Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2012-025

October 9, 2012
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 2012- 25
The Honorable Don Hill
State Representative, Sixtieth District
1720 Luther
Emporia, Kansas 66801
Re: 	Public Health—Social Workers—Prohibited Acts; Qualifications for Licensure;
Master Social Worker
Counties 	and 	County 	Officers—Mental 	Health 	Centers 	and 	Services—
Community Mental Health Centers and Community Facilities for the Mentally
Retarded; 	Services 	of 	Such 	Facilities; 	Governing 	Boards; 	Charges 	for
Services
Synopsis: 	A student engaged in a field education program to fulfill a requirement for a
master's degree in social work can participate in the delivery of social work
services if supervised by a social worker licensed by the Kansas Behavioral
Sciences Regulatory Board. Although a community mental health center has
discretion in assessing a fee for its services, it cannot assess a fee for social
work services provided by a student who is completing a field education
program to fulfill a requirement for a master's degree in social work. 	Cited
herein: 	K.S.A. 19-4001, 19-4002, 19-4003, 65-6303, 65-6306, K.A.R. 30-60-
40, 102-2-6.
* 	* 	*
Dear Representative Hill:
As State Representative of the Sixtieth District, you ask if a community mental health center
(CMHC) may charge a fee to its clients for the services provided by a student completing a
master's degree in social work. 	Accordingly, our analysis reviews the requirements for
licensure as a social worker and the fees charged by CMHC.

The Honorable Don Hill
Page 2
Licensure Act for Social Workers
Pursuant to the Licensure Act for Social Workers (Act), 1 the Kansas Behavioral Sciences
Regulatory Board (Board) issues licenses to qualified applicants as a baccalaureate social
worker, a master social worker, a specialist social worker, and a specialist clinical social
worker.2 Only the baccalaureate social worker license does not require a graduate degree
in social work.3 Thus, a student participating in a field education program to obtain a
master's degree in social work could be a licensed baccalaureate social worker. 	Because
we do not have the authority to determine whether a fee covers services as a licensed
baccalaureate social worker or as a student obtaining a master's degree in social work,4 this
opinion assumes that the student is not also providing services at the CMHC as a licensed
baccalaureate social worker.
An applicant seeking licensure as a master's social worker must hold a master's degree
from an accredited college or university and have completed a social work program.5
Additionally, the graduate social work program must "have a field education program that is
clearly incorporated as an integral component of the curriculum and the social work degree
requirements. 	The field education program shall engage the student in supervised social
work practice and experiential opportunities that apply classroom learning in the field
setting."6
Subsection (a) of K.S.A. 65-6303 governs the assessment of a fee for social work services.
It states:
No person shall engage in the practice of social work for compensation or
hold forth as performing the services of a social worker unless such person is
licensed in accordance with the provisions of this act, nor may any person
participate in the delivery of social work service unless under the supervision
of a person who is licensed under this act.
Accordingly, a social work student engaged in a field education program may participate in
the delivery of social work services if a licensed social worker supervises that student.
However, because a student in a social work field education program is not a licensed
master's social worker, K.S.A. 65-6303(a) prohibits the assessment of a fee for the social
work services provided by such student. We next review the provisions governing a CMHC
to determine if they are congruent with the provisions governing social workers.
1 K.S.A. 65-6301 et seq.
2 K.S.A. 65-6306(a), (b), (c), and (d), respectively.
3 Id.
4 See K.S.A. 75-704 (Attorney General provides written opinions "upon all questions of law") and Attorney
General's Statement of Policy Relating to the Furnishing of Written Legal Opinions, ¶ 8 (only questions of
law will be answered).
5 K.S.A. 65-6306(b)(1) and (e).
6 K.A.R. 102-2-6(d).

The Honorable Don Hill
Page 3
Fees Charged by a Community Mental Health Center
K.S.A. 19-4001 authorizes Kansas counties to establish CMHCs to provide various mental
health services, including "in-service training for students entering the mental health
professions,” 7 and to establish a CMHC governing board.8 One duty of a CMHC governing
board is to establish policies for the operation of the CMHC.9 A licensed CMHC that uses
students to provide services must insure that the students "are screened, trained, and
regularly supervised in accordance with written policies and procedures" of the CMHC.10
Pursuant to K.S.A. 19-4005, a CMHC "governing board may establish" a fee schedule for
the services provided to its clients, but it cannot deny its services to persons unable to pay
for those services. 	Thus, the discretion given to a CMHC governing board in assessing
fees for its services does not prohibit a fee for the services provided by a supervised
student social worker.
Conclusion
Although K.S.A. 19-4005 does not prohibit a CMHC from assessing a fee for services
provided by a student engaged in a field education program required for a master's degree
in social work, we believe, based upon the rules of statutory construction,11 that the specific
prohibition against such fees in K.S.A. 65-6303 controls. 	Thus, we conclude that a CMHC
may not assess a fee for the social work services provided by a student engaged in a field
education program to fulfill a requirement for a master's degree in social work. To conclude
otherwise creates a conflict between K.S.A. 19-4005 and K.S.A. 65-6303.
Sincerely,
Derek Schmidt
Attorney General
Janet L. Arndt
Assistant Attorney General
DS:AA:JLA
7 K.S.A. 19-4001. Two or more counties may also jointly establish a mental health center.
8 K.S.A. 19-4002(a)(1)-(2).
9 K.S.A. 19-4003(b).
10 K.A.R. 30-60-40(f).
11 See In re Mental Health Association of the Heartland, 289 Kan. 1209, 1215 (2009) (a specific statute
controls over a general statute).