Texas Social Workers Challenge Blanket Denial of State Occupational License Based on Youthful Assault Convictions
The Institute of Justice (IJ) is helping two Texas women with master’s degrees in social work challenge a 2019 state law that bars anyone with a prior conviction involving the threat or use of force from ever receiving a license to practice in a healthcare profession, including social work. Each had a conviction for an assault that occurred decades ago when they were abusing substances.
Trying to cope with having been abused as a child led Katherin Youniacutt to become an alcoholic when she was young. In 2007, she was approached by a man late at night at a gas station. She drove away but the man, an off-duty police officer, said she hit him with the car. Ultimately, she pleaded guilty to assault and served several years on probation.
While serving her sentence, she got sober, rediscovered her faith, and joined a church community. That community helped her pursue a calling to help others struggling with addictions by giving donations to help with the costs of pursuing a master’s degree in social work. Despite being told in 2018 that she could be licensed, when she finished her degree, completed an internship, and passed her licensing exam in 2022, she was automatically denied a license based on the 2019 law.
Tammy Thompson became addicted to methamphetamine following a rough divorce in the early 2000s. This led to her being jailed for an assault conviction stemming from a dispute with a stranger at her father’s apartment complex in 2006. Two years later, she got off drugs and started taking courses that led to her earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. She was also automatically denied a license after taking the licensing exam based on the 2019 law.
Ironically, Texas has both a mental health crisis and a shortage of social workers, who are often the first point of contact for people in need of mental health services. Yet it automatically excludes a large portion of its population from becoming social workers despite the fact that people who have successfully escaped addiction have been proven to be the best qualified to counsel those who are still addicted.
Under the Texas licensing scheme, a clinical social worker is the most advanced while a master social worker can provide clinical services under supervision and a baccalaureate social worker provides access to services. Ninety-one Texas counties lack a licensed clinical social worker, 74 have no licensed master social worker, and 65 lack even a baccalaureate social worker. “No one should be permanently barred from a job because of irrelevant criminal convictions,” said IJ attorney James Knight. “Permanently punishing Katherin and Tammy doesn’t help them or protect the public. Instead, it makes it harder for people to pull themselves up and provide for their families.”
Youniacutt adds, “All I want is to help people so they won’t make the same mistakes I did. What makes this even worse is this isn’t just a punishment for me, it’s a punishment for the people I could be helping.”
“I’ve done the hard work to turn my life around,” said Thompson. “What I want now is to share that wisdom and experience. But Texas says I’m not allowed to help people in need.”
The IJ is challenging the law as violating “the rights of people to live honestly in an occupation of their choice” by imposing “a permanent, lifetime restriction on licensure without considering individual circumstance or mitigating factors.” Hopefully the courts will agree.
Additional Source: The Texas Observer
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