In your Jan. 13 editorial you make the important point that in this technological day and age, people should have easier access to the health care they need regardless of the state in which they live (“Medical needs cross state lines. Licenses should too,” Jan. 13). This is why the interstate compact for social workers, filed this legislative session by state Senator Robyn K. Kennedy and Representatives Kenneth I. Gordon and James J. O’Day, is so essential.
While the social work compact was not mentioned in the editorial, social workers are the largest group of mental health service providers in the nation. At least 29 other states have now passed the social work interstate compact into law, including every other New England state except Massachusetts. The nationwide social work compact commission is currently meeting to set regulations for the rollout of the compact, which is likely to occur this year. But Massachusetts doesn’t have a seat at the table because the state hasn’t passed the bill into law.
Our state needs to act with more urgency to advance critical legislation, such as the social work interstate compact, that would help address the crisis of access many people experience when seeking the care they need.
Rebekah Gewirtz
Executive director
National Association of Social Workers, Massachusetts chapter
Boston
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