Laws, Regulations and State Board Contact Information
Continuing Education and License Renewal for All Levels of Licensure: LBSW, LSW, LCSW
Applying for a License in Pennsylvania
Supervised Clinical Experience (3,000 Hours Required Prior to Applying for the LCSW)
Licensure for Individuals with Out-of-State Licenses (LBSW, LSW, or LCSW)
Additional Laws and Regulations Governing Clinical Practice
New Jersey & Delaware - Check These Resources If You Wish to Apply for Licensure (or Delaware)
Continuing Education and License Renewal for All Levels of Licensure: LBSW, LSW, LCSW
Thirty (30) credit hours of continuing education in each biennium (2-year period) in courses approved by the state board. Excess credit hours from one biennium may not be carried over to the next biennium. The biennium is a two-year period running from March 1 to February 28 of odd-numbered years. The renewal fee is $95. Included in the 30 credit hours there must be the following:
- Ethics - 3 credit hours are required.
- Child abuse recognition and reporting - 2 credit hours are required. Courses must be selected from the state's Approved List of Child Abuse CE Providers.
- Suicide prevention - 1 credit hour is required. The program must have the word "suicide" (or a derivative thereof) in the title and taken through an approved provider. For additional information, see Suicide Prevention Continuing Education (PDF).
- For more information, see the regulations: Requirement for Biennial Renewal.
- Please note that newly licensed social workers are exempt from all continuing education until after the first renewal. Exception: Newly licensed social workers must still take 2 credit hours for child abuse recognition and reporting as part of the first renewal. The three credit hours taken as part of the licensure application process do not substitute for this additional requirement, even if the three credit hours for the licensure application were taken very recently.
- List of pre-approved continuing education providers in Pennsylvania - See the following regulation: PA State Board Preapproved Providers of Continuing Education
- All 30 continuing education hours may be completed online. There is no minimum requirement for in-person hours. See Special Notice - 30 Clock Hours On-Line 11/19/2019 (PDF)
- The minimum duration of a course is one (1) hour. (The requirement for 2 hours has been dropped.) See Special Notice - 1 Clock Hour Courses (PDF)
- Continuing education certificates must be retained for four (4) years from the date on which the last license renewal was completed. See Retention of Continuing Education Documentation
Applying for a License in Pennsylvania
Licensed Bachelor Social Worker (LBSW) - Application Requirements:
Licensed Social Worker (LSW) - Application Requirements:
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) - Application Requirements:
- Completion of a master's or doctoral degree from a CSWE-accredited institution
- Is a licensed social worker (LSW) at the time of application. (It is recommended that supervisees have the LSW throughout the duration of supervision, but it is not required.)
- 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience (see below)
- Passing the ASWB clinical examination to be taken after completion of the 3,000 hours
- Three (3) hours of continuing education in child abuse recognition and reporting (if this is your initial social work license in Pennsylvania)
- FBI background check through IdentoGo using a code supplied by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
- Payment of $90 fee to be submitted with license application
- Additional resources from the state board:
Supervised Clinical Experience (3,000 Hours Required Prior to Applying for the LCSW)
- Who Can Be a Supervisor?
- A licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with 5 years of experience within the last 10 years.
- A licensed professional in a related field with a master's or doctoral degree with 5 years of experience in the last 10 years.
- Supervisors with degrees in a related field may supervise no more than 1,500 clinical hours. The remainder must be provided by a licensed clinical social worker.
- Clinical supervisors may be licensed in any state. However, for liability purposes, it is strongly recommended that supervisors be licensed in Pennsylvania.
- Different supervisors in different settings are permitted. Please be prepared to submit a separate clinical supervision form to the state board for each supervisor or when there is a break of more than 30 days with the same supervisor.
- For additional information, see Qualifications for supervisors and Standards for Clinical Supervisors.
- What Types of Activities Count as Supervised Clinical Hours?
