An effort to change a 2019 Texas law that bans certain felons from becoming social workers

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Katherin Youniacutt turned to alcohol at a young age to cope with the abuse she suffered as a child. By 2007, she was a full-blown alcoholic. Late one night, an off-duty police officer approached her car at a gas station and as she drove away, the officer said she injured him with her vehicle. She pleaded guilty to an assault conviction and served several years of probation.

While serving her sentence, Youaniacutt found faith again. With the help of her husband and a new church community, she entered treatment, and by 2011 she was sober. She felt called to help others struggling with addiction and, thanks to donations from her church members, began pursuing a master’s degree in social work.

Youniacutt, now a grandmother living in suburban Lubbock, became concerned about her criminal history and wrote a letter to the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners to verify her eligibility for a license to practice while she was at the studying was for her diploma.

“I had to apply in 2018 as part of my program at school, and I got a response from the board that they would look at everything on a case-by-case basis,” she said.

However, after graduating and passing her licensing exam in 2022, she was denied a license without review or investigation.

“I had already been through the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office rehabilitation program for a year, with the understanding that I would become a licensed social worker,” Youniacutt said. “Then a letter arrived saying I was not eligible for a permit based on that crime.”

It turns out the law changed in 2019. Previously, the state licensing authority could deny licenses if a criminal history made someone unfit to treat patients, by reviewing their history and current circumstances.

However, just a few months after the council gave Youniacutt the green light to take the licensing test, the state passed new law which banned certain applicants for life. Essentially, it classifies social workers and psychologists as part of the health care profession, requiring a licensing authority to automatically deny an applicant for certain crimes, such as those who are registered as a sex offender or who have committed a crime involving of the use or threat of force.

The law passed quietly, as even a representative of the bill’s author, Rep. Greg BonnenR-Friendswood, said the Houston Chronicle in 2023 that no one in their office remembers details about the legislation. Bonnen’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The Texas Tribune.

Darrel Spinks, executive director of the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, which oversees licensing for counseling and social workers, said they were never consulted about the law’s implications.

“Unfortunately, I do not have any more insight into why HB 1899 was passed than other members of the public,” Spinks said, adding that five applicants were denied permits this year, a relatively small number that is consistent with previous figures. years. .

Although social workers are not specifically mentioned, a summary of the bill states that concerns have been raised about the prevalence of licensed healthcare professionals using their positions of authority to commit crimes against vulnerable patients. This bill was intended to put an end to this by making certain crimes, such as sex offenders, ineligible for a health care provider license.

John Bielamowicz, the chairing member of the Texas Licensing Board of Psychologists and a member of the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, said the law ties their hands.

“The Council and its member boards have consistently used every available tool to increase access to licensing. Within the limits of the law, we have broadened pathways to mental health care, making it easier for qualified individuals to enter this essential profession,” he said.

Texas – and the nation – is facing a dual problem: an exploding mental health and substance abuse crisis and a dire shortage of professional social workers to address these problems. More than a third of Texas counties do not have access to a licensed clinical social worker.

Meanwhile, one in three Americans has a criminal record, according to studies. Yet there are tens of thousands of laws nationwide that make it more difficult for people with a criminal history to work.

This is where the Institute for Justicea nonprofit public interest law firm with a mission to end the abuse of government power enters. The nonprofit’s attorneys are working with Youniacutt and others to challenge the 2019 law.

“The Texas Constitution is on our side,” said James Knight, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, which plans to file a lawsuit against the state on behalf of Youniacutt and Fort Worth resident Tammy Thompson on Wednesday.

Knight said every person should be able to make a fresh start by rehabilitating themselves and living an honest life. Yet this 2019 law prevents people like Youniacutt and Thompson from doing so.

“Rehabilitation is important, and if you pay your debt to society, you should be able to work,” he said. “This lawsuit aims to end the government’s ability to deny people their right to work.”

An unnecessary solution?

Fresh off a tough divorce in the early 2000s, Thompson turned to methamphetamine to cope with the stress of suddenly becoming the primary caregiver for her children. This led to her only conviction, which stemmed from a 2006 incident at her father’s apartment complex, when a dispute between her and a stranger led to an assault charge that she only learned about during a traffic stop two years later.

Thompson accepted a plea deal in exchange for parole, but her continued use of meth violated the terms of her parole and she spent two years in prison. She used her time in prison to build a fresh start and earned a GED before being released.

“I remember getting out and trying to figure out what my parole was, what jobs I could do; “I had no car, no money, no ID, and I remember thinking to myself, I wish I had someone to help me get back into society,” Thompson said. “I decided to go to Tarrant County Community College and told them my story. They asked if I had ever thought about helping people as a social worker, and that’s where it all started.”

She seized the opportunity and earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she discovered this was where her journey could end.

“I had taken the test with one of my friends, and she got hers back, and she passed, and it was a beautiful and super exciting moment. But when she got hers back and I didn’t, I started to panic,” Thompson said. “Then I finally got the letter saying I had been rejected.”

Thompson appealed this decision, but she was denied twice and told that if her appeal failed a third time, she would lose her right to ever get her driver’s license.

“I didn’t want to affect anything in the future, so I just walked away from it,” Thompson said.

Knight said cases like Thompson’s are why his organization is challenging what he says is a draconian licensing ban that “violates people’s rights to make an honest living in an occupation of their choice.”

“It imposes a permanent, lifelong restriction on licensing without regard to individual circumstances or mitigating factors,” he said.

Texas needs social workers

Social workers are often the first point of contact for many people seeking mental health help. Social workers can be found in hospitals, educational centers, mental health facilities and more, providing access to services to meet a person’s basic needs, such as finances, housing, community resources and government benefits.

Texas has 26,000 social workers at various levels. Clinical social workers, master social workers, and baccalaureate social workers all have different training and practice requirements to become licensed, and they are all barred from certain felon positions.

A licensed clinical social worker is considered the most advanced licensed and can practice counseling, while licensed master social workers can provide supervised counseling. A licensed baccalaureate social worker only needs a bachelor’s degree, but typically provides non-clinical services such as case management and advocacy.

Although 91 Texas counties lack licensed clinical social workers, shortages also exist in less specialized areas: 74 counties do not have licensed master’s social workers and 65 counties do not have licensed baccalaureate social workers.

Achieving something like a licensed social worker requires many years of expensive training and clinical hours. A setback at the finish line can be overwhelming, said Youniacutt, who had earned two and a half hours of clinical hours to complete licensing requirements.

“I was devastated,” Youniacutt said. “I had to accept that maybe this wasn’t for me, which was difficult because my education cost me a lot of money.”

Younaicutt decided to continue working with health care facilities and doing work that did not require a license. Still, she dreams of opening a social work clinic tailored to her community and utilizing the expertise she has gained from her previous life experiences.

“I’ve had a lot of people in health care support me and say this is what you were made for, and I was born to be a social worker,” Younaicutt said. “So I’m disappointed that it feels like I’ll never get to do that.”

Thompson said it only makes sense for people who have been rehabilitated to help others who may be going through similar situations.

“It’s the most hypocritical thing I’ve ever encountered in my life. How can you, as social workers, give the impression that you are here because people matter, but then you don’t allow those same people to succeed in this position,” Thompson said. “All the data shows that it doesn’t matter In the position of doctors, therapists or social workers, receiving therapy or treatment works better if it comes from someone who has walked the same path in life as you.”