Commonwealth Beacon: Kathryn Janiuk (MSW’25) Advocates for Better Support for Social Work Students
Kathryn Janiuk (MSW’25), a student at BU School of Social Work, published an opinion piece in the Commonwealth Beacon encouraging voters to support the SUPER Act and how policies can better support social work students through their education and careers. The SUPER Act, supported by the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), will remove required standardized testing to obtain clinical licenses, allow workers to earn educational credit for supervising other social workers, and increase funding for field placements with greater priority to students of color.
As a student, Januik explored her own experiences in social work and considered the position of her peers who face other financial, linguistic, and societal barriers in entering the profession. She further highlights the urgency of the issue when considering the growing behavioral health crisis in the state due to a lack of available workers.
Excerpt from “Remove the social worker exam requirement: To deal with behavioral health crisis, we need to remove known barriers” by Kathryn Janiuk, originally posted in Commonwealth Beacon:
I can’t help but wonder for myself and my classmates, what if we go through all of this and then won’t be hired simply because we can’t pass a standardized exam? I have a history of doing poorly on exams, so this is a genuine fear.
Ultimately, if we want to solve the behavioral health crisis in the Commonwealth, we need to remove known barriers. Removing the licensed certified social worker exam requirement and providing continuing education credits to those who supervise other social work students will cost the Commonwealth nothing.”