As a reminder, all states have their own social work licensing laws, requirements and titles. Therefore, if you reside in another state, please check out the Association of Social Work Boards or NASW for a complete listing of states and their respective requirements.
Some important general facts:
- To legally practice in New York, social workers must be licensed and registered, or have a *limited permit, or be practicing in an exempt setting**.
- Licenses never expire; registration renewal is every 3 years.
- Licensure status is public knowledge and can be accessed at the New York State Education Department.
- *Limited Permit: allows for the legal practice of social work to a social worker who has not yet passed the LMSW exam. A limited permit may be approved by NYSED if your application is complete.
You must first be hired because you have to include where you will be working and who will be supervising you. The limited permit is both site and supervisor specific.
It is good for 1 year and it is not renewable.
This may be a good option for new grads who have yet to take/pass the LMSW licensing exam.
- **Exempt Setting: Social workers working in programs that are operated, regulated, funded or approved by OMH, OASAS, OMRDD or OCFS are temporarily exempt from licensure.
This means that a social worker may legally provide LMSW or LCSW services without being licensed. These social workers may not call themselves licensed or use “LMSW” or “LCSW” after their names.
If a social worker in an exempt setting is providing LCSW-qualifying services and is appropriately supervised, those hours may count towards the LCSW experience requirement.
This exemption is scheduled to end on July 1, 2013, at which time these social workers must be licensed or have a limited permit.
Moving onto New York State LCSW License Requirements, you must:
- Have a master’s degree in social work with at least 12 hours of clinical coursework**
- Have at least 3 years of post MSW supervised experience* in clinical social work
- Be of good moral character
- Be at least 21 years old
- Complete 2 hrs of training in Child Abuse ID and Reporting
- Pass ASWB Clinical Examination
*Experience Requirement
- You must have completed 3 years of full-time post-masters, or the part-time equivalent in no more than 6 calendar years, supervised experience in clinical social work.
Full-time experience is defined as 20 client hrs of psychotherapy per wk for 48 wks of employment.
Part-time experience is defined as no less than 10 client contact hrs per wk of psychotherapy.
A client contact hr is at least 45 minutes of psychotherapy with individuals, families, or groups. Sessions may be combined to determine the weekly client contact hrs.
- Only experience in diagnosis, psychotherapy and assessment-based treatment plans, as defined by Section 7704 of the Education Law, is acceptable for LCSW licensure.
- All experience must be supervised by an LCSW, licensed psychologist or psychiatrist who is professionally responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of each client.
- Supervisory sessions must be in-person of an individual or group for one hr per week or 2 hrs every other week.
- When the applicant is working less than full-time, supervision must still average 1 hr/week for the entire period.
**Clinical Coursework
The courses must include knowledge and skills in the areas of:
- diagnosis and assessment in clinical social work practice
- clinical social work treatment and
- clinical social work practice with general and special populations.
The clinical coursework must be offered by an acceptable two-year graduate social work program, such as one registered by the Department as licensure qualifying for the LCSW.
Coursework may be completed either as part of the MSW degree program or after completion of the program to remedy deficits in clinical content. (NYU students complete this as part of their MSW degree program. If you attend another graduate school for social work, please check with your school. )
Below is the content outline for the information covered in the LCSW licensing examination.
Clinical Examination Content Outline
(Effective January 1, 2011)
I. Human Development, Diversity and Behavior in the Environment, 31%
Human development in the life cycle
Human behavior in the environment
Effects of diversity
Addictions
II. Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment Planning, 26%
Information gathering
Assessment and diagnosis
Treatment planning
III. Psychotherapy, Clinical Interventions and Case Management, 25%
Therapeutic relationship
The intervention process
Case management
Consultation and interdisciplinary collaboration
IV. Professional Ethics and Values, 18%
Ethical Issues
Confidentiality and its limits
Value issues
A more detailed breakdown of the content to be covered for both the LCSW and LMSW Licensing Exams is available within the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs) downloadable pdf available at the ASWB.
In addition, please note that ASWB expects to have study materials (reflecting the changes that will be in effect in all exams as of January 1, 2011) ready for sale in the fall.
