Occupational Licensing

2 Texas Grandmothers Who Overcame Addiction Wanted To Become Social Workers. The State Wouldn't Let Them.

Now Katherin Youniacutt and Tammy Thompson are taking their fight to become licensed master social workers to the Texas Supreme Court.

Ari Shtein | 6.11.2026 9:46 AM

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(Illustration: Institute for Justice)

Last week, Texas' 15th Court of Appeals dismissed a case brought by two women who've been denied social workers licenses in the state. Despite their master's degrees and what the court described as "many strong…letters of recommendation," the women's decades-old criminal offenses, committed in the throes of addictions they have since overcome, made them categorically ineligible for licensure under state law.

The plaintiffs, Katherin Youniacutt and Tammy Thompson, plan to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of Texas. "We're confident, under the existing precedent, that we're entitled to proceed with our case," Arif Panju, an attorney at the Institute for Justice (I.J.), who is representing the women, tells Reason.

Youniacutt and Thompson, who struggled with substance abuse earlier in their lives, say in their petition before the court that they've reformed themselves. Youniacutt, "a victim of clerical abuse" as a child, turned to alcohol to cope, and in 2007, pled guilty to........

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