- At least half of the experience shall be in one or more of the following areas: assessment; psychotherapy; other psychosocial therapeutic interventions; consultation; family therapy; group therapy. (The other half may be client-related telephone calls or paperwork such as progress notes, treatment plans, etc., but NOT training or general meetings where no clients are discussed.)
- Summary of Acceptable Supervised Clinical Experience Requirements
- Number of hours of supervision required: Minimum of 2 hours clinical supervision for every 40 hours of supervised clinical experience. Equivalently, one could word this requirement as a minimum of 1 hour of clinical supervision for every 20 hours of supervised clinical experience. As long as the ratio of hours of clinical supervision to hours of supervised clinical experience is preserved at 1 to 20, the hours will count.
- All clinical supervision may be conducted online. There is no longer an in-person requirement. See the following: Policy Statement for Sections 47.12c(b), 48.13(b) and 49.13(b) of the Regulations (PDF)
- No more than 1 hour of group supervision per 40 hours of supervised clinical experience will count. Examples for every 40 hours of supervised clinical experience:
- Two hours of individual supervision: count 40 hours.
- One hour of individual supervision and one hour of group supervision: count 40 hours.
- Two hours of group supervision: count 20 hours (20 hours are disallowed as only one hour of group supervision counts per 40 hours worked).
- One hour of individual supervision or group supervision: count 20 hours (20 hours disallowed because there was only one hour of supervision).
- A supervisor may supervise no more than six (6) supervisees at the same time unless a hardship request is granted by the state board.
- Supervised work experience will count only if it takes place in a single setting for either:
- At least 30 hours per week but no more than 50 hours per week during at least a 3-month period. --OR-- at least 15 hours per week for a period of at least 6 months.
- If one of the above is met, then the entire supervised work experience from beginning to end will count. For example: someone works 10 hours per week for 2 months, then 15 hours per week for 6 months, then 7 hours per week for 4 months. This individual may count the entirety of this work experience from start to finish, because the requirement was met during the middle months of the supervised work experience. As the requirement was met in the middle of this supervised work experience, even the periods when the individual was working 10 hours per week and also 7 hours per week do count.
- Supervised clinical hours may begin to be accrued at any time after graduation with a masters or doctoral degree, not before. No supervised clinical hours may be counted that are prior to graduation. The LSW is recommended but not required during the supervised clinical experience. However, the LSW is required to complete the LCSW application.
- The supervised clinical experience must be completed in no less than 2 years and no more than 6 years. One cannot apply for the license until at least two years have passed. This is a rolling time period and may commence at any time after obtaining a degree. For example, the beginning of the supervised clinical experience may begin months or even years after graduation.
- Please note: The regulation stating that "at least 500 hours and no more than 1,800 hours may be credited in any 12-month period" is no longer enforced.
- For additional information, please see Definition of Acceptable Supervised Clinical Experience.
- Recommended Forms from PSCSW to Track Clinical Supervision
- Case Consultation Form for Clinical Supervisors: Click here to view document - for supervisor and supervisee to document each discussion about each client supervision session.
- Client Release of Information for Clinical Supervision: Click here to view document - for use by supervisees to obtain written permission from clients/patients to discuss their cases in supervision.
- Supervision Tracking Sheet: Click here to view document - for supervisor and supervisee to document clinical hours.
Licensure for Individuals with Out-of-State Licenses (LBSW, LSW, or LCSW)
There are two paths to licensure available:
- Licensure by Endorsement (LCSW only)
- Act 41 of 2019 - An Alternative Path Towards Licensure by Endorsement for All Levels of Licensure (LBSW, LSW, LCSW)
- Requirements
- Holds a license in good standing from another state
- Actively engaged in the practice of social work or clinical social work for 2 of the last 5 years in any U.S. state or territory. Applicants from another country will be reviewed on a case-by -case basis.
- Application
- FBI background check through IdentoGo using a code supplies by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
- For additional information: Pennsylvania law Act 41 of 2019
Additional Laws and Regulations Governing Clinical Practice
New Jersey and Delaware - Check These Resources If You Wish to Apply for Licensure