SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) announced today that his measure, Assembly Bill 2167, the Social Worker Loan Repayment Act, passed the State Senate with bipartisan support.

“California social workers will now qualify for federal financial assistance, like social workers in other states,” said Nava. “Social workers play a vital role in our communities and are on the front lines when peoples’ lives are in crisis. We owe it to them to make sure that they can access all possible resources so that they can continue to serve all of us in California.”

AB 2167 will replace California’s current state-administered licensing exam with a national exam administered by the Association of Social Work Boards. By making this change, California social workers will be eligible for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program that provides up to $50,000 for educational costs for eligible participants.
This federal program encourages social workers to work in un-served and underserved areas throughout the country.

Said Rebecca Gonzales, Director of Government Relations for the National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter, “We are very pleased that this measure passed this important hurdle. California Social workers will now be able to qualify for this vital federal program. We commend Assemblymember Nava for his work hard work on this bill.”

The measure now returns to the Assembly for Concurrence in Senate Amendments and will then go to the Governor for approval.