Kansas communities depend on social workers. So why reclassify them as ‘nonprofessional’?

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building pictured on Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

The U.S. Department of Education’s recent decision to reclassify social worker master and doctorate degrees as “nonprofessional” fundamentally misrepresents what we do as professionals, the complexity of our training, and the essential role we play in the behavioral health and social service systems of this country.

I feel confident saying this statement reflects not just my own concern but the voices of educators, clinicians, students, families and community members who rely on a strong, well-prepared workforce that includes other allied health fields. 

The “big, beautiful bill,” praised by some lawmakers for putting America first, reclassifies positions such as social workers, nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, and audiologists to limit the amount individuals can borrow to obtain advanced degrees. Unpaid student loan debt is a concern for many in America. However, limiting the earning potential of those who choose to work in allied health fields is not the best solution when the workforce continues to struggle with staffing shortages. 

Social work is a profession. It is a licensed, regulated, clinically rigorous field that requires advanced graduate education, standardized training, national examinations, ongoing supervision, and strict adherence to ethical codes.

To classify MSW and DSW programs as nonprofessional is to erase the expertise required to safely assess suicidal ideation, respond to trauma, domestic violence, addiction, child abuse, and mental illness. Social workers stabilize families experiencing crisis, support aging adults navigating complex medical systems, serve veterans, and lead schools, hospitals, child welfare agencies, and justice reform initiatives.

This reclassification sends a harmful message that our field does not require specialized, intensive preparation when the health, safety and future of our communities depend on it.

In both Kansas and Missouri, where I practice, the reclassification collides directly with realities on the ground. In many counties across both states, especially rural regions, there are no licensed clinical social workers available. Families wait weeks or months for care. Hospitals board patients or turn them away because no one can provide assessments. Schools struggle to find mental health providers for students in crisis.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families and Missouri Children’s Division rely heavily on MSWs for safety assessments, permanency planning, trauma-responsive care and prevention services. A blow to the professional identity of social workers is a blow to child safety.

MSW programs in this region train first-generation students; rural students; working parents; and Black, Latino, and Indigenous students. The field of social work thrives on producing professionals with shared, lived experience because it builds bridges to reach some of our most vulnerable communities. Reclassification reduces access to professional-degree loan models, scholarships and grants, undercutting equity and representation in a field that desperately needs diverse practitioners.

MSW programs are already strained by high field-education costs. Removing our professional status may reduce opportunities for flexible tuition, practicum support, workforce development funding and enrollment at already fragile rural campuses. This significantly reduces opportunities for the next generation of social workers.

To become licensed in Kansas or Missouri, an MSW graduate must undergo 900-plus hours of supervised fieldwork, 3,000 hours of post-graduate supervised clinical practice (for an LSCSW/LCSW license), pass a national clinical licensing exam and complete continuing education hours, all while remaining compliant with the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics.

None of these requirements represent “general graduate study.” They represent professional preparation to protect lives, strengthen families, and respond to complex biopsychosocial needs. To label this level of preparation as nonprofessional is not only inaccurate but dangerous.

Policy decisions of this magnitude are not abstract. They touch real people, real families, and real crises. The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 was signed into law incorporating 988 into statutes as the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and Veterans Crisis Line phone number. Since 2022, 988 Lifeline has answered more than 13 million calls, texts, and chats from individuals experiencing crisis.

Kansas and Missouri have expanded mobile crisis models, but many counties cannot staff 24/7 mobile crisis teams. Without MSWs, crisis centers cannot dispatch clinicians trained to deescalate or safety plan crisis situations.

Domestic violence programs, reentry programs, housing stability, school mental health, maternal mental health and many other vital services are stretched beyond capacity. Many are relying on volunteers or untrained staff. While valiant in their efforts, the potential for further harm is great.

Reclassification is not an isolated policy adjustment. It will ripple through every system that relies on licensed social workers. To base the definition of a “professional degree” on a law from 1965 is to systematically reject every advancement in allied health that exists today.

Our profession cannot withstand a policy that undermines public trust, destabilizes educational programs and threatens access to critical care. Social workers are on the front lines of some of the most painful and complex challenges in our society. To diminish our professional status is to diminish the lives of the people we serve.

Kansas and Missouri — our country as a whole — cannot afford to lose more social workers. Our children, families, and communities deserve a workforce that is recognized, supported, and valued.

Tara D. Wallace is a licensed clinician and trauma therapist in Topeka. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.