Candidates (three positions)
Kenya Anderson (TN)
Please give a brief biography, including your education, licensure or certification level, and employment history.
I obtained a Bachelor of Arts in psychology at the University of Memphis in 2000 and a Master of Social Work at the University of Tennessee Memphis Campus in 2010. My first direct practice experience was as a service provider with the Memphis and Shelby County Community Services Agency before moving to program specialist in human resources. I also worked with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services as a foster care and recruitment specialist in 2005 where I received a child welfare certification. In 2006, I began service with the University of Memphis, department of social work as a project associate with the Child Welfare Training Center and Tennessee Child Welfare Training Consortium.
I have ten years of post-master’s practice experience within child welfare, workforce development, and adult and higher education. This includes work with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center as a social worker in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. I hold a professional license as a Licensed Masters Social Worker with a concentration in management and evidence-based community practice in the state of Tennessee.
Give a synopsis of your regulatory and professional experience. Please emphasize your involvement with ASWB.
I continued service as an adjunct instructor and field instructor with the department of social work before accepting a position as an instructor/coordinator in the department of social work at the University of Memphis. Presently, I serve as a clinical assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Memphis. This work includes duties as a faculty advisor for undergraduate students, course instruction, and BSW field coordination. I’m a member of the Tennessee chapter of the National Association of Multicultural Education.
Currently, I’m serving a second term as a regulatory board member of the Tennessee Department of Health-Related Boards for Social Work Licensure. Through my service as a regulator, I was appointed to the 2016–2017 Regulatory Education and Leadership Committee of the Association of Social Work Boards and was recognized for my dedication to enhancing the Path to Licensure for social work professionals. In 2018, I served on the Continuing Competence Committee. My current committee service is with the ASWB Bylaws and Resolutions Committee. This work is dedicated to the charge of continuing to evaluate membership using bylaws and policies.
Finally, make a brief statement on the major issues you see facing ASWB and how you would address them.
Date jurisdictional board term ends:
July 23, 2023
Sonia Andhi Bilkhu (BC)
Please give a brief biography, including your education, licensure or certification level, and employment history.
I have been a registered social worker in British Columbia since 2010. My primary areas of practice are counseling and management with Family Services of Greater Vancouver, hospital social work with the Fraser Health Authority, and community social work. I am the founder of a local nonprofit, Shakti: Empowerment of Women, Children, and Families Society.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Himachal Pradesh University, India; bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia; and fellowships at Human Security, Caux, and the Global Social Impact House at the University of Pennsylvania.
After arriving in Canada in 1987, I began working with immigrant and refugee women. Since then, I have worked on various research projects and initiatives with the UBC Schools of Nursing and Social Work, PostPartum Depression Society of British Columbia, and several nonprofit organizations to increase service providers’ understanding of cultural and stigmatized issues like relationship violence, mental health, addictions, trauma, racism, and poverty.
I am the recipient of the Surrey Board of Trade’s Women in Business-Social Trailblazer Award (2019), currently a finalist in the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards, a nominee for the BC Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Award (2020), and the recipient of the Inspiring Social Worker of the Year Award (2019).
Give a synopsis of your regulatory and professional experience. Please emphasize your involvement with ASWB.
I am an elected board member of the British Columbia College of Social Workers. I currently sit on the policy and discipline committees of the college and am strongly invested in ensuring that competent and ethical practice standards are maintained for public protection.
I have been very inspired by the work of ASWB in providing support to social work regulatory bodies. I have attended ASWB’s New Board Member Training, which provided a strong foundation for regulation in social work. I also attended last year’s delegate assembly and got the opportunity to network with fellow regulators and become more involved with the work of ASWB. This year, I was appointed to the Finance Committee of ASWB and I hope to continue my involvement with ASWB.
I have been an active member of my community, where I sat on various committees such as the Parents Support Circle Advisory Committee, South Asian Early Childhood Education Task Force, and BC Multicultural Health Services Society.
I have been appointed to the city of Surrey’s Social, Equity and Diversity Committee which makes recommendations to the city council and am currently working on establishing an anti-racism task force to address systemic racism within the city’s institutions.
Finally, make a brief statement on the major issues you see facing ASWB and how you would address them.
