Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 258 CMR - BOARD OF REGISTRATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS › Title 258 CMR 8.00 - Definitions And General Provisions › Section 8.03 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
As used in
				258 CMR 8.00, the following
				terms shall have the following meanings unless the context in which they are
				used clearly indicates otherwise:
Accredited College or University
. A
				college, university or other institution of post-secondary education which is
				accredited by a regional educational accrediting body recognized by the United
				States Department of Education or equivalent as determined by the Board.
Agency
. Any partnership, corporation,
				association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or other
				business organization or entity, whether for profit or not for profit, which
				provides social work services, either exclusively or in combination with other
				types of goods or services.
Association of Social Work Boards or
				ASWB
. The Association of Social Work Boards, 400 South Ridge
				Parkway, Suite B, Culpeper, VA 22701.
Applicant
. Any individual who is
				applying for a license to practice social work in the Commonwealth of
				Massachusetts pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, § 130 through 137 and
				258 CMR 8.00.
Board
. The Massachusetts Board of
				Registration of Social Workers.
Case Management Services
. The
				performance of social work services which involve planning, coordinating,
				evaluating and monitoring the provision of services to a client from a variety
				of sources.
Client
. Any person with whom a social
				worker has established a social worker-client relationship and to whom a social
				worker is providing, or has provided, professional social work services.
Client Encounter
. Any meeting or other
				interaction between a social worker and a client or prospective client during
				which the social worker performs professional social work services for, or
				engages in a professional consultation with, that client or prospective
				client.
Client Services Record
. A written
				record of all non-clinical social work services provided to a client.
Clinical Social Work Services
. The
				application of social work theory and specialized clinical knowledge and
				methods to assess, diagnose, prevent and treat mental, emotional or behavioral
				disorders, conditions or addictions through the provision of individual,
				marital, couples, family or group counseling and psychotherapy of a non-medical
				nature for the purpose of improving, restoring or enhancing the social and/or
				psychosocial functioning of such individuals, couples, families or groups. Such
				services include, but are not necessarily limited to, the provision of
				individual, marital, couples, family or group counseling and psychotherapy
				services and the performance of related collateral contacts and record-keeping.
				Clinical social work services expressly excludes the diagnosis of any organic
				illness or the treatment of any illness by medical or organic therapies.
Clinical Treatment Record
. A written
				record which documents the existence of a social worker-client relationship and
				which contains information acquired or revealed in the course of, or in
				connection with, the performance of clinical social work services by a social
				worker, including but not limited to the information specified in
				258 CMR 22.00:
Confidentiality of Client Communications and Records
.
Clinical Treatment Record
shall not, however, include
				any handwritten notes made contemporaneously by a social worker during a client
				encounter, as long as such notes are used solely for the purpose of preparing
				case notes, progress notes or other entries in a client's clinical treatment
				record at a later time, and are not preserved or retained thereafter.
Clinical Treatment Summary
. A written
				document which provides information about a social worker-client relationship
				and the nature and extent of any clinical social work services provided to that
				client, but does not include the substantive content of any communications made
				to the social worker during the course of, or in connection with, the
				performance of the social worker's clinical social work services or any other
				materials which would otherwise reflect the thoughts, feelings or impressions
				of the client obtained or revealed during the provision of those clinical
				social work services.
Communications
. Any oral, written or
				electronic communications, correspondence, actions or occurrences which take
				place during the course of, or in connection with, the performance of
				professional services by a social worker for a client, including any records,
				memoranda, or notes of such communications, correspondence, actions or
				occurrences, and regardless of whether or not the client is aware of such
				communications, correspondence, actions or occurrences.
Counseling
. Engaging individuals,
				families, or groups of individuals in conscious, problem-solving discussions
				about psychosocial problems. Such counseling may or may not include
				facilitating the client's obtaining financial or other forms of environmental
				assistance.
Council on Social Work Education or
				CSWE
. The Council on Social Work Education, 1600 Duke Street,
				Alexandria, Virginia, 22314.
Eligible for Licensure
. An individual
				is "eligible for licensure" as that phrase is used in
				258
				CMR 12.02 through
				12.04
				when that individual has applied for and has been approved by the Board, having
				met specified education and experience requirements, to take the examination
				for licensure at either the licensed independent clinical social worker level,
				the licensed certified social worker level, or the licensed social worker
				level, but either has not yet taken the examination or has taken the
				examination and not yet received the results of that examination.
