Social work, counseling and other field-based programs place students in hospitals, clinics, schools, community agencies and child welfare settings. The placement site, not the program, usually sets the clearance list, and it can change from one agency to the next. Occupational and physical therapy fieldwork follows the clinical model; see OT and OTA and PT and PTA.
Social work programs are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and counseling programs by CACREP. Your field sites and agreements decide the exact list.
What social work, counseling and other field students usually need before a placement
- Background check, often with healthcare sanctions screening for hospital placements. See student background checks.
- Drug screen, usually a 10-panel urine screen (ours includes oxycodone) before the first placement.
- Site forms such as a placement agreement, confidentiality agreement or site orientation acknowledgment.
- Immunizations and TB screening when the placement is in a hospital, clinic or other healthcare setting. (source)
- HIPAA training where the site is a covered entity: HIPAA counts trainees as part of the workforce. (source)
What’s specific to fieldwork and practicum programs
- Social work field hours. CSWE’s 2022 EPAS require a minimum of 400 hours of field education for baccalaureate programs and 900 hours for master’s programs. (source)
- Student safety protocols. CSWE expects programs to have policies for placing students, monitoring and supporting their learning, and implementing student safety protocols. (source)
- Counseling practicum and internship. CACREP standards call for a practicum of at least 100 hours (40 of them direct service) and a 600-hour internship with at least 240 hours of direct service, and require students to be covered by individual professional counseling liability insurance during both. (source)
How Drug Free Schools handles it
Everything below runs in one clinical compliance tracking portal shared by all of your school’s health science programs.
- One portal, your requirement list. Set how each item renews: flu by season, CPR through the end of the printed month, Tdap every ten years. Add another way to meet a requirement, or a declination pathway.
- Every upload reviewed within 24 hours. If something is wrong, the student sees the exact reason and what to upload instead.
- Upload guides for every requirement: an example of the right document, the common reasons for rejection, and a blank form to download.
- Deadlines and reminders by email and text, and a dashboard that shows anyone not cleared for an upcoming rotation.
- Clinical sites built in. Track affiliation agreements, assign students to rotations, log clinical hours, and block anyone who isn't cleared from being placed. Send a site exactly the records it needs through a secure link with an access code that expires in 30 days.
For fieldwork and practicum programs: Keep a requirement list per placement type, track liability insurance with its expiry date, and send each agency only the records it needs through a secure link.
Fingerprints: Drug Free Schools does not take fingerprints. When a board, state or site requires a fingerprint-based check, students use the provider it names, usually Fieldprint, IdentoGO or the local police department. We handle the name-based background check, the drug screen and the tracking.
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Students: online training courses (Healthcare Bloodborne Pathogens, HIPAA, Workplace Fire Safety and HazCom, from ProTrainings) are available for individual purchase. See the online training courses.
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Set up in about 5 minutes with your program’s requirements. No meeting needed.
Support 7 days a week by phone, text or email, for students and school staff: call or text (901) 517-7450 · josh.smith@drugfreeschools.net
See the director dashboard (3:06)
Recorded in the live portal: the rotation check dashboard, document review, requirement rules, clinical sites and rotations, and secure links for sending records to a site.
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Frequently asked questions
What do social work and counseling students need before a field placement?
It depends on the site. Many agencies ask for a background check and a drug screen, and healthcare settings may also ask for immunizations, TB screening and HIPAA training. Counseling students also need individual professional liability insurance during practicum and internship under CACREP standards.
What if a placement site requires fingerprints?
Drug Free Schools does not take fingerprints. Students use the provider the site or state names, usually Fieldprint, IdentoGO or the local police department. We handle the name-based background check, the drug screen and the tracking.
How much does the compliance portal cost?
$30 per student, one time for the whole program, not a yearly fee. Administrator and faculty accounts are free, and the school can pay instead of the student.
Can one portal cover all of our health science programs?
Yes. Each program gets its own requirement list and renewal rules, while the school has one portal and one support line, 7 days a week by phone, text or email, for students and school staff.
Sources
- CSWE 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards
- CACREP 2024 Standards, Section 4: Professional Practice
- 45 CFR 160.103, HIPAA definitions (workforce)
- CDC/ACIP: Immunization of Health-Care Personnel
This page summarizes public accreditor, federal and CDC documents as of October 2026. Requirements vary by school, clinical site and state; confirm against your current standards and affiliation agreements. Quest Diagnostics is a trademark of its owner.