Alabama § 34-30-102 - State Participation in the Compact.

§ 34-30-102. State Participation in the Compact.

(a) To be eligible to participate in this compact, a potential member state must currently meet all of the following criteria:

(1) License and regulate the practice of social work at either the clinical, master’s, or bachelor’s category.

(2) Require applicants for licensing to graduate from a program that is:

a. Operated by a college or university recognized by the licensing authority;

b. Accredited, or in candidacy by an institution that subsequently becomes accredited, by either:

1. An accrediting agency recognized by either the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, or its successor; or

2. The United States Department of Education; and

c. Corresponds to the licensing sought as outlined in Section 34-30-103.

(3) Require applicants for clinical licensing to complete a period of supervised practice.

(4) Have a mechanism in place for receiving, investigating, and adjudicating complaints about licensees.

(b) To maintain membership in this compact, a member state shall do all of the following:

(1) Require that applicants for a multistate license pass a qualifying national exam for the corresponding category of multistate license sought as outlined in Section 34-30-103.

(2) Participate fully in the commission’s data system, including using the commission’s unique identifier as defined in rules.

(3) Notify the commission, in compliance with the terms of this compact and rules, of any adverse action or the availability of current significant investigative information regarding a licensee.

(4) Implement procedures for considering the criminal history records of applicants for a multistate license. These procedures shall include the submission of fingerprints or other biometric-based information by applicants for the purpose of obtaining an applicant’s criminal history record information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the agency responsible for retaining that state’s criminal records.

(5) Comply with the rules of the commission.

(6) Require an applicant to obtain or retain a license in the home state and meet the home state’s qualifications for licensing or renewal of licensing, as well as all other applicable home state laws.

(7) Authorize a licensee holding a multistate license in any member state to practice in accordance with the terms of this compact and rules of the commission.

(8) Designate a delegate to participate in commission meetings.

(c) A member state meeting the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) shall designate the categories of social work licensing that are eligible for issuance of a multistate license for applicants in member states. To the extent that any member state does not meet the requirements for participation in this compact in any particular category of social work licensing, the member state may choose, but is not obligated, to issue a multistate license to applicants who otherwise meet the requirements of Section 34-30-103 for issuance of a multistate license in those categories of licensing.

(d) Member states may charge a fee for granting a multistate license.