Social Work Licensure with a Criminal Record: A Legal Mapping Project of 56 U.S. States and Territories

Authors

• Brianna Suslovic, University of California, Berkeley
• Adrian Aira, University of Chicago
• Antara Anand, Smith College
• Halla Anderson, Columbia University
• Jessica Brandon, Smith College
• Natalie Casal Alcaino, University of Chicago
• Nino Claveria, Smith College
• Nyla Conaway, Smith College
• Matthew W. Epperson, University of Chicago
• Louis Levy, Smith College
• Teya Lovell, University of Chicago
• Cea Murtha-Paradis, Smith College
• Zoë Phillips, University of Chicago
• Tanishq Rajan, Smith College
• Hannon Welch, Smith College
• Abbey Whigham, University of Chicago

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-31-2026

Publication Title

Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work

Abstract

This legal mapping paper aims to aggregate state-specific policies on the impact of criminal legal system contact—more specifically, the impact of criminal convictions—on social work licensure. Situating these policies within an abolitionist analysis and the larger history of social work in the United States, the paper attempts to expose the contradictions alive within the profession’s discourse. Social work discourses claim to value lived experience, yet social work licensure policies and practices often exclude the people and communities who, by lived experience, are uniquely qualified to do this work. Examining the language of these policies, this study poses questions concerning the ways that social work’s governing bodies gatekeep the profession through both implicit and explicit means. The research team found that in 2025, 35 state/territorial statutes required licensing boards to conduct criminal records background checks on social work licensure applicants. Fifty-three of the 56 jurisdictions (94.6%) specified that a criminal conviction—felony or misdemeanor—on an applicant’s record could lead to license denial. Across jurisdictions, convictions that could result in license denial ranged across misdemeanors and felonies. These findings are discussed within the context of rising criminalization in the United States, ongoing gatekeeping and licensure disparities within social work, and the recent proliferation of fair chance laws, which are intended to protect individuals with criminal records from discrimination on the basis of their criminal legal system contact. Using the data from this research as a starting point, this article offers an abolitionist critique of social work licensure and the restrictions accompanying it.

Keywords

licensure, criminal records, criminalization, social exclusion, legal mapping

Volume

4

Issue

2

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Rights

Copyright (c) 2026 Brianna Suslovic, Adrian Aira, Antara Anand, Halla Anderson, Jessica Brandon, Natalie Casal Alcaino, Nino Claveria, Nyla Conaway, Matthew W Epperson, Louis Levy, Teya Lovell, Cea Murtha-Paradis, Zoë Phillips, Tanishq Rajan, Hannon Welch, Abbey Whigham

Version

Version of Record

Recommended Citation

Suslovic, Brianna; Aira, Adrian; Anand, Antara; Anderson, Halla; Brandon, Jessica; Alcaino, Natalie Casal; Claveria, Nino; Conaway, Nyla; Epperson, Matthew W.; Levy, Louis; Lovell, Teya; Murtha-Paradis, Cea; Phillips, Zoë; Rajan, Tanishq; Welch, Hannon; and Whigham, Abbey, "Social Work Licensure with a Criminal Record: A Legal Mapping Project of 56 U.S. States and Territories" (2026). School for Social Work: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/ssw_facpubs/86