The major issues facing ASWB are similar to the ones that BCCSW is also facing. As a practising social worker and regulator, I see the importance of being responsive to the changing needs of the public that we serve, especially during the current pandemic.
Title protection and removal of exemptions: In our province, it has been the reluctance of the government to support the college with title protection and removal of exemptions that has meant that vulnerable clients have little protection if they are harmed by unlicensed practitioners. I would form strong relationships with members of the government to help them understand why regulated social workers are good for public health and safety.
Mobility for practice of social work across states and provinces: This has been an ongoing issue for social workers who would like to offer their services outside of their jurisdiction but are unable to do so unless they pay a few thousand dollars for registration in each jurisdiction. ASWB can assist in drafting agreements between various jurisdictions that would make mobility easier yet keep accountability and standards high. This issue has become particularly relevant during the pandemic as telehealth has become the preferred model of service for most consumers.
Date jurisdictional board term ends:
December 2020
Shelly LaRose (MO)
Please give a brief biography, including your education, licensure or certification level and employment history:
University of Kansas1983 BSW
Psychology/LPC program
Give a synopsis of your regulatory and professional experience. Please emphasize your involvement with ASWB:
I became a State of Missouri Social Work Committee board member in 2015. I attended my first ASWB training for new board members in 2015 and have attended every annual meeting since. I was appointed to the Continuing Competence Committee in 2017 and served one year. I appreciate the opportunity to get together as a group several times a year and look forward to when we can all meet in person again.
Finally, make a brief statement on the major issues you see facing ASWB, and how you would address them:
COVID-19 has brought several of our past issues forward even more so this year as so many of us have been working remotely through phones or Zoom. My state has seen an increase in out-of-state license requests to provide teletherapy, again addressing our need for attention to the issue of licensure mobility. I would continue to work on each state’s rules and statues to keep addressing these changing needs. I also would like to see us continue to work with educating the BSWs and MSWs on the need for licensure. I see too many states that do not require these levels to license, and therefore we are not able to regulate or require further education. We do these levels a great disservice by not helping them get their states to recognize them as professionals.
Date jurisdictional board term ended:
December 31, 2019
Erin Michel (OH)
Please give a brief biography, including your education, licensure or certification level, and employment history.
I am an independently licensed social worker and currently serve as director of compliance and quality improvement at North Community Counseling Centers, a community mental health agency. I have experience in a vast array of field areas, including schools, justice system reentry, developmental disabilities supported living, workforce development, behavioral health, and family programs. I earned my MSW from The Ohio State University, where I focused on macro practice in policy, research, and nonprofit administration. I earned my bachelor’s degree in political science and women’s studies from Loyola University Chicago. My passion for grassroots organizing in Chicago was a major catalyst in choosing social work as a profession and continues to serve as my foundation for driving powerful, committed action to make the world a better place. I was appointed in 2013 as a board member on the Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage & Family Therapist Board of Ohio and served three years in chair positions. During my board service, I initiated and facilitated the strategic planning and work groups focused on mobility, training supervision, board functioning, and new board member orientation. I finished my term by writing and passing rules that will increase the quality of training supervision.
Give a synopsis of your regulatory and professional experience. Please emphasize your involvement with ASWB.
I served as the Ohio delegate for three years and attended the 2019 education conference on regulation and research. I am beginning my second year on the REAL Committee to organize the next education meeting. As a result of participating in ASWB, I initiated a symposium in September 2019 for Ohio educators and regulators to synergize on building bridges between social work programs and the regulatory board. Furthermore, I initiated and facilitated the board strategic plan, which resulted in focused time in creating results toward the board’s strategic initiatives. Some highlights of the strategic plan work group results include a new board member onboarding packet and welcome video, training supervision rule revisions, and assessment of Ohio regulations for licensure mobility and portability. I have attended the ASWB Board Member Exchanges and educational sessions and used information I learned to generate action with the Ohio board.
Finally, make a brief statement on the major issues you see facing ASWB and how you would address them.
