Social Work Licensure

• California Law and Ethics Exam. It is designed to assess the applicant's knowledge of and ability to apply legal and ethical standards relating to clinical practice.
• The National Clinical ASWB Exam. It is designed to assess an applicant’s knowledge of psychosocial principles and methods in treatment, as well as techniques & methods applicable to practice. Test is 150 item multiple choice over 4 hrs.

• CA Law & Ethics exam must be taken PRIOR to the first ASW renewal.
• If you pass it then will continue to renew ASW annually until hours are complete
• If you do not pass you will need to take a 12-hr CA Law & Ethics course in order to renew your ASW #.
• Can take test every 90 days but at least annually until passed.

• 3,000 hours for LCSW
• Minimum of 2 years (24 months) after registration, Max. 40 hrs/week
• 104 weeks of supervision required, 52 weeks of it must be individual supervision the other 52 weeks can be group supervision
• A min. of 1700 of supervision must be with LCSW

Important Things to Know About Accruing Hours

• You cannot begin accruing hours until you have the ASW #
• Hours can be paid work (W-2 employee, not 1099 independent contractor) and/or volunteer
• If your ASW registration lapses or expires you will not be able to count those hours for the period in which your registration was invalid

• 2000 Hrs. Min - Clinical Psychosocial Diagnosis, Assessment and Treatment -includes individual or group
  • F2F Individual or Group Psychotherapy (min. 750 hours out of 2000 hrs)*
• 1000 Hrs. - Client-centered advocacy, consultation, evaluation, research, direct supervisor time, trainings (approved by supervisor), count towards 3000

LCSW Breakdown of Required Experience (PDF)

A licensed mental health professional who provides supervision to an Associate Clinical Social Worker (ASW) who is pursuing LCSW licensure must meet certain minimum qualifications.

Requirements include:

• Possess a current and active California license that is not under suspension or probation as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
• Have been licensed in California or any other state for at least two (2) years out of the last five (5) years prior to the commencement of supervision.
• Have practiced psychotherapy during at least two (2) years out of the last five (5) years prior to the commencement of supervision.
• OR Provided direct supervision to ASWs who perform psychotherapy during at least two (2) years out of the last five (5) years prior to the commencement of supervision. Supervision of psychotherapy performed by a student shall be accepted if substantially equivalent to the supervision required for registrants. · Sign and comply with the Supervisor Responsibility Statement

In addition, LCSWs must complete a minimum of 15 hours of supervision training prior to the commencement of supervision.

All of the forms and some additional information can be found on the BBS Supervisor Resources page.

• Responsibility Statement Forms for Supervisors of an Associate Clinical Social Worker –supervisor signs this form at the commencement of supervision.
• Supervisory Plan – to be completed prior to the commencement of supervision

• Weekly Summary of Hours of Experience –Supervisor will sign off on this form on a weekly basis.

• Associate Clinical Social Worker Experience Verification –There is a form in the application packet (PDF) that will be used to verify all the hours gained in a particular setting or under a particular superviso

• BBS can not accept hours of experience older than six (6) years from the time a person applies for the LCSW license. The law does not allow the board to make exceptions.
• Registrations issued by the Board are valid for a 6-year period (five renewals). Registrants who have not completed all hours of supervised experience within the 6-year life span must apply for a subsequent registration number to continue the path toward licensure.
• Many registrants apply for a second (or third, etc.) registration number to gain additional supervised work experience or for employment purposes.
• Example: The board receives Janet’s LCSW application on 4/3/17.  The board will only be able to accept experience gained from 4/3/2011 to 4/3/2017.

• BBS requires you to complete certain additional coursework before applying for the second licensing exam, the national exam.
• You can complete this coursework as part of your MSW degree or afterward while you are earning the required hours of supervised work experience

• Child Abuse Assess./Reporting -7 hrs (SWRK 687)
• Human Sexuality -10 hrs (not covered in the MSW curriculum at Chico State)
• Substance Abuse -15 hrs (SWRK 677)
• Spousal/Partner Abuse -15 hours (combination of classes)
• Aging & Long Term Care -10 hrs (Combination of classes or SWRK 674)
• Suicide Risk Assessment and Intervention Training - 6 hrs
• Pre-Licensure Course Requirements - Graduates prior to 2017 (PDF)
• Pre-Licensure Course Requirements - Graduates from 2017-2020 (PDF)
• Pre-Licensure Course Requirements - Graduates 2021 and later (PDF)

• Not filling out forms completely or correctly
• Not submitting the application and all of the required materials together in one envelope
• Not mailing original copies to BBS and keeping copies for yourself
• Must maintain ASW registration if you are going to continue to work