Moving onto the topic of the Licensed Clinical Social Worker “R” Psychotherapy Privilege, New York State Insurance Law authorizes a privilege to the LCSW. This privilege requires the LCSW license and 3 years of supervised experience in psychotherapy obtained after receiving the LCSW. (A separate application and fee are required for this privilege.)
An LCSW who fulfills the requirements of the insurance law is recognized as a reimbursable psychotherapist. The “R” privilege requires insurance carriers to provide reimbursement for psychotherapy services whenever a health insurance contract includes reimbursement of qualified psychologists and psychiatrists.
I’m hoping that you found this information helpful. If you have already taken one or both of these licensing exams and have some tips to share, please do so below. Also, if you have any questions or other insights on the topic, please write below… I’d love to hear from you 🙂
Sources:
ASWB Examination Content Outline
NASW’s 17 Important Facts About Social Work Licensing in NY
New York State LMSW License Requirements
New York State LCSW License Requirements
New York State “R” Psychotherapy Privilege
This is SO helpful! Thank you!
Andrea,
Thanks so much for having visited 🙂
I’m so glad that you found this post helpful.
Best,
Dorlee
Very comprehensive (as always)!
The only thing I would add is that the social work degree must be received from an accredited social work program. Accreditation must be provided by a qualified organization, such as the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) http://www.cswe.org There are some online universities (who will go unnamed) who advertise that you can get a social work degree there, but, in fact, do not offer a degree accredited by a national social work organization. Sometimes they say they have accredited degrees, but when one looks more closely it’s apparent that they are accredited by some general education body, not a social work accrediting body.
So if someone is considering an MSW degree, they should make sure the program is listed at the CSWE site above. Right now that’s the only national social work accrediting organization in the United States. Some states are more flexible than NY State on this accreditation requirement…but why pay to get a degree that may not qualify for licensure in some states?
Also, one piece of advice that we share with our students: SAVE ALL OF YOUR COURSE SYLLABI FOR YOUR ENTIRE PROFESSIONAL CAREER. Some states have very strict licensing regulations (Florida, for example) and will ask to see the syllabi from when you took a particular course. Your school will not save these more than a few years, so if you can’t produce it, you might not be able to get licensed in that particular state without taking additional coursework.
If you’re a social worker already and pursuing licensure and find you are short some clinical course hours, it is possible to take courses now to make up that deficit. Check with the Schools of Social Work near you, or look for something online. We have had many people enrolled in our online psychopathology course (www.socialwork.buffalo.edu) who have taken it to make up clinical coursework hours that they need for licensure, so don’t be worried that you’ll be out of place if you decide to do something like that.
As always,you offer invaluable pieces of advice 🙂
In particular, ensuring that our MSW is from an officially accredited Graduate School of Social Work from CSWE and holding onto our course syllabi for our ENTIRE professional career.
I never realized how important a role our course syllabi could play…
With much warmth and appreciation,
Dorlee
Thank you Dorlee! This is so helpful as I’ve been putting off looking into all this. Hope you’re having a great summer.
I’m so glad that you found this post helpful, Evening.
I wanted to get a feeling for what was ahead for us and thought this would make a good blog topic.
Thanks for visiting!
Hope you’re having a great summer too,
Dorlee
I have a question for anyone able to answer? I am studying for my BSW at ASU and wanted to know if an ex-con/ex-addict has a chance at obtaining an msw and becoming licensed? I have worked in the past with HIV/Homeless populations which became my calling.
Thank you for any info provided.
Jose Gonzalez
Hi Jose,
I gave you my reply when you first asked this question but perhaps you didn’t remember where you posted your question and thus didn’t know where to look for my reply 🙂
In any case, I will copy and paste to you what I had originally wrote to you.
I’ve been thinking about your questions. I think that for you to get the most accurate answer, you should reach out to either the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) or to the Dean of a School of Social Work that you are thinking of attending for your MSW and ask these questions.
As I recall, the professor who taught me about substance abuse happened to share an example of someone who had a history of substance abuse and that she and our school went to bat on behalf of that student in order for that student to be eligible to get licensed but because the student had been such an excellent student, he/she was able to get past his/her past.
That said, I do not know all the details… But I would think that someone in the NASW office or at the admissions office of a School for Social Work should be able to provide you with the direction you need.
Wishing you the best of luck!