ASWB is a well-oiled machine when it comes to policy and procedure, and the organization leads by example with excellence in how regulators can communicate their roles and purpose with clarity. ASWB’s relationship with FARB is a huge asset and supports the organization in understanding the regulatory environment across jurisdictions and across regulated professions. ASWB is right on track with researching regulation and bringing in empirical data and innovation into regulatory practice.
Although it may be tiresome to hear the words, “pandemic,” “COVID-19,” and “quarantine,” this is our reality right now. We had to quickly adapt technology solutions for replacing in-person services. This makes regulation of telehealth even more pressing of an issue. ASWB can capitalize on mobility research and provide valuable information on the costs and benefits for utilizing telehealth services across state and national lines. ASWB can continue leading the charge in supporting jurisdictions with high-quality, legally defensible regulatory language and practice in telehealth so that consumers in all jurisdictions are protected from harm and licensees are practicing ethically.
If elected as a member of the Nominating Committee, I would seek candidates with experience and commitment to regulating telehealth and to ASWB’s strategic priorities.
Date jurisdictional board term ended:
April 30, 2020
Stephan Viehweg (IN)
Please give a brief biography, including your education, licensure or certification level and employment history:
I completed a Bachelor of Social Work and Spanish from Manchester University, North Manchester, Indiana (including a year at the University of Barcelona) in 1982 followed by am MSW from the Indiana University School of Social Work in 1985. I worked as a bilingual employment and training counselor for the Indiana Office of Occupational Development as a BSW from 1982 to 1984, and started my post-MSW work at Fairbanks Hospital in 1985, where I created the Research and Training Institute. In 1990, I became the associate director of the Riley Child Development Center at the IU School of Medicine, department of pediatrics on the IUPUI campus in Indianapolis. Part of my appointment now includes serving as the associate director of the IUPUI Center for Translating Research Into Practice. I obtained my ACSW in 1988 and my LCSW in 1992, when Indiana implemented licensure. I have an infant mental endorsement as a policy mentor (IMH-E®) and hold the child and youth certificate at the professional level (CYC-P). My clinical, research, and training interests are in infant mental health and reflective practice. I have served as the CDC’s Learn the Signs Ambassador to Indiana since 2013.
Give a synopsis of your regulatory and professional experience. Please emphasize your involvement with ASWB:
I was appointed to the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities in 2007 where I served until 2015 when I received a new appointment to the Health and Human Services Professions Licensing Board as a social work representative. The Indiana licensing board is a composite board including social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, and addictions counselors. I served as the chair of the board from 2017 to 2019. I have served on the REAL Committee, currently as chair, just as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans for this year’s meetings. I have presented at ASWB workshops and meetings on various topics, making me aware of members and regulatory needs. Prior to working with ASWB, I have served on multiple boards including the Indiana chapter of NASW as president, delegate assembly representative, and nominating committee member; Mental Health America of Indiana as chair and treasurer; the Association of University Centers on Disability as member-at-large and treasurer; the IUPUI Alumni Council as member and chair two times, and the Manchester University Social Work Program Advisory Committee. I am the founding chair of Infancy Onward (infant mental association, founded in 2000) and Family Voices Indiana (founded in 2010). My varied board experiences prepare me well for service to the ASWB Board.
Finally, make a brief statement on the major issues you see facing ASWB, and how you would address them:
The recent pandemic has clearly highlighted the importance of ASWB and the value of its integrity and commitment to regulation. Jurisdictions are grappling with a variety of issues, such as expanding the workforce, telehealth, and practice across jurisdictions. ASWB has committed to providing a solid measure of social work knowledge through a variety of exams and is a proven leader in encouraging and supporting discussion, inquiry, and legislation that results in best practices and protection of the public across all of our jurisdictions. More than ever, the leadership of the ASWB is needed as we all learn from the impact of the pandemic and strive to meet the needs of citizens and communities. My commitment as a member of Nominating Committee is to identify candidates who represent the diversity of our jurisdictions and who bring the knowledge, skills, and creativity required to respond to the emerging issues and challenges we face while maintaining a strong, well-respected organization. I look forward to learning more about you, exploring how you might fit into a leadership role, and collectively keeping ASWB a vibrant and successful organization. Thank you for your confidence in my role as a member of the Nominating Committee!
Date jurisdictional board term ends:
June 30, 2021