Frequently Asked Questions
What are the requirements for School Social Worker Certification in Ohio?
Our governing board that oversees state licensure is the Counselor, Social Worker, Marriage & Family Therapist Board,http://www.cswmft.ohio.gov/ There you would file your paperwork for the state licensure.
The Ohio Department of Education oversees the Certified School Social Work professional license. Here is the .pdf for that certification http://education.ohio.gov/GD/DocumentManagement/DocumentDownload.aspx?DocumentID=67971
How do I renew the School Social Work Certification from ODE?
To renew your (pupil services license – school social worker) you only have to have a current Ohio Board License. No coursework is needed to renew this license.
Link to renewal page on ODE website
Under what circumstances are school district employed social workers able to bill medicaid for counseling services? Is billing only permitted when counseling is written in the IEP?
Here is a publication that may help with your administration including mental health in their Medicaid services. https://www.cms.gov/MedicaidBudgetExpendSystem/Downloads/Schoolhealthsvcs.pdf
If you type in “mental health” in the search box it will direct you to those services that are Medicaid billable.
How do I submit job postings or receive job posting alerts?
All job postings sent to OSSWA will be distributed through our email data base. The best way to submit a job posting is to send it electronically to the current president and president-elect.
The best way to receive job posting alerts is to join OSSWA and become part of our email data base.
I am trying to find material on supervision of school social workers. We have a children services based program.
I am copying a link to the NASW-Ohio page that has many supervisory resources. http://www.naswoh.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=397
What is the best approach to speak to a district’s human resource department re: placing a school social worker in a school counselor role? The job descriptions are essentially the same with the only difference being the ODE license title.
Below is a “packet for superintendents” that was designed by Indiana School Social Workers that you can take a look at and tweak for what you’re looking for.
Ohio does have a lot of flexibility in how each district spends their money for pupiil services. The national organization for school counselors may have pushed ratios in the past, which helps their profession.
Our take is that SSWers are more “bang for your buck” in a school setting. Not only can an LSW/LISW work with families and children, we have educational background on special education, 504s, community resources, and clinical services.
We can do that….PLUS!
School Social Worker vs. School Counselor
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