The Department of Health and Human Services will give $2.5 million to expand the reach of professional interstate licensure compacts, it announced Tuesday at the Health Resource Services Administration’s (HRSA) Telehealth Conference.
Under state licensure compacts, states agree to license providers from other compact states in a streamlined way. Compact agreements between states have been a boon for telehealth providers working to obtain multiple state licenses to take care of patients in other states and for national telehealth companies, for whom getting providers licensed across all 50 states is difficult. Compacts allow providers to receive their licenses faster and often cost less than a state-by-state approach.
Four recipients received the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) award, totaling $2.5 million. HRSA has awarded the Association of Social Work Boards $750,000 to work with additional state licensing boards for cross-state licensure.
HRSA has supported other licensing portability efforts like primary care, psychology and podiatry compacts.
Other compacts that received a portion of the award were the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc. and the Federation of Podiatric Medical Boards.
The grant marks the first investment HRSA has made in advancing the Social Work Compact. HRSA identified behavioral health as a priority in its state licensure compact work, a representative of the organization wrote in a statement.
Missouri was the first state to enact the Social Worker Compact legislation in July 2023. In less than a year, Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Washington also signed. The Social Work Compact officially stood up in April 2024, when Kansas signed the compact legislation into law and met the seven-state requirement to become an operative Compact.
The Compact has now passed in 12 states.
“Social workers are essential to expanding access to behavioral health care services, a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration,” HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm said in a statement. “HRSA is leading the way in growing the behavioral health workforce both by training more providers and by breaking down barriers to allow the workforce to make mental health and substance use disorder services more accessible across the country.”
“Social workers are on the frontlines in responding to the Administration’s priorities, including meeting children’s mental health needs, responding to the opioid epidemic, and addressing maternal depression,” HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is a critical step in helping social workers serve people in need, particularly in rural and underserved communities across the country.”