Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 216 - Department of health › Chapter 40 - Professional licensing and facility regulation › Subchapter 05 - Professional Licensing › Part 7 - Clinical Social Workers and Independent Clinical Social Workers › Section 216-RICR-40-05-7.3 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Wherever used in these rules and
				  regulations the following terms shall be construed as follows:
1. "Act" means R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter
				  5-39.1, entitled, "License
				  Procedure for Social Workers."
2.
				  "ASWB" means the Association of Social Work Boards.
3. "Board" means the Board of Social Work
				  Examiners within the Department, established pursuant to the provisions of R.I.
				  Gen. Laws §
											5-39.1-6.
4. "Clinical social work practice" means the
				  professional application of social work theories, methods and values in the
				  diagnosis, assessment and treatment of cognitive, affective and behavioral
				  disorders arising from physical, environmental or emotional conditions.
				  Clinical social work services shall include, but shall not be limited to,
				  diagnosis, assessment, evaluation, psychotherapy and counseling for
				  individuals, couples, families and groups, client-centered advocacy,
				  consultation and supervision.
a. The practice
				  of case work, group work and community organization services under the
				  supervision of a licensed clinical social worker or the practice of basic data
				  gathering and the formulation and implementation of plans to achieve specific
				  goals related to specific life issues for groups or for individuals, or the
				  assessment, evaluation and counseling of individuals or groups other than for a
				  specific mental illness or the conduct of a psychosocial evaluation, excluding
				  the diagnosis and treatment of a mental illness, such as may be performed by
				  bachelor's level social workers in a nursing care facility or similar setting,
				  shall not be considered to be the practice of clinical social work for the
				  purposes of this Part.
b. Clinical
				  social work services shall not include psychological testing and nothing in
				  this Part shall be construed as permitting social workers to practice
				  psychology.
5. "Contact
				  hours" means hours acquired through attendance or participation at programs
				  that provide for direct interaction between faculty and participants and may
				  include lectures, symposia, live teleconferences, or workshops.
6. "Continuing education hours" means actual
				  hours earned in continuing education courses, seminars, and
				  workshops.
7. "Department" means
				  the Rhode Island Department of Health.
8. "Director" means the Director of the Rhode
				  Island Department of Health.
9.
				  "Experience" means three thousand (3,000) hours of post-master's practice of
				  clinical social work during a twenty-four (24) month to seventy-two (72) month
				  period of time immediately preceding the date of application for licensure. One
				  thousand five hundred (1,500) hours must consist of providing clinical social
				  work services directly to clients.
a. If
				  performed in Rhode Island, said experience shall be completed while the person
				  is licensed in Rhode Island as a clinical social worker or while performing
				  clinical social work services in a statutorily exempt setting (e.g., a state
				  employee).
10. "NASW"
				  means the National Association of Social Workers.
11. "Non-contact hours" means Internet
				  courses, correspondence courses, tapes, or other continuing education programs
				  that do not provide for direct interaction between faculty and the
				  participant.
12. "Patient", as used
				  in this Part, shall have the same meaning as "client."
13. "Supervision" means face-to-face contact
				  with a licensed independent clinical social worker for the purpose of apprising
				  the supervisor of the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of each client;
				  receiving oversight and guidance from the supervisor in the delivery of
				  clinical social work services to each client; and being evaluated by the
				  supervisor. This contact must consist of:
a. A
				  minimum of two (2) hours of supervision every two (2) weeks; and
b. A minimum of one (1) hour of supervision
				  per twenty (20) hours of direct contact with clients whether or not the number
				  of hours of supervision required for a two (2) week period have been met;
				  and
c. One-to-one contact with the
				  supervisor at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the time with group
				  supervision of no more than ten (10) supervisees during the balance of the
				  time; and
d. Supervision by an
				  individual other than the applicant's parents; spouse; former spouse; siblings;
				  children; employees; or anyone sharing the same household or any romantic,
				  domestic, or familial relationship; and
e. Supervisors shall be responsible for
				  ensuring that supervisees are appropriately licensed in clinical social work or
				  are otherwise exempt from licensure.