On behalf of the National Association of Social Workers- Virginia Chapter, we respectfully support this petition for rule making to amend the regulations regarding licensure by endorsement.  

We believe this change, in addition to the regulation changes awaiting approval by the Governor’s office, will help to ameliorate some of our concerns about the current confusion and unnecessary hurdles many qualified and experienced out-of-state applicants are encountering when applying to obtain licensure in Virginia.

At a time when we are working to increase Virginia’s mental health workforce, we believe we should make the process for licensure by endorsement clear, concise and reasonable to complete when Social Workers have been appropriately licensed in other states.  
This small change will clarify that previously licensed out-of-state Social Workers will still be eligible for the Virginia licensure by endorsement process even if they took some time off, but still kept their license and their continuing education hours active during the preceding five year period.

Thank you for your consideration of this rule change and our comments.