Employee
. An individual who is subject
				to the direction and control of an organization or unrelated individual with
				respect to the nature of the work to be performed and the manner in which such
				work is to be done, including but not limited to such matters as work hours,
				method and amount of compensation, decisions about what services will be
				provided, decisions about who will receive such services, and other terms and
				conditions of employment. The question of whether an individual is or is not an
				"employee" does not depend on the specific method of remuneration for
				services.
Health Care Facility
. Any hospital,
				nursing home, extended care facility, public or private institution for persons
				with intellectual disabilities, clinic, health maintenance organization or
				health care facility licensed or otherwise operating legally within the
				Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Independent Practice of Clinical Social
				Work
. The performance or provision of clinical social work
				services as a self-employed solo practitioner, or as an associate in a group
				practice who is an independent contractor, and not as an employee of an agency,
				health care facility or unrelated individual as defined in 258 CMR 8.03:
Employee
.
License
. An authorization granted by
				the Board and its agents to a named individual, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112,
				§ 131 and
				258 CMR 9.00:
Licensure Requirements and Procedures
, which permits that
				named individual to lawfully engage in the practice of social work in the
				Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Licensed Certified Social Worker
				(LCSW)
. An individual who meets the qualifications set forth in
				M.G.L. c. 112, § 131 and
				258
				CMR 9.04:
Licensure Requirements for
				a Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW)
and who is licensed by the
				Board to perform or provide social work services in accordance with
				258
				CMR 12.02:
Scope of Professional
				Practice - Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW)
.
Licensed Independent Clinical Social
				Worker
. An individual who meets the qualifications set forth in
				M.G.L. c. 112, § 131 and
				258
				CMR 9.03:
Licensure Requirements for
				a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)
and who is
				licensed by the Board to engage in the independent practice of clinical social
				work in accordance with
				258
				CMR 12.01:
Scope of Professional
				Practice - Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)
.
Licensed Social Worker
. An individual
				who meets the qualifications set forth in M.G.L. c. 112, § 131 and
				258
				CMR 9.05:
Licensure Requirements for
				a Licensed Social Worker (LSW)
and who is licensed by the Board to
				perform or provide social work services in accordance with
				258
				CMR 12.03:
Scope of Professional
				Practice - Licensed Social Worker (LSW)
.
Licensed Social Work Associate
. An
				individual who meets the qualifications set forth in M.G.L. c. 112, § 131
				and
				258
				CMR 9.06:
Licensure Requirements for
				a Licensed Social Work Associate (LSWA)
and who is licensed by the
				Board to perform or provide social work services in accordance with
				258
				CMR 12.04:
Scope of Professional
				Practice - Licensed Social Work Associate (LSWA)
.
Non-clinical Social Work Services
. The
				application of social work theory, knowledge and methods to improve, restore or
				enhance the social and/or psychosocial functioning of individuals, couples,
				families, or groups through the provision of services other than counseling or
				psychotherapy. Non-clinical social work services include, but are not
				necessarily limited to, community organization; program planning and
				development; administration of community services or programs; assessment of
				client needs for non-clinical community programs or services; formulation of
				plans for the delivery of community services based on client needs;
				coordination and/or evaluation of service delivery; advocacy on behalf of
				persons or groups with unmet service needs; and provision of training about
				community needs and problems.
Practice of Social Work
. Rendering or
				offering to render any clinical social work service, non-clinical social work
				service, or case management service, as defined in 258 CMR 8.03, to any
				individual, family, or group of individuals for any fee or other form of
				compensation, monetary or otherwise.
Prospective Client
. Any individual who
				obtains, requests or engages in a professional consultation with a social
				worker, either in person or otherwise, in contemplation of receiving
				professional social work services.
Psychotherapy
. Psychotherapy of a
				non-medical nature in which psychological and interpersonal theories and
				methods are used to assess, interpret and/or modify conscious and/or
				unconscious processes of behavior.
Social Worker
. Any individual who is
				duly licensed by the Board to practice social work in the Commonwealth of
				Massachusetts pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, § 131 and
				258 CMR 9.00:
Licensure Requirements and Procedures
.
Social Work Intern
. Any individual who
				has filed an application with the Board for licensure as a social worker
				pursuant to
				258 CMR 9.00:
Licensure Requirements and Procedures
but whose application
				has not yet been approved or denied by the Board.
Social Work Student
. An individual who
				is enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate-level school or program of social
				work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, but who has not yet
				applied for or obtained a license to practice social work from the
				Board.
Unrelated Individual
. An individual
				who is not related to another individual by blood, marriage, or
				adoption.