The Texas Behavioral Executive Council (BHEC) regulates and monitors various behavioral health professionals, including social workers. These professionals are subject to certain advertising restrictions that the BHEC monitors and enforces. If you are accused of an advertising violation, you may face disciplinary proceedings before the BHEC. A social work license defense attorney can help you navigate your disciplinary proceedings. Together, you can work to maintain your social work license and continue your career as a social worker.
Advertising Restrictions for Social Workers
22 Tex. Admin. Code §882.31 places advertising restrictions on licensed social workers. More specifically, social workers may not:
Authorize, use, or make any public statements or advertisements that are false, deceptive, misleading, or fraudulent, either because of what they state, convey, or suggest or what they omit concerning their own training, experience, supervision status, abilities, or competence; their academic degrees; their credentials; their institutional or association affiliations; or their publications or research.
Social workers also must use professional identifications that reflect their level of licensure. Under Tex. Occ. Code §505.360, license holders must use identifications in the professional use of the license holder’s name and in connection with any sign, directory, contract, document, pamphlet, stationery, advertisement, signature, or other means of written professional identification. These professional identifications are as follows:
- “Licensed master social worker” or “LMSW”
- “Licensed baccalaureate social worker” or “LBSW”
- “Licensed clinical social worker” or “LCSW”
Tex. Occ. Code §505.502 also places advertising restrictions on businesses or professional entities concerning social work. Generally, a business or professional entity may not:
- Represent itself or another to the public as being engaged in the practice of social work or as offering social work services under an assumed, trade, business, professional, partnership, or corporate name or title;
- Directly or indirectly use or cause to be used the term “social work,” “social work services,” “social work, inc.,” “social workers,” “licensed social workers,” “licensed baccalaureate social workers,” “licensed master social workers,” “licensed clinical social workers,” “LMSW,” “LSW,” “LBSW,” or “LCSW,” or any combination, abbreviation, or variation of those terms; or
- Directly or indirectly use or cause to be used a term listed in Subdivision (2) in combination with any other word, letter, initial, sign, legend, or symbol on, in, or directly or indirectly as a part of:
- Any sign, directory, contract, pamphlet, stationery, advertisement, or other document;
- A signature; or
- A trade, assumed, corporate, or other business or professional name.
However, a business or professional entity may engage in the generally prohibited conduct described above if:
- The entity is actively engaged in the practice of social work; and
- The social work services that constitute the entity’s practice are:
- Personally performed by a social worker who is practicing in accordance with this chapter; or
- Performed under the supervision of a licensed baccalaureate social worker, licensed master social worker, or licensed clinical social worker.
Consequences of Advertising Violations
Advertising violations can result in disciplinary actions against licensed social workers under 22 Tex. Admin. Code §505.451. For instance, some of the grounds for disciplinary action under that section include:
- Performing an act, allowing an omission, or making an assertion or representation that is fraudulent, deceitful, or misleading or that tends to create a misleading impression;
- Knowingly associating with or permitting the use of a license holder’s professional services or identification in connection with an enterprise that the person knows or should have known in the exercise of reasonable diligence violates this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter; and
- Knowingly associating with or permitting the use of a license holder’s name, professional services or identification, or endorsement in connection with an enterprise that the person knows or should have known in the exercise of reasonable diligence is a trade, business, or professional practice of a fraudulent, deceitful, or misleading nature.
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22 Tex. Admin. Code §884.20 outlines the disciplinary guidelines and general schedule of sanctions that apply to social workers. These guidelines are designed to promote consistency among similar cases, encourage settlements, and facilitate timely resolution of cases. However, the guidelines primarily apply to single violations with no aggravating or mitigating factors, and the licensee has no prior disciplinary history. Therefore, sanctions may depart from the guidelines as circumstances warrant. The maximum sanction is license revocation and a $5,000 administrative penalty per violation. Each day a violation continues, it is a separate violation, and each violation is a separate offense, even if it arises from the same act.
Standard disciplinary sanctions, in order of decreasing severity, include:
- Revocation;
- Set period of suspension;
- Suspension plus probation of any or all of the suspension period;
- Probation of the license for a definite period;
- Reprimand; and
- Administrative penalty.
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Under the guidelines, violating the advertising restrictions under §882.31 generally results in a reprimand, a relatively minor sanction. However, repeated violations, a lengthy disciplinary history, and other aggravating factors could result in a harsher sanction.
Get Legal Advice and Work to Obtain Your Social Work License
A Bertolino LLP social work license defense lawyer can evaluate your situation and determine the best strategy to obtain your license. We also can protect your license in the future should you face a complaint or disciplinary proceedings. Call us today at (512) 515-9518 or get more information about us online.
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