Virginia Code 54.1-3701: Exemption from requirements of licensure.
The requirements for licensure provided for in this chapter shall not be applicable to:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 54.1-3701
- Board: means the Board of Social Work. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
- Clinical social worker: means a social worker who, by education and experience, is professionally qualified at the autonomous practice level to provide direct diagnostic, preventive and treatment services where functioning is threatened or affected by social and psychological stress or health impairment. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Social worker: means a person trained to provide service and action to effect changes in human behavior, emotional responses, and the social conditions by the application of the values, principles, methods, and procedures of the profession of social work. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
1. Persons who render services that are like or similar to those falling within the scope of the classifications or categories in this chapter, so long as the recipients or beneficiaries of such services are not subject to any charge or fee, or any financial requirement, actual or implied, and the person rendering such service is not held out, by himself or otherwise, as a licensed practitioner.
2. The activities or services of a student pursuing a course of study in social work in an institution recognized by the Board for purposes of licensure upon completion of the course of study or under the supervision of a practitioner licensed under this chapter; if such activities or services constitute a part of his course of study and are adequately supervised.
3. The activities of rabbis, priests, ministers or clergymen of any religious denomination or sect when such activities are within the scope of the performance of their regular or specialized ministerial duties, and no separate charge is made or when such activities are performed, whether with or without charge, for or under auspices or sponsorship, individually or in conjunction with others, of an established and legally cognizable church, denomination or sect, and the person rendering service remains accountable to its established authority.
4. Persons employed as salaried employees or volunteers of the federal government, the Commonwealth, a locality, or of any agency established or funded, in whole or part, by any such governmental entity or of a private, nonprofit organization or agency sponsored or funded, in whole or part, by a community-based citizen group or organization. Any person who renders psychological services, as defined in Chapter 36 (§ 54.1-3600 et seq.) of this title, shall be subject to the requirements of that chapter. Any person who, in addition to the above-enumerated employment, engages in an independent private practice shall not be exempt from the requirements for licensure.
5. Persons regularly employed by private business firms as personnel managers, deputies or assistants so long as their counseling activities relate only to employees of their employer and in respect to their employment.
6. Any person who is licensed to practice as a clinical social worker in another state, the District of Columbia, or a United States territory or possession and who is in good standing with the applicable regulatory agency in that state, the District of Columbia, or that United States territory or possession who provides behavioral health services, as defined in § 37.2-100, to a patient located in the Commonwealth when (i) such practice is for the purpose of providing continuity of care through the use of telemedicine services as defined in § 38.2-3418.16 and (ii) the clinical social worker has previously established a practitioner-patient relationship with the patient. A person who is licensed to practice as clinical social worker who provides behavioral health services to a patient located in the Commonwealth through use of telemedicine services pursuant to this subdivision may provide such services for a period of no more than one year from the date on which the clinical social worker began providing such services to such patient.
1976, c. 608, § 54-944; 1986, c. 581; 1988, c. 765; 2022, c. 275.