SECTION 675:12-1-6. Board Approved Supervisors

(a)   Requirements. The two year experience requirement for specialty certification contracted external to the agency must be under the supervision of a Board Approved Supervisor. A Board approved social worker with one of the specialty certifications presently recognized by the Board does not automatically qualify as a Board Approved Supervisor. The knowledge, experience, and skill base of a Board Approved Supervisor exceeds the minimum requirements for specialty certification. Applicants for a Board Approved Supervisor shall:

(1)   Submit an application on the most current forms provided by the Board.

(2)   Be a Licensed Social Worker with the title licensure in the same method as supervisor status is sought.

(3)   Have at least five (5) years of full time work experience (or equivalent) beyond the master's degree in social work. Three of these five years must be full time work experience (or equivalent) in the specialty that supervisory status is sought.

(4)   Have at least two years of supervisory work experience following completion of the master's degree in social work.

(5)   Have two (2) letters of reference submitted to the Oklahoma State Board of Licensed Social Workers. At least one letter shall be from a licensed social worker holding the same licensure title and shall address supervisory skills.

(b)   Approved supervisor status. Board and non-Board approved supervisor status remains in effect contingent upon the following:

(1)   Maintaining a current license in good standing;

(2)   Completing supervisor training sponsored or approved by the Board, within one year of approval and at least every three years thereafter and maintaining compliance with the minimum supervision expectations. Documentation of such participation will be furnished to the Board and will be updated periodically as required by the Board.

(3)   The supervisory status may be suspended or terminated by the Board if the supervisor fails to provide adequate supervision to a supervisee.

(4)   A supervisor may not be related within the second degree by affinity (marriage) or within the third degree by consanguinity (blood or adoption) to the person he or she is supervising.

(c)   Minimum supervision expectations.

(1)   A supervisee may not engage in private or independent practice while under supervision. A supervisee may not do contract work for an employer as a non-licensed social worker.

(2)   A supervisee seeking clinical licensure shall not assign a clinical diagnosis independent of their clinical supervisor to a client for which they are providing services.

(3)   A supervisee must complete two (2) years of full-time or the equivalent thereto of part-time experience, a total of 4,000 hours, of post graduate practice experience under the supervision of a licensed social worker with the same social work practice specialty. Supervisees seeking clinical licensure must have at least 3,000 hours of direct client contact. Direct client contact may include any activities directly associated with the provisions of treatment for a client. Direct client contact does not include administrative activities, travel to/from meetings, training, etc. For supervisees working 20 hours or more per week, the supervisee must receive an average of one continuous hour per week of face-to-face supervision for two years (minimum of 100 hours). The maximum period between educational supervision meetings is two weeks, in which case the supervisor and supervisee must meet for two hours. For supervisees working less than 20 hours per week, the supervisee must meet with their supervisor at minimum of once every two weeks for one hour. Group supervision is acceptable if such supervision does not exceed at least one-half of the total supervisory time per evaluation period. Group supervision is defined as educational supervision conducted with more than one supervisee by a licensed social worker with appropriate certification in the specialty sought by supervisees, or a Board Approved Supervisor with appropriate certification in specialty sought by supervisees. The group should be limited in size to no more than 4 supervisees.

(4)   A contract will be negotiated by supervisor and supervisee and a copy furnished to the Oklahoma State Board of Licensed Social Workers prior to beginning. Any supervision completed prior to approval of the supervision contract will not be accepted. An official transcript with degree posted and current job description must accompany the contract. Such a contract shall not be valid if the supervisor and supervisee have a relationship that could affect the employment or benefits of the supervisor, and that relationship could, in any way, bias or compromise the supervisor's evaluation of the supervisee. Should the contract be terminated before completion of the minimum number of hours required, the supervisee is responsible for negotiating a new contract and obtaining all evaluation and termination forms required to document prior supervision. The supervisee shall notify the Board within 30 days of any job change and submit a new job description.

(5)   There will be a periodic written evaluation:

(A)   no less than 6 months and a total of 25 hours of supervision

(B)   no less than 12 months and a total of 50 hours of supervision

(C)   no less than 24 month and a total of 100 hours of supervision

(D)   submission of all evaluation forms are the responsibility of the supervisee and are due within thirty (30) days of each of the reporting periods.

(E)   supervisees terminating their supervision for any reason must complete and submit all evaluation forms and termination records within thirty (30) days of termination.

(6)   A copy of the written evaluation will be provided by the supervisee to the Board office. At the Board's discretion, failure to comply with reporting requirements stated herein may result in the loss of supervisory hours.

(7)   If supervision is terminated by either party, the supervisee is responsible for notifying the Board and completing a termination form which the Board will provide. Such termination form must be received by the Oklahoma State Board of Licensed Social Workers within 14 days of the termination.

(8)   If there is any question regarding the supervisee's competency, the supervisor is free to ask for a sample of supervisee's work.

(9)   It is required that all supervisors for licensure participate in supervision training sponsored or approved by the Board at a minimum of once every three years. Board Approved Supervisors are required to participate in the training. Documentation of such participation will be furnished the Oklahoma State Board of Licensed Social Workers and will be updated periodically as required by the Board.

(10)   When the proposed supervisor is not a staff member of the supervisee's agency, social work ethics demand that the proposed supervisor insure that the agency administration (or its representative) is in accord with the arrangements for supervision by a qualified supervisor. This is essential whether these arrangements are made by the agency or the supervisee and regardless of whether the agency contributes to financial compensation of the supervisor. The supervisor is responsible for securing agreement from the agency administration as to the purpose and content of the desired supervision and the supervisor's specific role responsibilities and limitations. The supervisor is also responsible for learning agency functions and policies so that any supervisory suggestions are constructive and realistic within agency purposes and resources.

(11)   Supervision from a Board Approved Supervisor may be contracted from outside the agency should internal supervision be unavailable.

(12)   All supervisors will adhere to the guidelines on supervision required by the Oklahoma State Board of Licensed Social Workers.

(d)   Licensees supervising within their agency must have a minimum of two years work experience post passage of the proper licensure exam in order to be eligible to supervise individuals for licensure.

[Source: Added at 16 Ok Reg 1638, eff 5-27-99; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 265, eff 11-14-03 (emergency); Amended at 21 Ok Reg 1828, eff 7-1-04; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 351, eff 12-20-04 (emergency); Amended at 22 Ok Reg 1506, eff 6-11-05; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 2024, eff 6-26-08; Amended at 29 Ok Reg 1736, eff 7-26-12]