Kansas Social Work CE Requirement Statutes

This information below has been obtained directly from the Kansas Behavioral Science Regulatory Board Website and is current as of January 2025. Please visit here for full information and details.

102-2-4a. Continuing education for licensees. (a) During each two-year renewal period, each licensee shall complete 40 units of documented and board-approved continuing education oriented to the enhancement of a social worker's practice, values, ethics, skills, or knowledge during each two-year renewal period. Continuing education units accumulated in excess of the 40-unit requirement shall not be carried over to the next renewal period.

(b) As part of the 40 continuing education units required for each renewal cycle, each applicant for renewal or reinstatement of a license shall complete a program on professional ethics consisting of not less than a total of three units. Each ethics program shall meet the following requirements:

(1) Fall within one of the types of continuing education experiences listed in subsection (e), except for those identified in paragraphs (e)(5), (6), (7), (8), (12), and (13);

(2) focus on ethical issues of the behavioral sciences; and

(3) be clearly related to the enhancement of social work practice, values, skills, and knowledge.

(c) Beginning January 1, 2002, as part of the 40 continuing education units required for each renewal cycle, each applicant for renewal or reinstatement of a license as a master social worker or a specialist clinical social worker shall complete not less than a total of six units of continuing education related to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. The continuing education units shall meet the following requirements:

(1) Fall within one of the types of continuing education experiences listed in subsection (e), except for those identified in paragraphs (e)(5), (6), (7), (8), (12), and (13); and

(2) relate to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders consistent with the principles and values of the social work profession.

(d) One unit shall consist of a minimum of 50 minutes of classroom instruction between instructor and participant or a minimum of an actual hour of other types of acceptable continuing education experiences listed in subsection (e).

(e) Acceptable continuing education, as defined in K.A.R. 102-2-1a and whether taken within the state or outside the state, shall include the following types of experiences:

(1) An academic social work course or an academic course oriented to the enhancement of social work for academic credit. Each licensee shall be granted 15 continuing education hours for each academic credit hour that the licensee successfully completes. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 40;

(2) an academic social work course, or an academic course oriented to the enhancement of a social worker's practice, values, ethics, skills, or knowledge, that is audited. Continuing education credit shall be computed on the basis of the actual contact time that the licensee spends attending the course, up to a maximum of 15 hours for each academic credit hour. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 40;

(3) a program, seminar, institute, workshop, or minicourse. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 40;

(4) if a posttest is provided, an activity consisting of completing a computerized interactive learning module, viewing a telecast or videotape, listening to an audiotape, or reading. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 40;

(5) if a posttest is not provided, an activity consisting of completing a computerized interactive learning module, viewing a telecast or videotape, listening to an audiotape, or reading. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 10;

(6) a cross-disciplinary offering in medicine, law, the behavioral sciences, a foreign or sign language, a computer science, professional or technical writing, business administration, management sciences, or other disciplines if the offering is clearly related to the enhancement of social work practice, values, ethics, skills, or knowledge. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 10;

(7) a self-directed learning project approved by the board. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 10;

(8) supervision of undergraduate and graduate practicum students or specialty applicants. Continuing education credit for this supervision shall not exceed four continuing education hours per semester. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 16;

(9) a program presented by an approved program provider. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 40;

(10) a single program approved by the board. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 40;

(11) the first-time preparation and presentation of a social work course, seminar, institute, or workshop, or the substantial revision and presentation of a social work course, seminar, institute, or workshop. Ten hours may be given for each initial preparation and presentation and for each substantial revision. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 20;

(12) the preparation of a professional social work article published for the first time in a recognized professional journal, a book chapter published by a recognized publisher, or a written presentation given for the first time at a statewide or national professional meeting. If more than one licensee or other professional authored the material, the continuing education credit shall be prorated among the authors. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 10;

(13) participation in a professional organization or appointment to the board of directors of a professional organization, if the goals of the organization or board are clearly related to the enhancement of social work practice, skills, values, and knowledge. The maximum number of allowable continuing education hours shall be 12 and shall not exceed six continuing education hours per year.

(f) Approval shall not be granted for any of the following:

(1) Identical programs if the programs are completed within the same license renewal period;

(2) first aid, CPR, infection control, or occupational health and safety courses;

(3) in-service training if the training is for job orientation or on-the-job training, or is specific to the employing agency; or

(4) any activity for which the licensee cannot demonstrate that the program's goals and objectives reasonably appear to enhance the licensee's social work practice, knowledge, values, skills, or ethics.

(g) Each licensee shall maintain individual continuing education records. Continuing education records shall document the licensee's attendance as required by K.A.R. 102-2-5. In addition to the specific submission requirements set forth in K.A.R. 102-2-11, any licensee may be required to submit these records to the board before the license renewal. (Authorized by K.S.A. 74-7507; implementing K.S.A. 65-6313 and 74-7507; effective, T-85-36, Dec. 19, 1984; effective May 1, 1985; amended May 1, 1986; amended Feb. 25, 1991; amended Oct. 24, 1997; amended Aug. 4, 2000; amended July 11, 2003.)