Establishing a fair and
reasonable rate for Social Work supervision is a hot-button topic among Social
Work professionals. When determining remuneration for their services
supervisory Social Workers walk a fine line between under valuing their
expertise and over charging for their services. As a supervisory Social Work professional,
myself, I feel it’s important to address this subject. One reason why this
topic is so important to me is because years ago, when I was seeking clinical
supervision, I met with several clinical level Social Workers who wanted to
charge a rate that would have meant I had to choose between groceries and
Supervision for that week. This experience left a lasting impression on me and
has affected the way I now charge for Supervision services.
There are the two sides
of the “what to charge” argument: the side of the Supervisory Social Workers
who themselves spent a good deal of time and money earning their credentials,
and who will spend a considerable amount of time working with a supervisee to
help them reach their career goals. And then there is also the side of the
Social Worker seeking Supervision who aspires
to a higher level of career achievement, but whose current earnings fall far
below those of the clinically credentialed Social Worker who will Supervise
them.
Many supervisory Social Workers
default to the argument that other professionals with fewer years of schooling
and training command hefty remuneration for their services, and that people
seeking those services are willing to pay for them. For example, the law
requires massage therapists to obtain a licensure from their state board, which
in turn enables them to charge between $60 and $100 per service, depending on
the market rate. Nevertheless, massage services are provided by professionals
with a good deal less education than that of the average Social Worker, who
holds at minimum a four-year degree and more likely a masters degree. Herein
lies the crux of the debate within the Social Work profession: Should not
licensed, experienced Social Workers, with a four-year Baccalaureate degree
plus a two-year Masters degree be remunerated at a higher rate than
professionals with far less education? When examined from this perspective
then, it’s easy to understand how, when it comes to providing Supervision for
clinical advancement in our profession, there appears to be a growing divide
about how much that service should cost. Fortunately for some Social Workers,
they receive clinical supervision service in the workplace free of charge, or
as a perk of the job. However, others are not so fortunate, and for those who
must pay for supervision the cost can seem astronomical, especially since these
professionals are likely just starting out in their careers and make nowhere
near the amount that a seasoned Social Worker with clinical credentials usually
makes.
When researching for this article, a
simple Google search made it easy to see just how divided the profession is on
the cost of Supervision. To illustrate, one hotly debated blog post written by
a clinically licensed counselor (LPC) advertised a supervision rate to be the
same rate this professional charges for an hour of clinical counseling. The
responses to this article were interesting with readers of the blog quickly firing back
that those were not rates including any insurance discounts, coverages, or
sliding fee scales based on financial need (Suttle, T., 2018).
While it’s true that as busy
professionals, many Social Workers might be reluctant to “give away” their
time, when contemplating whether to take on the responsibility of Social Work
Supervision, it’s important to also examine one’s motivation for doing so. Whether providing supervision to Social
Workers is a passion, or simply part of a business plan, one should also
consider what price supervisees will be willing and able to pay. Consider the following example: Let’s say a driver
pulls off at an exit and there are two gas stations across the street from each
other. One gas station has listed their gas price per gallon at $2.47 and the
other has listed their gas price per gallon at $3.07. Which gas station are
most people likely to use? Now we can of course mince this example and say
maybe certain individuals have points at the gas station with the higher price,
or that the bathrooms at the high-priced establishment are usually cleaner, but
let’s not nitpick it that much. For the most part people will opt to get their
gas at the station charging $2.47. It’s simple economics. So Social Work
professionals will want to consider how much they are willing to charge for
Supervisory services, otherwise they run the risk of pricing themselves out of
the market.
One way to avoid over or
undercharging for supervisory services is to attempt to take an informal market
survey, much like the counseling professional discussed above; however, using
their clinical billable rate may have been the wrong market to survey, given
that a clinical counseling hour and an hour of supervision are not the same service.
Some suggestions for how one might go about taking an informal market survey
are: One, asking fellow colleagues who provide supervision what they are
charging. Two, asking non-clinically licensed Social Workers what they are
willing to pay, or what they are currently paying for supervision. And three, reaching
out to one’s local NASW branch to see if they have any benchmarks on what the
going rate for Supervision hours are in that area. In the end, leveraging such
resources will certainly make it easier to reach an informed decision about
what to charge for Supervision hours, not only in determining how much one’s
professional time is worth, but also in deciding how many Social Workers one is
willing to supervise. An additional
benefit of extensively researching before deciding upon a rate to charge is
that it provides a rationale to explain the rate if one is asked.
While relevant and necessary, the previous
considerations may not be the most important when determining a price for
Supervision services. Perhaps providing Supervision is not
solely about making money. Perhaps providing
Supervision is about providing a service to our profession which will in turn
help to ensure that we have a population of Social Workers who are well
educated, well credentialed, and practicing to their highest ability. This would require a paradigm shift in how
our profession views the service of supervision. True the argument can
still be made that being clinically licensed is not a requirement of the job
therefore Social Workers seeking such a credential should expect to pay
handsomely... It could also be argued that if money is a Supervisors only
reason for offering the service is that the most well-intentioned reason for
doing it? Remember that even though the Social Workers we offer Supervision to
are not clinically licensed, they are still our colleagues and coworkers. If money is the most compelling reason for
providing supervision hours to a fellow Social Worker, and that necessitates
charging astronomical rates that some might describe as price gouging, might
that motivation have crossed the boundaries of our profession’s espoused values?
Remember our profession values Service, Human Relationships, Integrity, and the
Dignity and Worth of each person. Those values do not just encompass our
clients, but should also be extended to our colleagues and coworkers. To put it
another way, if we hold an amount of money over the heads of our colleagues and
ransom a credential that will elevate their practice and their careers
does that make us any better than the oppressive individuals
against whom we, as Social Workers, profess to rally?
To be clear, I’m not arguing that we
should not be paid: instead, what I propose is that those of us who make the
decision to provide clinical supervision for aspiring Social Work practitioners
ask ourselves: What is a reasonable rate
of remuneration for helping our colleagues to become the best professionals
they can be? What is a reasonable fee to charge for helping our profession
continue to elevate itself? While the purpose of this article is not to suggest
a “sanctionable” dollar amount, it’s neither reasonable nor acceptable to price
gouge our colleagues. At the same time neither is it fair for others to expect
us not to be fairly compensated for our time and expertise. It is my hope that
it will start a dialog about what our time, credentials, and experience are
worth when mentoring colleagues aspiring to advance their clinical skills and
professionalism.
We'd love to know what your thoughts are on the compensation rates for Social Work supervision, so leave us a comment below.
If you liked what you read please like our blog, besupervised@blogspot.com, or follow us on Facebook
(@LISWSupervision), or on LinkedIn at Be Supervised.
References
Suttle, T. (Retrieved 8/4/2018), Clinical Supervision and
‘Money Gouging.’ [Blog Post]. http://tamarasuttle.com/clinical-supervision-and-money-gouging/
Comments
Post a Comment