or judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction that a licensee is in need of mental treatment or is incompetent shall constitute mental disability; or
(iii)
addiction or severe dependency upon alcohol or other drugs which may endanger the public by impairing the licensee's ability to practice;
(j)
Continued practice although the individual failed to renew and has a lapsed license;
(k)
Having disciplinary action taken against the licensee's license in another state;
(l)
Making differential, detrimental treatment against any person because of race, color, creed, sex, religion or national origin;
(m)
Engaging in lewd conduct in connection with professional services or activities;
(n)
Engaging in false or misleading advertising;
(o)
Contracting, assisting or permitting unlicensed persons to perform services for which a license is required under this chapter;
(p)
Violation of any probation requirements placed on a licensee by the board;
(q)
Revealing confidential information except as may be required by law;
(r)
Failing to inform clients of the fact that the client no longer needs the services or professional assistance of the licensee;
(s)
Charging excessive or unreasonable fees or engaging in unreasonable collection practices.
(2)
The board may order a licensee to submit to a reasonable physical or mental examination if the licensee's physical or mental capacity to practice safely is at issue in a disciplinary proceeding.
(3)
Failure to comply with a board order to submit to a physical or mental examination shall render a licensee subject to the summary suspension procedures described in Section
73-53-23
.
(4)
In addition to the reasons specified in subsection (1) of this section, the board shall be authorized to suspend the license of any licensee for being out of compliance with an order for support, as defined in Section
93-11-153
. The procedure for suspension of a license for being out of compliance with an order for support, and the procedure for the reissuance or reinstatement of a license suspended for that purpose, and the payment of any fees for the reissuance or reinstatement of a license suspended for that purpose, shall be governed by Section
93-11-157
or
93-11-163
, as the case may be. If there is any conflict between any provision of Section
93-11-157
or
93-11-163
and any provision of this chapter, the provisions of Section
93-11-157
or
93-11-163
, as the case may be, shall control.
Laws, 1987, ch. 421, § 9; Laws, 1993, ch. 498, § 3; Laws, 1996, ch. 507, § 78; Laws, 2011, ch. 462, § 10, eff. 7/1/2011.