Senators support social work licensure

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Senators Ben Pangelinan and Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz are showing their support for the National Association of Social Workers and the Guam Chapter of Micronesian Youth Services Network. At today's joint policy forum both legislators agreed to co-author a draft bill to require licensure as well as to establish a board for social workers.

University of Guam social work professor Dr. Gerhard Schwab says the theme for the conference was "Social Work Matters: Policy for Best Practice". He told KUAM News, "But the main focus of this year's focus was licensing the human dignity of our clients and the protection of clients we want to recognize that social work done wrongly can do a lot of harm, and we want to prevent that as much as possible by implementing licensure. And we call it the Social Work Practice Act."

Senators applaud the NASW community for continuing to improve the standards in order to better serve the island of Guam.